Interview: Dave Lamb

I see narrator Dave Lamb has broken cover and is appearing in front of the cameras in Come Dine With Me's Champion of Champions run at the moment. To mark his appearance here is an interview I did with him for the Guardian back in 2010.

I come to the first CBBC programme I think I've ever reviewed for this site however it's one that's quite dear to my heart. As somebody who grew up in the late 1980s/early 1990s Danger Mouse was a show that I probably watched almost every episode of. So it was with great trepidation that I approached the new series that aired all this week on the BBC's children's channel. After suffering through the sub-par Thunderbirds remake I didn't have high hopes but I was pleasantly surprised by what was on offer. Although the graphics were inevitably better than those offered in Danger Mouse's original incarnation everything else about the show remained untouched. I did feel that, unlike Thunderbirds are Go, Danger Mouse offered something for everyone with the central plot appealing to younger viewers whilst older children and parents would've liked the wicked humour employed by writer Ben Ward. I particularly liked the fact that the voice of Come Dine With Me Dave Lamb provided the narration as he added an extra comic touch to proceedings. He was also there to provide a little nod and wink to the audience at home especially at the end when he tried to debunk several aspects of the plot. In voicing DM, Alexander Armstrong had particularly big shoes to fill but I felt he did an admirable job. Although it was quite obvious to picture him providing the voice he still brought a mix of bravado and comic timing needed to pull off the role. However I thought the best contribution came from Kevin Eldon who provided a note-perfect Penfold voice-over which gave some added authenticity to the piece. Although I know I'm not the target audience for Danger Mouse it was nice to see that those behind this reboot didn't insult those who watched the cartoon the first time around. Ultimately this was a show that provided something for everyone and I wouldn't be surprised if it got a weekend repeat on one of the main BBC channels so more people can experience its charm.

After Thunderbirds and Clangers, another risky return for a beloved children's TV classic. The wham-bam scenes that kick off Danger Mouse V2.0 initially suggest a particularly inelegant reboot. But all the Hollywood overkill is in service of a gag, and soon we're back to the very British, fourth-wall-breaking silliness that defined the original. Suave Alexander Armstrong and squeaky Kevin Eldon make for a winning DM and Penfold, while Dave Lamb, the voice of Come Dine With Me, is the very hands-on narrator.

Interview with director Dave Lambert

At the helm is Dave Lambert: a director who cut his teeth making behind-the-scenes features for The Mighty Boosh and Gavin & Stacey before taking on Alan Partridge in Welcome To The Places Of My Life, and helming Sky Atlantic's brilliant series of shorts, Common Ground. With Undercover, he shares the channel's sitcom virginity, in spite of a long legacy of great comedic output.

Radio Times review

Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal, Nina Wadia and "token white" Dave Lamb have lost none of their comedic talent since this sketch show last graced our screens in 2001. Shown as part of BBC Two's 50th anniversary celebrations, this one-off is a selection of new sketches featuring familiar characters, including the man who believes everything has its origins in India (Sherlock and pretty well every other TV detective from Poirot to Columbo) and oh-so-British social climber Mr Kapoor (this time hoping to stand as a Ukip candidate for Parliament).

Among the new routines is an Indian version of Mary Poppins, a clever dig at one of our more right-wing newspapers in The Delhi Mail and a remake of The Frost Report's class sketch that almost works. It's not exactly subtle humour but the simple concept of taking Asian stereotypes and turning them on their heads is as relevant as ever.

On at exactly the same time and on the same day as Heading Out, Dave's panel show Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask returned for a second series this week.

The format's pretty much the same as before. Alexander Armstrong presents and all three of his guests, in this case Jo Brand, Stephen Mangan and Tim Vine, have to come up with the questions everyone will be asking. Amongst the questions that came up included the subject of the clurichaun (the "leprechaun's naughty cousin"), why the Aztecs were such unsuccessful warriors, and Adam's first wife...who wasn't Eve.

It's a good show, and while the fact it's on Dave means it will never get a big audience (much of it taken away thanks to Perkins's show on the other side) it still deserves a watch because it can throw up some decent moments. One example was a tangent which involved Manga talking about his upcoming role in the film version of Postman Pat - speaking parts only mind, the singing being down by Gary Barlow.

However, perhaps the best thing about this new series is that the idea of the "fact bunker" with Dave Lamb verifying the information has been got rid of. It never worked and I'm glad to see the change made. In fact, I pointed out this was the weakest moment when I reviewed the first series last year. Giz a job, Dave.

The panel show that's like a postprandial version of QI returns with Stephen Mangan, Jo Brand and Tim Vine doing the job of quiz-show researchers and coming up with the questions themselves. This time, Dave Lamb's role as fact-checker has been done away with, leaving Alexander Armstrong in sole charge. Everything else remains the same. There are laughs to be had, especially when the guests stray from the topic at hand - a discussion about Mangan's role in Postman Pat: the Movie being particularly rewarding.