Press clippings Page 22

More neatly observed, finely tuned comedies by Marcella Evaristi about modern dilemmas of shared parenting, starring Sarah Alexander as Mimi, the thrice-married mum, with Mark Bonnar as Dad (replacing David Tennant, who played him in the first series last year). Their two children are Tom (he'll be 11 now) and teenage Lucy, played by Finlay Christie and Phoebe Abbott (and very well too) about to get her mother's full attention in this first of six episodes. Marilyn Imrie directs, for independents Absolutely Productions. And there's more good news, in that there are six episodes, rather than the four of the first series. Make the most of them because big budget cuts seem to be digging into the schedule in ways that limit new programmes. Any day now across the whole schedule radio is repeating many more programmes than it once did. Sometimes that's not a bad thing, one person's repeat being another person's first hearing. But as Radio 4, in particular, produces more new programmes across a greater variety of genres than other networks, it is bound to restrict innovation and is already affecting how digital Radio 4 can use more recent programmes.

Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph, 29th June 2012

I never feel comfortable when fact is mixed with fiction. I spend the whole time trying to figure out what's real and what's made up and usually end up vaguely irritated if it's not clear which is which. And then, I usually say to myself, the truth is usually more interesting anyway, so why bother?

I had high hopes that Believe It!, the purported autobiography of the actor Richard Wilson, written by Jon Canter, might up-end my preconceptions. The programme felt a bit like an episode of The Unbelievable Truth, picking out factual nuggets from the welter of fiction: was he mates with George Best? Was his first acting role in Oh! What a Lovely War!, during the shooting of which he drove an apparently legless Lord Olivier back home to Brighton? And what about Mad Great-Uncle Hamish?

There were some good lines (I liked Hamish's advice - "never trust a man who doesn't drink, for he's walking around with truths inside him that he never lets oot"), and I laughed more than is usual with Radio 4 comedy. But I was troubled: the bit about him studying electrical engineering, for example, sounded true, though it seems his pre-thespian career was spent as a lab technician. But unless there's a killer joke in there somewhere, which there wasn't, why make it up?

As for Hamish (wonderfully played in the dramatised bits by John Sessions), I'm guessing he's not real, but I found myself wishing he'd existed. As he told the young Richard (played by David Tennant): "Do you want to have an exciting life and forget most of it or a blameless life and remember every second?"

Chris Maume, The Independent, 13th May 2012

Richard Wilson, actor, director and possibly the nation's favourite fictional grouse, got so fed up with being greeted with his One Foot in the Grave TV catchline "I don't believe it!" that he's now been persuaded to launch his "radiography". It's a heady mix of the actual with the fictional, written by Jon Canter, starring Wilson and a starry roster of support which includes John Sessions, David Tennant and Arabella Weir. Unpick the facts (Wilson is unmarried, private, passionate about theatre, politics and Manchester United) from the mischievous fantasies.

Gillian Reynolds, The Telegraph, 8th May 2012

Believe It! review

This is a brilliantly produced comedy, highlighted by the fact David Tennant plays only a bit part.

Tom Chant, The Comedy Journal, 8th May 2012

But does he mean it? He turns his Victor Meldrew catchphrase "I don't believe it!" on its head in his four-part "celebrity radiography" Believe It!, in which he laces alleged reminiscences with unlikely tales and a certain surreal logic.

Playing himself - with some assistance from his "ghost writer" Jon Canter and actors including David Tennant and John Sessions - Wilson claims that he never drank because a traumatic childhood experience suggested that alcohol was indelibly associated with truth and death. "What could be more scary?"

These picaresque memoirs also reveal how Wilson caused George Best to miss a penalty, and why a car journey with Sir Laurence Olivier ensured that his confirmed tipple would be elderflower cordial ... Or so he says.

Jim Gilchrist, The Scotsman, 7th May 2012

David Tennant stars in Jonathan Ross's new comic

Doctor Who star David Tennant has landed another major sci-fi role - as a Simon Cowell-style evil genius in Jonathan Ross's latest comic book.

The Sun, 10th April 2012

Review: The Decoy Bride

A Hollywood star (Alice Eve) attempts to marry her writer fiancé (David Tennant) away from the prying eyes of the world's press in this less-than-original romantic comedy.

Jeremy Aspinall, Radio Times, 9th March 2012

This romantic screwball comedy, set on the mythical Scottish island of Hegg, is clearly intended to evoke memories of Whisky Galore!, I Know Where I'm Going and even Local Hero.

Sadly, the visual magic simply isn't there (perhaps because the film was largely shot on the Isle of Man) and the sub-Ealing eccentricity of the locals seems just a little too forced. Kelly Macdonald is appealing as local lass Katie, a Bridget Jones-like mac-singleton returning to the island after her most recent relationship breaks up.

Here, she meets an arrogant author, James (David Tennant), who is trying to marry Hollywood star Lara Tyler (Alice Eve) away from the prying eyes of the world's media. Tennant does his best in a strangely written role requiring him to be supercilious and charming at the same time. It's a trick that even Cary Grant in his prime would have struggled to pull off.

Geoffrey MacNab, The Independent, 9th March 2012

The Decoy Bride film review and trailer

The Decoy Bride is an amiable if unconvincing wedding comedy set on a remote Scottish island where a Hollywood actress Lara (Alice Eve) is hoping to marry English beau James Arber (David Tennant) away from the gaze of the paparazzi.

Henry Fitzherbert, The Daily Express, 8th March 2012

The Decoy Bride review

David Tennant and Alice Eve headline the brand new British romantic comedy, The Decoy Bride. And here's our review...

Simon Brew, Den Of Geek, 29th February 2012

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