Miranda. Miranda (Miranda Hart). Copyright: BBC
Miranda Hart

Miranda Hart

  • 51 years old
  • English
  • Actor, writer, producer and comedian

Press clippings Page 42

Women have always been under-represented on Have I Got News For You (last weeks appearance by frock-wearing artist Grayson Perry notwithstanding). So its great to see the comedienne and actress, and the tallest woman in comedy, Miranda Hart taking her first spin in the presenters chair.

Already a familiar face from comedies like Angelos, Hyperdrive and playing the cleaning lady in Not Going Out, Miranda is now going to have her very own sitcom based on her Radio 2 series. It will be starting soon on BBC2.

Shes been on Have I Got News For You's panel before, so has no trouble holding her own against captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton.

Jane Simon, The Mirror, 30th October 2009

Stand-up success and great sitcom-writing rarely go together, but Miranda Hart's semi-autobiographical material - posh girl from boarding school struggles to cope with body image, misanthropy and trouser presses - makes the perfect transition. It's like French and Saunders in the early days.

Sally Kinnes, The Sunday Times, 16th August 2009

Apparently Monday Monday has spent a couple of years gathering dust on ITV Drama's shelf prior to broadcast. It is difficult to understand why, as this eight-part comedy drama is nothing if not likeable.

An ensemble piece, Monday Monday follows the lives and loves of white collar staff at a recently relocated supermarket chain.

It is hardly the most innovative or challenging of dramas, but it has charm and humour to spare and a top notch cast that includes Holly Aird, Jenny Agutter and Fay Ripley. Miranda Hart, comedy actress du jour, has a minor role, which gives you an idea of how long ago the series was made.

Ripley, an actress I have developed an irrational aversion to, is actually very good as Christine, an ex-alcoholic working in human resources who is totally lacking in any resources of her own.

Harry Venning, The Stage, 14th August 2009

If BBC Three's Personal Affairs hasn't put you off office-based comedies forever, try this slightly more pleasing effort from ITV. Set in the Leeds HQ of a failing supermarket group, it sees Fay Ripley lead the charge as the firm's incompetent alcoholic Human Resources manager, Christine, with Morven Christie as Sally - her put-upon PA whose love life is even worse than her work situation. While well-known faces such as Jenny Agutter and Miranda Hart are left largely on the sidelines in this first episode, it's a rare complaint for a sitcom to have too many classy actors, even if the script is fairly mediocre.

Gerard O'Donovan, The Telegraph, 13th July 2009

The ratings for this new series will not be great, let's face it - and that's only in part to having to compete with The Street. This comedy drama set in a supermarket head office's HR department wi... oh, sorry, I must have dozed off. Fay Ripley stars as the alcoholic department boss, apparently. Backed up by a cast including Holly Aird, Neil Stuke and Miranda Hart, I can only hope that the show is better than all the pre-publicity suggests.

Scott Matthewman, The Stage, 13th July 2009

Miranda Hart is shaping up as the Big Lady of the future. If Dawn French built a career out of being hefty without mentioning it, and Jo Brand did it by mentioning it incessantly, Hart's new sitcom (so much a trailer for a TV version that they are already filming the TV version) trades on her not only being big, but very tall and extremely posh. And frequently taken for a man. She has never had sex (a consignment of chocolate penises comes into the shop. They're very lifelike, she says. No they're not, says her waspish co-owner). She has terrible chat-up lines: I weighed my breasts. They cost £1.48 to post, and you'd have to use Parcel Force. She's terrific. Wasted on TV.

Chris Campling, The Times, 28th August 2008

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