The BBC TV series 'Harry Enfield's TV programme' and 'Harry Enfield and Chums' were great fun, so I was looking forward to this revival on Sky TV. Indeed, the first episode of this series shows great promise, with all-too-real characters like the paranoid, violent 'short bloke', the obnoxious big businessman, the tactless chemist and the couple who are making love but thinking of other people. It isn't long, however, before you realise the characters are all one-joke characters. You know exactly how every sketch is going to end as soon as it starts. There are no characters who come close to creations such as Tim Nice-But-Dim, the Slobs, the Old Gits or any of the others in previous series, and there's no sign of Paul Whitehouse, Martin Clunes, Kathy Burke, Jon Glover or any of the other regulars. To add insult to injury, someone has formed the impression that filling this new series with constant swearing and sexual innuendo will somehow excuse its faults. Quite frankly, it wasn't long before I became weary of someone describing sexual encounters he'd had with various celebrities. You can't help thinking Harry Enfield was making something for his own personal amusement. I dearly wish he'll return to mainstream TV and make a series up to the high standard of his early programmes, otherwise 'Brand Spaking New Show', combined with that excremental 'Kevin and Perry Go Large' finish the whole thing on a very sorry note.
Review of Brand Spanking New Show
