8/10
Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice
15 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
With all the talent shows about: The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing, Soapstar Superstar and Dancing on Ice, it was about time that they were spoofed, and this one-off comedy did it fantastically well. It is made and edited like any real talent show, with a real talent show host, real talent show judges, and the only things made up are the contestants and the whole show. Cat Deeley presents the talent show, and on the judging panel through "the whole thing" are Pete Waterman, Nicki Chapman and Neil Fox, and it has come to the final night. The three finalists are R Wayne (Sleepy Hollow's Marc Pickering), 2 Up 2 Down: Jackie (Jo Enright), Wendy (Sian Foulkes), David (David Hulston) and Richard (Karl Lucas) - two men standing, and women in wheelchairs; and Geraldine McQueen (Peter Kay, also writing and directing), who used to be a man named Gerry. They all sing a medley of their best songs, and we see their journeys from auditions, to boot camp and semi-finals. R Wayne comes in third place, and then Geraldine and 2 Up 2 Down sing their versions of "The Winner's Song" (written by Kay and Take That's Gary Barlow), and afterwards, the winner, Geraldine is announced. With guest stars Rick Astley, Lionel Blair, EastEnders' Todd Carty, The Cheeky Girls (Gabriella and Monica Irimia), Louis Emerick, Coronation Street's Sally Lindsay, Sir Paul McCartney, Andi Peters, Kaiser Chief's Ricky Wilson, Conleth Hill as Geraldine's Mum and Peter Dickson doing voice-over. The funny moments are great, the near-realistic talent show element is good satire, and the cast is really good, and obviously Geraldine/Kay had to win, and I am glad that "The Winner's Song" has been released, for real. Very good!
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