Reviews

I'm always on the lookout for comedy series to entertain me during my short lunch break whilst sat in my little office on my own far from civilisation. So far.. Green Wing, Mitchell and Webb, the excellent Big Train, the surreal Garth Marenghis Darkplace, The Great Outdoors, and others have stood the test of my thirty minute sandwich break.

This time, its 'The Trip' , and I don't expect to get through it, as its already becoming tedious after three episodes. This is clearly nothing more than a marketing gimmick for the restaurants involved.. its certainly not a comedy. Its basically Rob and Steve sat at a table, doing impressions, and that's as far as the plot goes. They're not comedy impressions though, just regular, everyday impressions. The type of impressions that impressionists with no comedy talent (such as Alistair McGowan) think are funny... ie, they're not funny at all.

The best thing about this series is actually the scenery that the UK has to offer. They go to some stunning locations and some nice hotels and restaurants. But, the restaurants clearly have some kind of marketing involvement going on here, as we are treated to full menu breakdowns, shots of the kitchens and chefs, history of said restaurant or hotel, and as yet, not a bad word to be said about any of them by Steve or Rob.

Odd program.. sometimes uncomfortable viewing.. certainly not funny.

I'm a great fan of Green wing, but only Series 1.

Series 1 was sharp, witty, and utterly random, following a small storyline but ultimately being a sequence of entwined sketches based around a set of characters.

Series 2 turned this on its head. It followed a (bad) storyline, which was a vague progression of the first.. but It did so at the expense of the comedy that was so brilliantly executed in series 1.

The opening of series 2 was surreal, and poor. From that point onwards it get worse, and seemed to change plot just for the sake of it. There were repeated scenarios thrown in, jokes stolen from series 1, and a lot of the comedy was strained. Michelle Gomez (sue White) lost her edge and was frankly absurd and embarrassing rather than entertaining. Tamsin Greig was her usual excellent self, but we saw far too much of those boots.. didn't she own any other shoes? Alan Statham (played by the excellent Mark Heap)... well they just seemed to run out of ideas for him and resorted to trademark jerky movements and incomprehensible outbursts.

But, the biggest travesty of Green Wing, is the peculiar presence (or lack of) the excellent Sarah Alexander as Angela, coming in randomly and seldomly throughout both series. An utter waste of her talent.. she was given few lines, and hardly any integration into the plot. It was random, and bewildering. I'm a huge fan (for differing reasons ;) ) and she was wasted in this series.

So, great first series, one of the best comedies ever.. just don't expect much of the same for the second as you'll be disappointed.