Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods, Rebecca Front, Suzy Nakamura, Lenora Crichlow, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ethan Phillips, Himesh Patel, Jessica St. Clair, Kyle Bornheimer, Andy Buckley, Daisy May Cooper, Ada, Pålsson, Neil Casey, Lucy Punch, Justin Edwards, John Finnemore, Sacharissa Claxton, Leila Farzad, Jonathan Aris, Arsher Ali, Kelly Coughlin, Julian Ovenden, Priyanga Burford, David Fynn, Julianna Kurokawa, Joanna Scanlan, Amanda Lawrence.
To be given the opportunity to study the craft of a genius, that is surely all any writer or observer of life can ever hope to be gifted, and to be involved with one of Britain’s foremost political satirists and writers of modern farce, even in a viewing capacity, must be at the very least, sheer heaven.
Not that Armando Iannucci requires such words of praise to be held in high esteem, his volume of work speaks for itself, and yet as the second series of Avenue 5 comes to a close; the depth of his industry, the willing collaborations, and the seismic attitude to satire is evidence of an artist at the peak of his powers. A peak that has been ongoing since the day of The Thick Of It, and through the majesty that was The Death Of Stalin.
It is the absurdity of the situation, the realisation that people such as Ryan Clarke, the figure head Captain of the doomed vessel, Karen Kelly, the out of her mind pompous socialite wannabe, the put upon but ultimately the sanest person and engineer on the ship Billie McEvoy, and the narcissistic, clueless, less than dynamic owner Herman Judd exist in real life, that lends itself to the sheer brilliance of the writing and the characterisation of damnation.
The second series of Avenue 5 concentrates on the dilemma of progression, of how a ship full of people can coexist for longer than it takes to understand the nuances of mutiny, and it is one that captures the imagination, that gives it a full immersive feel of intent to set the viewer’s enjoyment level to a factor of hilarity as we are exposed to the gift of seeing privilege ridiculed deep in space.
It is to the entire production, the writers such as the now legendary John Finnemore, to actors as the ever consummate Hugh Lawrie, Rebecca Front, Lenora Crichlow, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and the brilliant Ethan Phillips, that makes Avenue 5 a cracking series of discovery, pastiche, satire, and sarcasm overflowing with wit and assuredness, there is no finer way to see to privilege ridiculed.
Ian D. Hall