Tag Archives: Abigail Cruttenden

Not Going Out. Christmas Special 2023. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Richard Syms, Francesca Newman, Max Pattison, Finlay Southby, David Hargreaves, Delroy Atkinson, Angela McHale, Ketorah Williams.

To get a British comedy series to a hundred episodes is no mean feat, it is rare, it takes perseverance, and a following that almost pleads with the makers to continue the story line of a much-loved character and those who are family, friends, and the recipients of the farce that often ensues.

Not Going Out. Christmas Special 2023. Television Review. full post

(353 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Not Going Out. Series 13. Television Comedy Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Francesca Newman, Max Pattison, Finlay Southby, Selina Griffiths, Chris McCausland, Melvyn Hayes, Kiana Wu, Melanie Gray, Rich Keeble, Bryan Hands, Mukamajule Michelo, Sanchia McCormack, Viss Elliot Safavi, Tanvi Virmani, Jonny Dixon, Adam Boardman, Dan Linney, David Ajao, James Benson, Naveed Khan, Sabrina Sandhu, Matt Weyland.

Despite the loss of Bobby Ball as Lee’s Father, series 13 of the acclaimed comedy Not Going Out stands out as one that is unafraid to tackle certain sensitivities that come as life’s journey winds on.

Not Going Out. Series 13. Television Comedy Review. full post

(480 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Not Going Out. Series 12. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Tony Gardner, Colin McFarlane, Samantha Spiro, Joselyn Jee Esien, Katie Redford, Jolyon Coy, Gwyneth Powell, Joe Wilkinson, Stephanie Langton, Anil Desai, Max Pattison, Francesca Newman, Finley Southby, Max Willis, Rich Keeble.

It may be a huge claim, but few have scaled such a height in British television comedy that they can be compared so favourably to the legendary, and beloved Tony Hancock.

Not Going Out. Series 12. Television Review. full post

(580 words, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Not Going Out (Christmas Special 2021).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley.

The trick is to so all you can to stay fresh whilst never betraying the core values of what made you popular in the first place; if you can master that then the world of entertainment and art is at your beckoned call.

Not Going Out (Christmas Special 2021). full post

(375 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Not Going Out -Live. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Mark Kempner,

There is always a concern when it comes to attempt to pull off the live show, especially when it a comedy, particularly when it is one comfortable in its own skin of being one that can be rehearsed to the point of exhaustion to make it seem sharp and on the ball. The trouble is with recording weeks or even months in advance is that relies far too eagerly on the set-up and not enough on the natural skill of the performer in which to bring the element of surprise, the ability to rise above the fluffed line with the spur of the moment quip or ad-lib in which to keep the momentum moving.

Not Going Out -Live. Television Review. full post

(449 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: Death By Persuassion. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Samuel West, Susie Blake, Abigail Cruttenden, Claire Skinner, Nicholas Gleaves, Georgie Glen, Chris Lew Kum Hoi, John Macmillan, Anamaria Marinca, Paul Shelley, Thalissa Teixera, Karl Theobald, Jodie Tyack, Lotte Rice.

You can arguably do no wrong by having the name Jane Austen come to lips of those you are indebted to performing in front of; a sure-fire winner, only the Brontes could lead the television or cinema audience to sit up and take notice more readily, even the most tenuous link will do, and it is that the scriptwriters have a moral duty to not let the work descend into a screenplay anarchy, dependent upon creating a pastiche which is below gratitude and honour to the much-loved writer, which sparks of desperation and folly.

Midsomer Murders: Death By Persuassion. Television Review. full post

(484 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Not Going Out (Christmas Special).2017. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Bobby Ball, Geoffrey Whitehead, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Keith Barron.

A Christmas special, especially one in which comedy writers are expected to create, can go either way, either it is one that defies the convention of the season and goes all out to produce anarchy and chaos or it submits and goes down the road of the pre-fabricated Christmas tree, complete with decorations and a rather sickly angel dressed in colours of Battenberg Cake rather than the off white purity. Either way, it has to be endured and if that is the case then chaos, anarchy and slight resentment are always the finer treat to laugh alongside.

Not Going Out (Christmas Special).2017. Television Review. full post

(423 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

The Theory of Everything, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast:  Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Harry Lloyd, David Thewlis, Maxine Peake, Simon McBurney, Emily Watson, Guy Oliver-Watts, Lucy Chappell, Charlotte Hope, Abigail Cruttenden, Christian McKay, Adam Godley, Alice Orr-Ewing, Thomas Morrison, Michael Marcus, Nicola Sloane, Nicholas Gerard-Martin, Brett Brown, Anthony Skimshire, Eileen Davies, Simon Chandler, Georg Nikoloff, Tom Prior, Sophie Perry, Finlay Wright-Stephens, Gruffudd Glyn, Paul Longley, Enzo Cilenti.

The Theory of Everything, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(692 words, estimated 2:46 mins reading time)