Tag Archives: Hugh Dennis

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)

The Couple Next Door. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Sam Heughan, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jessica De Gouw, Alfred Enoch, Hugh Dennis, Kate Robbins, Joel Morris, Janine Duvitski, Ionna Kimbrook, Daniel Bell, Deirdre Mullins, Mark Frost, Andrew Woodall, Anastasia Hille, Katie-Clarkson-Hill, Noah Holdsworth, Stephanie Street, Clare Burt, Ellie Lucia Mcardle, James Doherty, Aimé Claeys, Ali Ariaie, Dario Coates, Paul Dunphy, Geoffrey Breton, Lauren Douglin, Teli Jalloh, James Burrows, Kate Anthony, Sarah Gallagher, Leila Mimmack, Robert Whitelock, Emma Moortgat, Henry Regan, Helene Maksoud, Elise van Lil, Jade Greyul, Andrew Sheridan, Rob Oldfield, Ace Bhatti.

The Couple Next Door. Television Drama Review. full post

(500 words, estimated 2:00 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)

No Time To Die. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Rami Malik, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Billy Magnussen, Christoph Waltz, David Dencik, Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, Lisa-Dorah Sonnet, Coline Defaud, Mathilde Bourbin, Hugh Dennis, Priyanga Burford.

Debates will rage on long after his replacement in the franchise is announced, a new favourite taking in the mantle as Ian Fleming’s suave, and sometimes brutal, hero, but as the final moments of No Time To Die roll, as the memories re-emerge of intricately drawn characters, of timely antagonists capturing the era with sublime fierceness, and of a screen hero facing arguably his own mortality, what we should arguably be recognising is that Daniel Craig as 007 is the greatest version of super British spy, James Bond, we might ever be treated to.

No Time To Die. Film Review. full post

(563 words, estimated 2:15 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)

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)

Midsomer Murders: The Village That Rose From The Dead. Television Review.

 

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Fiona Dolman, Nick Hendrix, Anthony Calf, Hugh Dennis, Raj Awasti, Caroline Blakiston, David Burke, Christopher Colquhoun, Michael Haydon, Pippa Haywood, Matt Houghton, Seeta Indrani, William Melling, Sally Philips, Catherine Steadman, Edwin Thomas, Manjinder Virk, Jo Wheatley, Angus Wright.

The past is so much harder to leave behind when the ghosts won’t stay dead.

Midsomer Murders: The Village That Rose From The Dead. Television Review. full post

(433 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Miss Marple: Endless Night. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Julia McKenzie, Tom Hughes, Aneurin Barnard, Joanna Vanderham, Birgitte Hjort Sorrensen, Hugh Dennis, Tazmin Outhwaite, Adam Wadsworth, Janet Henfrey, William Hope, Glynis Barber, Michael McKell, Rosalind Halstead, Celyn Jones, Stephen Churchett.

Sunday nights aren’t quite the same without a murder to solve on television, it is a pre-occupation with the darkest of crimes that seems to capture the British public’s imagination more than anything in the world, if you include cricket into the equation, there can’t be more anything else in the world that gets more intriguing to the armchair detective/umpire than introducing facts and statistics to the case.

Miss Marple: Endless Night. Television Review. full post

(565 words, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)