Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Peter Serafinowicz, Belinda Stewart-Wilson, Catherine Shepherd, Paul Putner,
Bronagh Gallagher, Alex Lowe, Benedict Wong | Written by Peter Serafinowicz, Robert Popper & others
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £19.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 160 minutes | Directed by Becky Martin
How did this show not appear on my radar until now? Here we have all six episodes of the very funny Peter Serafinowicz Show which went out on BBC2 waaaaaay back in 2007. But I've never heard of it, nor Mr Serafinowicz himself, until now. Did anyone even watch it at the time? Because there was no buzz, no word of mouth, nothing. Which is a real shame, becaue it's quite good indeed.
It's a one-man (with supporting players) sketch/impressions show – think Dick Emery, Benny Hill or Kenny Everett (or, if you're Australian, Eric Bana or Shaun Micallef). There's a mix of running gags, celebrity impressions (Terry Wogan, Robert De Niro, Alan Alda, Chris Tarrant, George Lucas, all four Beatles, Al Pacino, Noel Edmonds, Simon Cowell, John Cleese, Kevin Spacey and Michael Caine, to name but a few), commercial parodies and gameshow sendups (Big Brother, The Weakest Link and Deal or No Deal all cop a serve).
There are also some very clever original characters. My two favourites would have to be the creepy, obese Brian Butterfield, and the freakily weird robot talk-show host Michael-6. There are some genuine, laugh-out-loud moments, but for the most part it's decent, chuckle-quietly-to-yourself and wry-smile stuff. Mr Serafinowicz proves himself to be a very funny writer, and a more-than-decent impressionist. Highly recommended.
EXTRAS *** Two of the episodes have audio commentaries – the first features Serafinowiz, director Becky Martin and editor Paul Machliss (on episode 3), and the second has Serafinowicz and his brother, James, who was also a writer and a producer on the show (on episode 6); the Christmas special from 2008 (interesting to see David Walliams pop up as the script editor for this one); deleted scenes (also featuring commentary, with the Serafinowicz brothers); and a 12-minute making-of documentary.