The Stage

TV review

Published Wednesday 22 February 2012 at 14:47 by Harry Venning

Let’s dance for Sport Relief? No, let’s not.

And let’s not encourage minor celebrities, desperate for prime time television exposure, to either.

Because I have already done my bit for Sports Relief by shelling out for two T-shirts I feel entitled to my opinion, namely that Let’s Dance For Sports Relief is criminally bad, and the fact that it is committed in the name of charity doesn’t make it any less so.

It is essentially one joke - and a feeble one at that - stretched out over several weeks, like an end-of-term Christmas show that drags on until Easter.

If the BBC wanted to raise money for the cause they could save on production costs by simply repeating any of the dismally similar previous competitions: male comedian looking to break into the mainstream by camping around in drag? Check! Elderly, nearly forgotten celebrities dressed as youth? Check! Comedy judging panel whose humorous pronouncements are constrained by the need to be unreservedly encouraging? Check!

In the interests of balance I should say that my nine-year-old daughter loves it. But she’s wrong.

Just to prove I am not always a sour-faced curmudgeon slowly marinating in a lake of his own bile, I should like to extend a qualified welcome to Watson and Oliver. Having hoovered up several comedy awards with their stage act, the duo have been entrusted with their own BBC2 sketch show and the initial results are encouraging.

Do not expect any comedy revolution as their approach is remorselessly mainstream, inevitably inviting comparison with French And Saunders - did I mention that Watson and Oliver are women? However, the material is genuinely funny and the performances winning. Allowing for the fact all sketch shows are inherently inconsistent I’d say their first episode registered around a 75% success rate, which is good.

They also deserve credit for a particularly high-risk finale, which saw the pair fight for the right to share a show-stopping duet with guest star John Barrowman. All teeth, jazz hands and unconfined ego, Barrowman sent himself up with an enthusiasm that threatened to overwhelm his hosts, but they weathered the storm of upstaging intact.

It only remains to be seen if Watson And Oliver will fall prey to the dominant trend among sketch shows of lazily recycling the same gags and characters, albeit with minor modifications, throughout the remainder of the series.

Poor old Upstairs Downstairs. The series pops out for a 35-year break, only to return and find its clothes, and servants’ liveries, stolen by Downton Abbey.

Do we need two of what is essentially the same drama? Why not, if they’re both good?

Upstairs Downstairs has class in both senses of the phrase. The pre-war period is exquisitely recreated, the storylines strong and the characters both engaging and well drawn.

Most importantly, it clearly takes pride in delivering intelligent historical drama while still providing imaginative and surprising storylines. All this without following Downton Abbey’s soapy slide into a costumed Crossroads.

• Let’s Dance For Sports Relief, BBC1, Saturday 18 February, 7.30pm

• Watson And Oliver, BBC2, Monday 20 February, 10pm

• Upstairs Downstairs, BBC1, Sunday 19 February, 9.30pm