WALLIAMS AND FRIEND, BBC1, 9.30pm
THERE was a time when David Walliams was everywhere, and it was not a particularly good time. When a celebrity becomes “flavour of the month” and is pushed at us relentlessly things becomes wearying, no matter how good they might be.
Years back Walliams was in sketch shows, sitcoms, took on various presenting roles and did the rounds of the chat show couches as a children’s author.
The Walliams mania has mercifully died down and perhaps he has now subsided to being a camp Christmas thing.
In this new series he appears in sketches with a “friend.” There’ll be a different one each week and tonight it’s comedian Jack Whitehall.
It kicks off with a scene which borrows so heavily from the Monty Python “nudge nudge wink wink” sketch that you can see the punchline coming a mile off. Other targets for the mild jokes include Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and embarrassing dating gameshows.
PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF POP, BBC4, 10pm
Because it’s a clever, arty channel (sometimes), BBC4’s many music documentaries tend to be beyond me. My tastes are simple and so I know little about the reggae pioneers or the smoky intricacies of jazz. Just give me the airy pop of the Pet Shop Boys, or Morrissey when I’m feeling a bit darker, and I’ll be content.
But tonight a BBC4 music documentary actually caters to my musical taste! Musical taste which my own father finds embarrassing… Lauren Laverne takes us through the musical highlights of the decade 1986 to 1996. To quote from the Burnistoun “jaisket” sketch which has been stuck in my head for weeks, it’s the glory days, man! Pure baskin’ in it!
Fans share their memories and their souvenirs from everything from acid house and Britpop, to the Spice Girls and Take That.
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