Impressionable Jon Culshaw, The

2 0 0 4 (UK)
6 x 25 minute episodes

A stalwart of the BBC radio comedy Dead Ringers, impressionist Jon Culshaw made the transition to television with a couple of specials and this ITV series in February and March 2004.

Actual television personalities appearing (often alongside Culshaw’s impressions of them) was a novel idea, but the series didn’t really work.

Culshaw clearly had a talent for mimicry, but his subject choices were unimaginative (Des Lynam, Billy Connolly, Ozzy Osbourne), and some of his ideas were lazy (having newsreader Trevor McDonald rap the news).

Some of the impressions were particularly good though – especially those of Eamonn Holmes, Ian Hislop and David Brent (the Ricky Gervais character from The Office) – and the writing could be pleasingly sharp, notably the recurring back-garden clashes between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Jon Culshaw
Normski
Eddie Large
Phillip Schofield
Bernard Manning
Fern Britton
Tony Gubba
Kate Robbins
Kevin Connelly
Steve Nallon

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