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Romantic Old Bird · 25-04-2002, 06:34 PM

These two were on Richard and Judy tonight, reprising a bit of their P&H live. He was not nice about Helen.

Ronnie did her 'Ooooh look Mr Clarke, 'Ow do we do that without a brain?',

Alistair responded with his gormless, looking down, almost monosyllabic Paul
impression, splattered with a lot of 'right's' and 'yeah, I mean, like, totally!'

Then McGowan (you can see he upset me!) pulled a distasteful face and said that when Ronnie 'did' Helen he wanted to leave the room because Helen annoyed him so much

I'm glad Helen can laugh at it in her good natured way, but there is certainly no affection involved in his portrayal of them I'm afraid.

Mind you, he went on record last year as saying Elizabeth was his favourite housemate.....................

bananarama · 25-04-2002, 09:35 PM

Those sort of squashed brain cell comments make me angry too.

There is something that self opinionated impersonators fail to remember and that is if they themselves had half a brain they would realize that it's people like Helen and Paul and celebrities in general that keep them in a job.

Stu xxx · 25-04-2002, 09:40 PM

ahh come on x
It's only for fun i'm sure Helen and Paul do think it's funny.
I love alister mcgowan did you see it last friday with the friends thing! It was "wicked"

Feefs · 26-04-2002, 03:47 PM

Well, I never used to be a big fan of McGowan but I've grown to like him more over the last couple of series. He's still a bit 'average' in my opinion at impressions with Rory Bremner being my hero. Obviously some cruelty is inevitable when doing a send-up, but when it's supposed to be for fun, then some affection is required too.

I've always had a bee in my bonnet about people having a go at someone, or sending them up for being stupid because

1. it's not something you can do anything about if you are, and
2. it shows immense arrogance and reminds me of the school bullies.

Why not do it properly and do a 'how can you be a pop star when you can't speak' with stuttering Gareth impressions or do David Blunket 'getting about with no sight'? Think of how funny it would be to watch him walk into things!

McGowan has on a number of ocassions used stupidity as the focus of his impressions which I was never comfortable with, but at least when he was accusing Posh and Becks of being thick, it didn't really matter. They are established celebs who are very rich and whose public perception will hardly be changed by a sketch. More importantly, footballers and pop stars are not expected to be clever.

Admittedly, Helen's image and presenting style revels in her naivity, but if stupidity is reenforced too much, then it could limit her in the future. Then again, being famous enough to be 'done' might help her out in the fickle world of show-biz. Paul on the other hand has to go into a normal job, with normal people and convince people his work is good because he has the skills and intelligence to do it. The people he works with all the time will probaby laugh, but it can't help him if he is considering changing company, or when he has to give a presentation to clients.

Maybe it'll be fine, and we are being over-protective. If Helen can laugh at it, then we should, but I don't suppose she has much choice. I'm probably also prejudiced by having never liked Alistair. It's not just his impressions, but whenever he's interviewed he just really annoys me. There is something incredibly smug about him that has always got on my nerves.

I'm off out tonight, but I'll probably video it and watch with trepidation. I must admit, the Neil and Christine Hamilton was very, very funny.

Out of interest - what did Richard and Judy have to say about it all?

WILDCHILD · 26-04-2002, 04:38 PM

yeah sj, I saw it last week with F.R.I.E.N.D.S - the Ross impression was spot on!!! (do u like friends?! i luv it!)
The Ruby Wax one was also funny!

BigSister · 26-04-2002, 06:01 PM

Whildchild I saw it also and i luv friends its da best

I also enjoyed the Hamliton 1 all of the eastenders ones and the Richard and Judy one

monie · 26-04-2002, 08:01 PM

watched last weeks waiting for the Helen and Paul bit, as we now know it was this week. Well in my opinion I thought the portrayal of both Helen and Paul was awful, I do hope Paul and Helen thought it was funny, but I for one thought it was not. The only thing they got right was the clothes. The brain thing was offensive, it was to far fetched and very noticable that McGowan does not like them. a very different story when they do the Beckhams. This is funny the Helen and Paul thing is not.

peachy · 26-04-2002, 08:15 PM

I do agree, monie. It was pathetic, ROB's stories are fifty times funnier than that load of old tosh. The characterisations were really dire although, Alistair mcGowan's Paul was better than Ronni's Helen which really hasn't improved at all. All in all very poor, i thought.

Stu xxx · 26-04-2002, 08:19 PM

i thought it was excellent! I laughed so much at the Paul and Helen bit! You just have to take it with a pinch of salt!

And i'm sure Posh and becks fans would find that skecth offensive.

Romantic Old Bird · 26-04-2002, 08:28 PM

As I observed earlier, this was a cruel and unfunny parody by these two, who patently dislike P&H.

The Paul characterisation is fairly good, and if the material was better, and kinder, this would be fine.

However, there really is no excuse for being this cruel about someone who has to go to work in a normal job on Monday morning.

As Feefs said, this could adversely affect his career prospects.

I shall be writing to the BBC to object in the strongest possible, and I think it would be good if a few like minded souls did the same. P&H can't really object without being branded petty. we need to do it for them

I hope P&H are OK and not too upset by it all. let's hope that one thing they said was true: As long as they have each other they'll be alright, bless their little cotton socks

milly · 26-04-2002, 09:26 PM

as much as i love helen and paul,i've got to admit i did find it funny,even though it was a bit cruel,so i can't write to the bbc to complain,because it would make me a hypocrite (sorry).

chilledbootz · 26-04-2002, 10:39 PM

Well i laughed too but not at the script because it simply wasn't funny. I think there impressions are fantastic but they do drag out the dialogue. The reason I laughed was because of the mannerisms that they picked up on, like Paul repeating what somebody has just said before answering(he does that loads). Some of Ronnie's expressions and mannerisms were pure H as well.
I expect P&H can laugh at it. They didn't say anything too personal about them just implied that they are both brainless, and let's face it they're not the first people to do that!!!!!!

Anybody notice that the clip Lorraine showed H wasn't featured in tonights show, so I think they'll be back this series as well.

susieq · 26-04-2002, 10:40 PM

I'm on Feef's and ROB's side with this. I found it unfunny and cruel. It wasn't even an accurate portrayal - which would have at least made it bearable.

'Helen' was absolutely nowhere near - the only thing recognisable was the glittery jeans and the blonde hair. Certainly not the accent (don't know what it was supposed to be but if I was Welsh, I'd be damn insulted) or the mannerisms.

'Paul' was not much better. He didn't get the speech pattern at all, in my opinion. Just saying 'You know what I mean' every two seconds in a sort of mockney, Essex type voice does not count I'm afraid. In any event, this wasn't particularly a 'Paul Clarke' phrase - not one he was well known for anyway - so way off the mark there as well.

Let's face it, he wasn't doing Paul & Helen to gently satirise their idiosyncracies, but to show people how thick he thinks they are - there's a world of difference, and I found it quite offensive.

Didn't think the show as a whole was as strong as last weeks - even his Beckham seems to have gone off the boil.

I think it will be a "thanks but no thanks" from me from now on.

milly · 27-04-2002, 06:51 AM

its easy to laugh at the one 's we don't like,but its not so funny when its someone you like,but that's showbiz,i for one wasn't offended by it,i don't take things like that too serious.
i agree with sj, just take it with a pinch of salt,or don't watch it.

WILDCHILD · 27-04-2002, 09:59 AM

I thought it was funny!

We all know what Alistair Mcgowan is like - he takes the mick of celebs. He makes out Posh and Becks are thick, he does it to all of them.
It wasnt as funny this time round and maybe some of the comments were a bit inappropriate but I did find that they were so much like them.

bananarama · 27-04-2002, 01:19 PM

The best advice for those so called impersonators is that they should change their butcher and perhaps then they would have a better class of TRIPE.

I have seen impressionists come and go and I have to say the sooner they go the better. There is REAL talent out there and we deserve much better than that drivel

Feefs · 27-04-2002, 02:31 PM

After all that I missed it and failed to video it, so I can't say whether or not I think it's funny or cruel. I certainly agree with the theory of taking things with a pinch of salt, but before he did P&H I have sometimes felt his manner overbearingly arrogant and just not affectionate enough.

Rory Bremner seems to have greater affinity for his characters and they're politicians! They really do deserve to be scrutinised.

It is obvious that McGowan does have affection for the Beckhams, because even if he paints them as thick, and he wasn't the first to do that either, he does make them very likeable. However, I had grown very bored of the thick angle on them too. It just isn't that funny! I strongly suspect he has serious issues about being considered intelligent. No wonder he had an affinity to Liz.

Showing amazing insight as ever, I spoke to soon by claiming that it would be considered too offensive to send up Gareth's stutter. It seems 2DTV are planning to do it, and although they expect to create outrage amongst his fans they are 'just doing their job'. Just creating lots of publicity is clearly an important part of this job.

cc100 · 27-04-2002, 03:51 PM

RONNI DOING HELEN WAS STUPID. SHE JUST DID A ROUTINE WELSH ACCENT! THATS LIKE DOING A ROUTINE ENGLISH ACCENT FOR TONY BLAIR, EVERYONE TALKS DIFFERENT NO MATTER WHAT COUNTRY THEIR FROM.

Davina · 27-04-2002, 06:17 PM

I thought it was funny too

jbellemeg · 27-04-2002, 09:04 PM

Let's not forget ROB, Alistair McGowans well established script writer's.
Who is to blame for this drivel?

I know someone that could knock spots off the so called long established script writing team.

Hi ROB.

bananarama · 27-04-2002, 10:01 PM

cc100

You hit the nail on the head cc100. They are not talented impersonators but more like third rate actors making a bad job of an even worse script They need the likes of Rory Bremner to do a proper job. Or Indeed the cast of Smack the Pony would do much better.

James · 27-04-2002, 10:06 PM

I'm not surprised that Alistair McGowan finds Ronni Ancona's Helen annoying. It's annoying precisely because it is not like Helen: well wide of the mark both on voice and character. And Alastair's Paul isn't exactly right either.

It's a pity because Alistair and Ronni's imitations are usually excellent. For instance, the Hamiltons and Louis Theroux are right on the money.
The impression I get is that Alistair McGowan didn't pay that much attention to Big Brother.

Does anyone remember when Paul was on BBLB and some guy called in to the phone-in and did an impression of Helen? He sounded more like Helen than Ronni Ancona.