Mammoth

Arriving largely without fanfare, I caught this show on iPlayer. Interesting show which plays to a large extent as a drama with the 'back from the dead' storyline largely in the back ground. Indeed you see nothing of Mammoth's return from the dead but catch up with him a few months later. The 'fish out of water' plot has been done many times before and this show offers no real new twists. However, it does have heart and offers a few laughs along the way. Hopefully it will get a series.

As a retired PE teacher I was able to relate to a lot of the material in this new offering from the BBC. I've actually worked with people like this in UK schools. Sporting dinosaurs straight out of the "Kes" playbook.

This comedy series has potential but it tries too hard to be nostalgic, sarcastic and obnoxious all at the same time. Tony Mammoth is a mix of David Brent and Mike Bassett, with outdated views on everything (women, cars, education, fashion etc). He's arrogant , rude and belittling to everyone else in the cast and this is where the comedy fails.

He's just not very likeable. It's all too cruel and silly at times, and the main character just carries on regardless, trampling over the cast whether they be family, old friends or work colleagues.

And let's not forget, to engage with this show, you have to blithely accept the "frozen in ice for 45 years" concept. I'm all for time travel and the supernatural but this is a bit daft.

I've watched 3 episodes and that's it for me. Mildly funny in places but by and large, a messy, toe curling cringefest.

The premise for this show is simple. PE teacher Tony Mammoth is frozen in ice during a school ski trip in the 70's and gets brought back to life in the modern day. Mammoth returns to his job as a PE teacher but it's full of fish out of water moments as he tries to get used to the new way of things. Bubbins (who also wrote the script) is wonderfully understated as the titular star and delivers the punch lines with little fanfare but lots of laughs. The supporting cast is brilliant, but this is very much Bubbins show and plays it to perfection. Currently there's only 3 episodes but I'm sure this'll go on to be a hit and get commissioned with a 2nd series.

I don't think many could capture the essence of the 1970's through the lens of a macho sexist PE teacher better than Mike Bubbins managed to achieve in this mini series. There were many genuine laugh out loud moments and some wonderful hillarious situations created by the writers. As someone who went to school in a Welsh comp in the 70's this was nostalgic and very funny. Bubbins seems a late bloomer and it is such a shame he wasn't recognised sooner because he has a rare and unique talent and is clearly a man who would have thrived had he been born several decades earlier. I hope this improves his profile and we see more of him in the future.

Toby Mammoth is caught in an avalanche in 1979, he's perfectly frozen and preserved, untill he's brought back to life in present day, Toby has to readjust to a whole new life.

Think of a spoof version of Life on Mars, I think this really work, very funny. I'm so glad to see that a full series followed, it deserved it, it certainly built on it. It certainly has a relevance in today's climate, it's Inoffensive, but definitely pokes fun at 1970's attitudes.

I can't wait to see further episodes, great seeing what Tony gets away with, such as hitting on mums at parents evening and running over a pupil.

This had me chuckling from start to finish, it was well made, and very well acted, Mike Bubbins did a cracking job here, as did Sian Gibson and Joseph Marcell.

Welsh humour at its finest. At a time where it seems that sitcoms have died, this cut through.

8/10.