Dave Allen

Late dark Dave Allen: vis-a-vis his tv shows in '93-94 was just as perceptive and funny as his shows for the Beeb between '71 and 1986 covering topics from the absurd dead-weight and fatuities of technology e.g. Automated computerised car voiceovers: prefiguring the onset of the internet, mobile phones etc to the usual gags relating to sexual and religious peccadilloes. It isn't the case of the earlier the better and refreshingly acerbic Irish raconteur, Mr Allen stood for intelligent tv comedy. The Dave Allen at Large series caught the zeitgeist - I fondly remember the series from the early-'70s when I was a nipper. His shows for the Beeb in 1990 showcased a maturer take on a fatuous world.