Clone

Whilst flicking through the channels last night, I had the misfortune of stumbling across 'Clone', a BBC 3 'comedy' starring Jonathan Pryce, Mark Gatiss, and Stuart McLoughlin.

Dr Victor Blenkinsop (Pryce) has created a prototype super soldier, but unfortunately his creation turns out to be a harmless and Frank Spencer-esquire fool named Albert (McLoughlin). Both the doctor and the clone go on the run, avoiding the dastardly Colonel Black (Gatiss) and his security agents who are intent on killing them. This leads Blenkinsop and his creation to a sleepy village, with the intention of blending in with the locals and laying low for a while. However, this may be more difficult than it would appear...

Sounds interesting? - it certainly is ambitious... not something that could be said about the quality of the script.

The comedy really lets this series down - each situation seems to be clichéd, and the the jokes really aren't funny. In fact, some of the scenes were so bad that I felt embarrassed - it's like the script was written by a 15 year old with learning difficulties. Why the normally excellent Jonathan Pryce agreed to be in this, i'll never know. The final straw is the 'canned laughter', which cheapens things even more.

The clone himself, who I imagine is supposed to be endearing to the viewers, is simply incredibly annoying - probably one of the most annoying TV characters I have seen over the last decade, and that's saying something. He seems to be a copy of 'Pike' from Dad's Army - but a very poor copy.

The special effects set a new low, even for the BBC, with explosions looking like they've been made on a Commodore 64. Highly not- recommended.

"Clone" is one of the many recent 6 part shows that BBC3 has been experimenting with, and just like coming of age and how not to live your life, it has hit the right spot for me, the plot lines are very funny, though rather random at times, luckily never straying into "mighty boosh" levels of randomness, (they just ruin a show), the characters are all brilliantly acted, showing a real variety between them: There is the titular "Clone" the superhuman killing machine that has come out of the test tube as docile as a baby with the killing instinct of a baby canary His creator, Victor, played brilliantly by John Pryce, trying to keep his "son" alive whilst finding a way to bring back his dangerous powers, at the same time believing himself to be a real ladies man, unbeknownst to him, that most see him as a lecherous old man. Colonel Black is undoubtedly the most brilliant character in the show, played by Mark Gatiss, he tries to be the most evil man alive, whilst trying to fight off the fact that he is an extremely closeted bender, his moments of weakness (after a few whiskey drams apparently) are brilliant, with him ending up killing the people who have seen him in this different light. Rose, the barmaid in the show is brilliant as a sarcastic young lady whose brain possesses all of the characteristics needed to return the clone to full working order.

Put together this cast makes the show one of the most entertaining modern comedies I have seen yet, though not being a 2 pints, it has the same charm as an '80s comedy, whilst drawing heavily on modern pop references.

I give it an 8/10 for brilliant characters, fantastic acting and a hilarious plot