Big Top

You can imagine the BBC big-wigs planning this, let's take a star from each of the following hit shows - The Fast Show, Blackadder and Hi-de-Hi. Add the sister of a movie star, a foreigner with a comedy eastern European accent and Amanda Holden, clearly one of the current "flavours of the month" from Britain's got Talent and the celebrity magazines and we should have a massive hit......

Well, what a disaster: tired flat jokes, a wooden and unfunny performance from Holden and predictable writing Tony Robinson is in some sort of catatonic trance throughout each episode. He's clearly there in body, but his eyes tell you he'd rather be in a trench talking about pottery.

If this programme was a horse, it would have been taken out and shot. It is a prime example of being less than the sum of it's parts.

Having just watched an episode of Big Top, I was moved to write my first IMDb review in years! What a piece of ****!!

Some of the best comedy ever penned has been for the BBC so it amazes me that they could commission something as banal and witless as Big Top.

The gags are obvious, clumsy, and devoid of any humour and I was constantly reminded me of the spoof Ricky Jervais comedy, 'When the Whistle Blows'.

Got to be seen to be believed.

PS. If you are someone who enjoyed this show (statistically there must be some), I suggest you check out Ballamory and Mr Tumble on Cbeebies.

Hideous acting, and worse writing - Big Flop was doomed from the start. Basically Amanda Holden runs a circus and tries her hardest to warm the nation into appreciating her as a comedian. Unfortunately she isn't the slightest bit funny, and has made the entire country question how she ever became a judge on the popular 'Britains Got Talent'.

Fortunately there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you feel this is an accurate description of the show you can complain to the BBC - they have, after all, used your money to make the show and pay Amanda's ridiculous wage.

For America viewers I apologise but this is by no means considered watchable television in Britain.

In one episode of this 'comedy' series someone suggests the lead character should sleep with a Health and Safety Inspector to pass a routine inspection. Maybe this is a case of art imitating life and the sales pitch to the BBC involved a little indoor wrestling on the casting couch.

Seriously, I came across this on the cable channel BBC Entertainment and just sat hypnotised by the sheer awfulness of this show. I mean, was this the organisation that gave us Tony Hancock and Fawlty Towers? How did a member of the 'Blackadder' team end up spewing out trite one-liners which were nowhere near as venomous and cynical as his former master (but were obviously intended to be)? Could the cast read? How hungry do you have to be to do this sort of stuff? Added to the terrible scripting was a cheap, shoddy production in which the principle characters were backed up by extras doing nothing in particular in the background, and obvious inserts of a real circus audience for 'performance' sequences.

If you need something to take your mind off a toothache don't watch this, live with your toothache, it will be funnier.

Very possibly the worst alleged comedy the BBC has produced in years. With few rivals for worst ever you need only see Amanda Holden's name in the credits of anything to know it's bad but this has to be her personal best/worst. This turkey was moved to a late night slot after the 2nd or 3rd ep to limit the damage. Contrived plots with wooden acting combine to swallow the hopes and dreams even the most dedicated career actor who has the misfortune of being cast in this, the 2nd worst ver sitcom to come from the same management team. It is hoped that just this once the BBC go back to the practise of reusing video tape to insure the complete erasure of this embarrassing pile of ick.