Late Night Mash did not make a big deal about Rachel Parris taking over from Nish Kumar as host in the new series. There was a lovely gag about comparing Parris to Liz Truss and taking another job from an Asian man, but apart from that it was business as usual for the satirical show that might have moved from BBC to Dave but will not die.
The format was pretty much the same as ever. Geoff Norcott did his token right-winger schtick, Steve N Allen and Ellie Taylor seemed slightly marooned with their newsreader gags that felt as if they had been recorded in a different studio at a different time. And talking of the studio, what was it with the big red and blue backdrop? Was it subtle dig at the similarly hued GB News or just a way of saying that despite putting the boot into Britain Late Night Mash was still patriotic?
There's something about the humour to Late Night Mash that makes it stand out. It is not always brilliant but it is kind of different. A little Chris Morris lite, usng language for humour rather than conventional punchlines, as in the imaginary list of Nadine Dorries' traits that kind of made some kind of weird sense without actually ever being laugh-out-loud funny.
And just in case there were critics sharpening their quills to write that the whole thing was a lefty wokefest comedian Helen Bauer was on hand with a send up of a wellness expert that was every bit as irritating as a real wellness expert might be, so I guess it did the job perfectly. Elsewhere special guest Joel Dommett popped in and out and slightly shook up the familiar format with weather reports and assorted banter.
The one thing about having Parris as anchor is I missed her monologues and two-way convos with Kumar. There was a dry, deadpan sarcasm there which made them a great double act. That interplay was missing this time round. Also with a running time of an hour (inc ads) the material started to feel a little stretched thin. But maybe that's just me struggling to cope with any more cost of living jokes when the government's buy-a-kettle advice so far has been no laughing matter.
Late Night Mash, Thursdays, 10pm, Dave and on catch up.
