Maybe I was not paying attention but the new series of 10 O'Clock Live seemed to slip out without much in the way of advance fanfare last night. Perhaps that was a shrewd move. This is the third run but somehow it always seems to need time to bed in, as if the stars, Charlie Brooker, David Mitchell, Lauren Laverne and Jimmy Carr need a while to get their satirical chuckle muscles working.
This first episode certainly seemed to suffer from stiffness and I'm not not talking about Charlie Brooker's new over-gelled, side-parted haircut. It seems to be one of the problems of the topical agenda of the show that the first episode tends to be caught between tackling the day's news to prove it really is live and dealing with recent big topics which have been deemed editorially unavoidable.
And so the gagsmiths rattled through a checklist of headlines. Thatcher ("The sad thing is she probably died too late for us to really enjoy it." – Mitchell), North Korea, Suarez, the Boston bombing. Charlie Brooker's report on the latter was the tangiest bite of the satsuma-segmented show – if a little too much like a Screenwipe routine – and set up a nice running gag about spotting lone brown men that had a tart, if inevitable pay-off. Shame there also had to be a Jimmy Savile reference on a cutting edge topical show, though. What next? Quips about Fred West? Oh, they did one of those, talking about how if you are a great sportsman you can get away with all sorts of crimes.
If Brooker is the golden boy, David Mitchell gets silver and runs him a close second. If it is possible to like a comedy show without finding it particularly funny Mitchell helps 10 O'Clock Live to fit that bill for me. He shamelessly brains up proceedings and treats the audience with way more intelligence and general knowledge than they have. His bullish riff comparing Suarez to William Webb-Ellis must've sent a nation of comprehensive school twentysomethings rushing to Wikipedia.
Jimmy Carr appeared, by contrast, slightly subdued (I've been enjoying him more on the recent smutty-yet-brainy 8 Out of 10 Cats Countdown specials). Doesn't he normally do a silly sketch? (Les Dennis had that honour, guesting in an it-writes-itself Book of Maggie musical spoof complete with wigs, Scargill and hoofing miners). And doesn't Carr usually deliver more of a monologue at the beginning? At least he was a good sport, smiling when the mandatory tax gags flew his way. There is usually a high smugness factor on the programme, but self-satisfaction was on a low light last night.
As for Lauren Laverne, she was, I'm afraid, still the weakest link. This is not surprising given that she is hemmed in by three quickfire comedians, but she looked like she had less to do than ever. It did not help that at one point when the others ad libbed and the camera came back to her she just moved on to the next item without adding to the jollity. In her defence it's an awkward role. Is she supposed to contribute to the comedy or just do the links? She already stands out as being the only woman and the only non-professional comedian. And last night in her yellow and black frock she also stood out as the only one dressed as a bee.
I love Laverne's work (although I preferred her with Shirley*) but it would make more sense if she was simply replaced by another comedian. And if it has to be a token woman there are plenty that would fit the bill. Bridget Christie, who is pretty hot at the moment. Or Sara Pascoe. Or Josie Long. I'm simply not clear what Laverne's credentials are to be on this programme – what was the logic of casting her? Apart from the fact that she makes a good bee.
It is a shame then, that in a programme that tries to take a leaf out of Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and be funny and serious the most memorable moment was a ridiculous ding dong argument with Theo Paphitis coming across as reasonable compared to raving Thatcher apologist Katie Hopkins, who appeared to be auditioning early for panto villain.
Twitter boiled over and I should imagine a few objects were lobbed at screens around the UK. Boyishly heroic lefty Owen Jones stood his ground and kept quiet, but then it was probably past his bed-time and he had been told to behave himself or there would be no Monster Munches in his packed lunch tomorrow.
And so the quest for the perfect British satirical show continues. I'll keep watching 10 O'Clock Live because it is the best we've got. The frustration is that with the talent involved and the rich vein of subject matter it can pick from one cannot help thinking it can do better.
*old gag
