Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
The pairing of everyone’s favourite Plasticine models with inventors around the world should have been a joyous blend but, unfortunately, they proved to be rather uneasy bedfellows in the first episode of Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention.
The theme of the first of the series’ 6 episodes was devices inspired by nature, and there was an interesting variety of inventions on offer: from a new breed of PVC animals, to apparatus that allows the user to breath underwater for an indefinite amount of time. Just over 5 minutes was dedicated to each invention, which ensured that the show had a snappy, audience-friendly approach to science. However, it also led to an uncertain tone, conforming to the age-old conundrum of being too adult for kids and too childish for adults. Who was the intended audience for the show? I don’t know. The worrying thing is, I don’t think the producers knew either.
The science behind each of the contraptions would no doubt have been ridiculously advanced, but the way the show was presented meant that it felt more like a CBBC programme, in the vein of Blue Peter or Smart. An indicating factor of this was the employment of Extras’ Ashley Jensen as narrator (why?) and Jem Stansfield (from BBC1’s How to Patronise Under 5’s... no, sorry, Bang Goes the Theory) as a science correspondent. Yes, they explained everything well, but I couldn’t help feeling that I was being insulted at the same time, as if the attitude of the producers was that the concepts were far beyond what an early evening audience could cope with. Inventors and science fanatics would have been much more interested if it had gone into more detail about the production processes of these inventions, while W&G fans like me would have just preferred a new W&G short film.
My feelings of unease began from the very first scene which featured several poor attempts at jokes. Wallace and Gromit are renowned for humour cheesier than Wallace’s kitchen cupboard, but the humour in this show was cringe-worthily corny rather than gleefully cheesy, with a running joke revolving around an elephant called Kevin providing electricity for the studio with sprout power. Need I say more?
Further cringe-inducing moments came from the way the W&G segments were linked with the invention segments, with Jensen continually saying “Thank you, Mr. Wallace”. In each of the 5 previous (and glorious) outings for W&G, the audience has been transported into their world, with the characters evoking more emotion than most ‘real’ actors, but this merging with the real world just did not work. He’s not real! It was nearly as annoying as when Philip Schofield repeatedly refers to The Cube on ITV1’s (you’ve guessed it) The Cube as a living object, with such redundant phrases as “The Cube wants you to fail”. No it doesn’t. Furthermore, Gromit was criminally underused, and the animation somehow lacked the homemade quality (with some of the backgrounds looking a little too polished) that made their previous outings such a success.
Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention should have been 2 separate programmes, and joining them together was another desperate rating-grabbing attempt from the BBC. It wasn’t bad, but it was far from “cracking Gromit.”
The first episode of Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention is available on iPlayer now, and the second episode airs next Wednesday at 7.30pm on BBC1.
You must log in to submit a comment.
