I have to say that so far I do not think this series of Bleak Expectations is up to it's former standard. But seeing as it's former standard was brilliant I guess it is hard to continue writing a Dickensian spoof with the same eight or nine major characters throughout eighteen half-hour episodes and keep it fresh!What made each episode for me was the incarnation of Geoffrey Whitehead that was met each week by our heroes Pip Bin (inventor of the bin) and Harry Biscuit (crap inventor and lovable oaf). Of course Mr Gently Benevolent (ironically the most evil man in Britain) played by Anthony Head is wonderful and show-stealing each week, but I've always liked Geoffrey Whitehead's characters the best. He has such brilliant delivery and a fantastic voice for evil. Out of all the Hardthrashers, Sternbeaters and Wackwallops he has played so far (15 now we're on episode 15) I liked the original Mr Hardthrasher, headmaster of St Bastard's School for Boys... What am I talking about!? I was going to say I liked him the best, but that's such a lie! I liked ALL of them!!
My point for this week's offering is that Mr Wackwallop running Pip's Bin factory was a waste of Whitehead!! That character was not good enough! I liked him as the Police Inspector in the first episode and the psychiatrist (De-mentaliser) in the Scrooge/Harvest Festival episode the week before, but I even felt then that they were not nearly stupid nor Dickensian enough!!
-I've just read that back, probably the words "Scrooge/Harvest Festival" coupled with the opinion "not nearly stupid nor Dickensian enough" is a bit rich and I apologise. The programme is still ridiculously funny. It's my favourite radio show and I have mp3s of all of them which I regularly listen to. I can't wait to add the 6 Wackwallops to my epic drawing of the characters.
