CONVERSATION WITH A SULKING SHADOW.
"Are you sulking?" I asked the cat Shadow.
"Why would you care?" he answered sullenly.
"You are," I said. "You're sulking."
He had a quick wash and feigned interest in the line of Harry Potter DVDs alongside the television.
"Come on then, who's rubbed your fur up the wrong way?" I demanded.
"I've seen that picture on your blog," he announced aggrievedly."That should have been me, that should."
It took a moment for me to cotton on. Then I said: "Mother's one hundredth? It couldn't be you. You weren't there. Roz and Jess's cat Figgy was there. That's why he's in the picture."
"Well I'm thinking of leaving home," he said.
"You already do," I retorted. "Every night after supper. And every bloody morning you're back for breakfast."
As suddenly as he was miffed he was mollified.
He grinned his cat grin.
"Yeah," he said. "Why break the habit of a lifetime."
HANCOCK AND JOAN. (BBC4)
After Phil Davies and Jason Isaacs as Steptoe and Son, another acting tour de force, Ken Stott as Tony Hancock.
When I read about it in my ultimate digital TV and radio guide I had to look twice. S-S-S-Stott as H-H-H-Hancock? Swipe me, he's nothing like him!
Trouble with playing one-off individuals is that their unique talent defies reproduction. Being a talented original is what made them famous.
At his best Tony Hancock was a comic genius of instantly recognizable voice, loveable pomposity and impeccable timing.
At less than his best he was a talent sadly wasted.
At his worst he was a thoroughly nasty alcoholic.
Ken Stott, neither looking nor sounding like him, managed to portray the lad 'imself - by walk, mannerism and gesture - with uncanny accuracy.
Co-star Maxine Peake was excellent as Joan Le Mesurier, wife of Hancock's actor friend John, who became the ultimate love of the comedian's life.
With Hughie Green (Trevor Eve) and Frankie Howerd (David Walliams) to follow, The Curse of Comedy is proving to be a very fine drama series indeed.
TWO DETECTIVES TOO MANY.
Last Thursday saw the final episode in the current run of two detective shows. Ashes to Ashes (BBC1) and Trial & Retribution (ITV1).
I can't say I was sorry to see them go. Hard-bitten, tough-talking tecs are a bit wearisome after a while. Two of them on the same night can become downright tiresome: anyway, I get niggly trying to decide which of them to record.
So I hope DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) and Chief Supt. Michael Walker (David Hayman) will be given a long holiday.
Bring back Miss Marple.
HE KILLS COPPERS. (ITV1)
Another villainous cops and murderous villains yarn. This three-parter, with opening sequences set in 1966, is based on a Jake Arnott novel and brought to mind the early work of G.F.Newman. Everybody is a chancer and nobody half decent lives longer than the first episode.
Keeps you watching, though.
HOTEL BABYLON. (BBC1)
Have you watched this?
Then perhaps you are one of the several million appreciative Babylonians.
Sorry to say I'm not.
I think it's a load of five star bilge.
Dexter Fletcher, as The Concierge, tries hard to give credibility to his and everybody else's part.
Leading actors, first Tamzin Outhwaite then Max Beesley, playing the Hotel Manager, struggle desperately to manage unbelievable staff, impossible guests, ludicrous scripts and unlikely love interests before disappearing, with a relieved sigh, to the West End or the provincial stage for sanity and less money. At the moment Lee Williams has the role. I give him until the end of the series and that's just a P45 away.
Each week a guest star, usually well enough known to know better, turns up and hams it up, presumably for a decent pay packet.
I was all for chucking it in midway through the episode after Max Beesley left: but then, magically, one of the hotel guests (a licentious, conceited actor - yeah, some of it rings true) sat down at a piano and started to play Bohemian Rhapsody. Before you could say Freddie Mercury he was joined by three of the staff in a hilarious parody of the original Queen masterpiece. It almost compensated for the damned silly story.
By the end I was even cheerful enough to accept as guest star the omnipresent John - somebody really should tell him about Kelly Monteith - Barrowman.
Well, you can't blame any entertainer for grabbing all the work he can get.
But I still remember Kelly Monteith.
Do you?
You do?
Bloody hell.
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