The Mimic, which began last week on Channel 4, is a comedy with a rather interesting twist. The lead, Martin (Terry Mynott), has an uncanny ability for mimicry and can copy the voices of those he hears. This gives considerable scope for celebrity impressions, and the opening scene where he takes on Terry Wogan’s voice to liven up a traffic jam establishes the mild but persistent sort of humour in the show.
Whilst rarely moved to audible laughter, when watching The Mimic I was consistently impressed by the peaceful and placid sense of humour the show has. Although many comedies feel the need to shock and maintain a fast pace, The Mimic takes a more gentle approach. The other characters support Martin very well, especially his friend and housemate Jean (Jo Hartley)who is whimsical yet natural enough to be believable, and Martin’s newly discovered son Steven (Jacob Anderson), who is again realistic yet interesting.
The inclusion of more serious and less light-hearted storylines makes The Mimic an intriguing mixture of drama and comedy. We feel empathy and support for Martin, yet are not brought down to despair due to the interspersed impressions he does, which show that he is not necessarily taking things too seriously. With The Mimic there is a real danger that the impressions are not integrated with the action and become a rather obsolete or inappropriate addition to what is otherwise quite a serious programme. So far, this has been skilfully avoided, but I wonder how the show will cope with the later episodes once the initial premise has been fully introduced.
So, despite the rather slow-building and gradual pace of The Mimic, I certainly enjoyed it and look forward to seeing how the essential comedy element; his ability to impersonate voices; is developed and given variety.
