Monday, May 5, 2025
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Review: Gogglebox

Sophie Hall-Luke
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Review: Gogglebox

If you watch one thing on TV this week, make it the last in the series of Gogglebox. The premise of Channel 4’s latest reality show may sound dull – filming families’ reactions as they watch television programmes – but the result is anything but. Gogglebox offers an intriguing insight into human behaviour, and also happens to be very, very funny.

In the UK, on average we watch a staggering four hours per day of television. Often, the most enjoyable part of a show is not what’s on screen, but the comments of your fellow viewers. By pushing the sofa into the spotlight, the creators of Gogglebox give us an insight into the viewing habits of a diverse cross-section of British society.

We meet Stephen and Christopher, a couple from Brighton who make astute, acerbic observations on all aspects of TV culture. And Leon in Liverpool: a retired teacher who constantly pesters his wife for a snack and finds himself bemused with modern life. Then there’s Stephanie and Dominic: middle-aged spouses from Kent with an enormous house and a frightfully well-stocked liquor cabinet. They would awfully like Jeremy Clarkson to be Prime Minister, and they reckon the Queen is ‘top totty’.

In the Michael family, mother Caroline is beside herself at Chummy’s labour on Call the Midwife. Her son, Louis, fetches her a roll of loo paper and loudly despairs of her melodramatic side. His long-suffering father just wishes they’d both be quiet so he can eat his monkey nuts in peace. Meanwhile, Antiques Roadshow inspires best friends Sandy and Sandra to take a break from their incessant munching of junk food in order to painstakingly inspect a Tutankhamun paperweight to ascertain its value.

It is incredibly easy to relate to the personalities in Gogglebox. Who hasn’t become infuriated by their family members talking over the top of a programme? Or watched a show just for the fun of criticising it? The show’s hilarity lies in its humanity: we see the participants wince at One Born, cry at Comic Relief and get mildly aroused by Paul Hollywood’s Bread. The universality of these reactions is comforting.

Gogglebox shows that television is powerful. It can captivate our attention and have us on the edge of our seats. It can make us laugh and cry within the space of half an hour. Although it can be hard to remember when you’re fighting over the remote with a sibling, watching television is a pleasure best shared, as our mutual experience sparks discussion. Far from stifling real human interaction, television encourages it. Gogglebox bears witness to that interaction, as banal or insightful as it may be. I have enjoyed it immensely, and sincerely hope it returns for more than four episodes next time.

 

Is Lad Culture really that bad?

Charlotte Cooper Beglin
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Is Lad Culture really that bad?

Charlotte Cooper Beglin – YES!

Lad culture may seem harmless. For many it probably doesn’t seem like a prevalent issue in university life, just a crude and rowdy but benevolent phenomenon that comes out to play on the internet, at crewdates or on a night out. But I have one major problem with it that this week’s NUS report highlights; its attitudes to gender.

As the name suggests, it’s a culture built up around a ‘lad’ notion of masculinity, and a corresponding idea of femininity. The male or ‘lad’ is depicted as a heavy drinking, cheeky, raucous guy who’ll ‘bang’ as many women as possible. The female or ‘wench’ (charming) is nameless, annoying, whiny and sentimental, a constraint on the lad, who is good only for sex.

This sexism takes a variety of forms in lad culture; most shocking is the disgusting trivialisation of sexual abuse in ‘banter’, such as the infamous Uni Lad article Sexual Mathematics, which wrote, hilariously, that if a girl doesn’t consent to sex “think about this mathematical statistic: 85% of rape cases go unreported…that seems fairly good odds.”

Think about this mathematical statistic guys; 1 in 7 women experience a serious physical or sexual assault while they’re a student, and 68% suffer sexual harassment. Laughing yet? But what perhaps disturbs me more is the constant depiction of women as sexual objects, reduced down just to 3/10 or 8/10, a convenient measure of whether they’re sex-worthy, which is all that matters. LGBTQ identities don’t fare well in lad culture either, believe it or not; when a journalist complained to Uni Lad they simply responded ‘are you a dyke?’

I don’t know if lad culture makes men any more likely to commit sexual assault, and I don’t know if it’s an outlet for anger and contempt for women. But I do know this: equal pay and voting rights and reproductive freedom, the kind of thing that can be shown on a graph, are not the only things that matter. The way we represent gender, the language and images and symbols we use, are so important in the fight for gender liberation. Culture matters, and lad culture is selling us all short.

 

Jennifer Brown – NO!

This could really go two ways. I’ll either be the anti-feminist, the perpetrator of all that is wrong in society or – rather more aptly – the distinguished ‘LAD’. The latter certainly sounds more appealing. What’s better than a Lad being ‘Laddy’ than a girl championing the very behaviour which distinguishes the Lad in the first place? Or, if not championing, at least defending it against the defiling claims made by the NUS, that the ‘Lad’ and its ‘culture’ is “sexist, misogynistic and homophobic”. What a ridiculous assertion! These Lads are simply having a good time. They know that. We know that.

It’s evidently only the NUS who fails to comprehend student life and all its good humour. For it is generally acknowledged: when a Lad is with his Lads he must show affiliation to them. He must belong. And if this means a few throwaway comments about what he’d like to do, or not to do, to any given girl – then so be it. This is normal and acceptable. Indeed, when a Lad shouts “Get your tits out!” I do not feel subjected to any form of gender discrimination.

Quite the contrary, I find it to be a wonderful form of flattery. To think a young, educated man would take such an interest in my physique is really rather humbling.

Similarly, it is completely understandable why Lads should remind those who don’t go out, get ‘lashed’ and have some strong, serious chat that they are in fact – gay. Or boring. Or some mixture of the two. For no one in their right mind would ever choose – god forbid – to stay in and – worse still – not play sport. Of course, sport drinking bans are a completely legitimate reason for staying in. Committed to the cause and what not. 

But any sign of unease when teasing the girl, or the lad-who-is not-a-Lad, is just nonsensical. It’s about time people realise Lads can no longer openly rate women in the workplace – typically out of ten, although expect nothing less than utter ingenuity when it comes to the rating system – and so it’s only fair that university remains a suitable outlet for such pastimes. How else is a man to become a Man? By first embracing the Lad, of course.  

A Big Fat Greek Tragedy

Evy Cavalla
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A Big Fat Greek Tragedy

About a month ago, I previewed an updated version of Antigone, one of Sophocles’ tragedies written around 441BC. The playwright updated it by transposing the story from Thebes to the London riots of 2010. Obviously, the plot had to be changed significantly to make the situation work in the 21st century: whether or not I thought this re-working worked is in the review. However, one of the most thought-provoking changes was the decision to portray the chorus as journalists.

The idea was elegant, as the original function of a chorus – to explain and comment on the situation developing in the play – matches the basic objective of the press. However, as the classical ideas behind Greek tragedy evolved through history, so did the role of the chorus. By the time Sophocles was writing Antigone, the chorus was supposed to act almost as a plot device in itself, by pleading with the characters and influencing their decisions. The chorus didn’t just comment – it also guided the plot.

The line between chronicler and protagonist was blurred: this idea can be extended to the Leveson Inquiry and Chris Huhne’s trial. The press eagerly document minutiae of Leveson because it is about their jobs, their livelihoods. They are a chorus that have had the starring roles thrust upon them, the cast as well as the audience. Does this trivialise the case? Are they performing to an empty room? In an unscientific survey of my Twitter feed, I would say that yes, interest in Leveson has certainly waned – to look at the newspapers, you would think that the public is obsessed with press regulation, but tweets and comment sections online seem bored of the endless legal process. Do the chorus illuminate and enhance the narrative, or just add hot air?

Coverage of the Chris Huhne case explored the same idea, but backwards. Instead of updating Greek tragedy to the modern day, the press related the Huhne scandal back to classical ideas of tragedy. The Huhne case is a story so perfect that it lends itself better to the stage than the 6 o’clock news. It is filled with irony: a bitter wife taking revenge on her husband, only to be sent to prison herself; a lie which was meant to shield the Huhne family from public scrutiny, but ended up exposing the most painful and raw of home truths; the cover-up which was supposed to protect Huhne’s reputation but ended up being the nail in the coffin of his political career.

It is these ironies which make the Huhne case so compelling. The newspapers have noted how appropriate it is that Chris Huhne’s Greek wife, Vicky Pryce, author of ‘Greekonomics’, was the heroine of a modern-day Greek tragedy.  Evgeny Lebedev of the Evening Standard went one step further, calling it a ‘Greek tragedy, with the media as Furies’ –  the Daily Mail’s interviews and leaked texts did indeed provide evidence for the prosecution, and so the Daily Mail’s journalists became goddesses of punishment, charting and causing the characters’ destruction.

So is this just a natural shift in journalists’ function? Just as Sophocles’ chorus was more powerful than those in previous centuries, today’s press may be assuming a more active, effectual role on stage. In an age where there is simply more digital evidence surrounding any story, every ‘scoop’ can be quicker and more sensational: the press naturally gets closer to what’s going on. Sometimes, as with Milly Dowler’s parents, the press gets too close and changes the course of history. However, if society sees journalists as simply observers and commentators the invasive problem of phone-hacking is removed, but so is investigative journalism that is prepared to reveal inconvenient truths in order to – and it is a cliché – change the world. Both roles alter the course of history, both can be products of a Fury-ish press. The metaphor of a Greek chorus can only capture so many wrinkles of society’s complicated relationship with the press – and today’s Daily Mail reporters are certainly more volatile, autonomous and influential than the original Greek chorus.

Interview: Lenny Henry

Bethan Tabram
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Interview: Lenny Henry

For many of us, Lenny Henry is the exuberant, larger than life comedian with a perpetual grin, last popping up on our screens for the latest Comic Relief. However, in recent years, Henry has turned to acting, and in the process has tackled some pretty hefty challenges. Notably, he defied critics with an astounding portrayal of Shakespeare’s Othello – “it sort of came out alright” is his self-effacing appraisal – and now, he has taken on the role of Troy in August Wilson’s celebrated Fences.

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, we see the protagonist Troy coping with his own experiences in racially-segregated America; he was a promising baseball player but was excluded from success, and has harboured a deep-rooted resentment ever since, resigned to being a garbage man. His clouded philosophy about life results in irrevocable and tragic changes in his relationships with family and friends.

Henry didn’t choose the play on impulse – it had been a long time coming. Henry speaks of his encounter with the distinguished American actor James Earl Jones, who he worked with on the film True Identity. “He said he had done this play called Fences, and he said it probably wouldn’t appeal to me because I was only thirty, but maybe when I was a bit older I would read it and it would resonate with me. And Holy Macaroni, it did.” For Henry, life experience was critical in allowing him to relate to the character; Troy is contradictory to say the least, and Henry feels that as a younger man, he would not have been able to empathise at all with the character’s situation. “He’s a strong, patriarchal figure and yet he’s got a wandering eye. He’s a very tough dad but he loves his son. He’s a constant best friend but he doesn’t listen to his best friend. He’s got so many things riled up in him, but he’s also someone to admire. He’s fearless.”

Henry has clearly devoted considerable time to understanding the context of the drama and Troy’s situation within it. He describes how the African-American civil rights movement was beginning to gain momentum in the 1950s, but had not yet come to a head; “…it’s set in a very crucial moment of African-American history, just before the explosion of civil rights. Martin Luther-King has just started his long walk to the mountain-top, Rosa Parks has just sat on the front of the bus and refused to move.” But Henry makes a point of emphasising Troy’s bravery in facing up to such adversity. “Traditionally, the black guys lifted all the garbage cans at the back of the truck and the white guys drove the truck. And Troy stands up and says, why do the white guys drive and the black guys lift? …It’s a small thing, but in the scheme of things before 1957, before Martin Luther King has his full flowering, it’s a massive statement that he makes.” Henry is refreshingly passionate about his character; he doesn’t seem to just be regurgitating spiel for the publicity rounds, but is genuinely moved by the many obstacles Troy tried, and often failed, to overcome.

Henry doesn’t just give captivating accounts of the African-American experience; he works incredible anecdotes into his answers. Was it difficult doing the Comic Relief 25th Anniversary in the middle of touring with Fences? “If you’re talking about matters of life and death, they’re very close. I was on a plane once going to Italy, and the plane suddenly went into a dive. We were sitting near the cockpit, we could hear the cockpit of the plane making noises – we were going almost straight down and I was thinking ‘this is it, this is it’. But then there were three bumps and the plane levelled out. There was a massive laugh of relief from every single passenger and a round of applause.”

Henry clearly has the ability to compartmentalize certain aspects of himself and bring them out at will; he also mastered the complex African-American vernacular, and the sheer number of his lines, which he concedes was tricky. However, Henry has been lucky in the support he has had with his role in Fences. He has known the director, Paulette Randall, since he was in his 20’s, and has met the widow of the playwright, Constanza Wilson. “She said Troy was modelled on him because August was the consummate story teller. I thought, I’m a story teller, I should be able to do this.” Henry has great, but justified, self-belief; he appears to approach each project he does with rigorous research, stating how he “immersed himself in all things August Wilson” prior to taking on the role of Troy.

There’s no doubt about it; Henry sells the play well. Fences is a complex beast, but one that contains universal themes that each and every one of us can relate to. Relationships, racism, prejudice; all are salient themes throughout. As Henry succinctly puts it: “…if you’re from a family, if you’re a son, a daughter, a mum or a dad, then you can relate to this play. And that’s everybody.”

Fences is at the Oxford Playhouse from the 25th – 30th March

Oxford Dominate Henley Boat Races 2013

Report Courtesy Of Henleyboatraces.Com
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Oxford Dominate Henley Boat Races 2013

The results of the 2013 Henley Boat Races:

Lightweight Men’s Boat Race: Oxford bt Cambridge by 1 â…” lengths in 6:49.

Newton Women’s Boat Race: Oxford bt Cambridge by 1 ¾ lengths in 7:21.

Lightweight Women’s Boat Race: Oxford bt Cambridge by 4 ¾ lengths in 7:33

Newton Women’s Reserves Boat Race: Osiris (Oxford) bt Blondie (Cambridge) by 6 lengths in 7:41.

 

Oxford won four out of four varsity races on a windy day of racing set at the London 2012 venue Dorney Lake. The Oxford crews dealt better with the rough conditions, taking home wins that included the Newton Women’s Boat Race 2013 and the Lightweight Men’s and Women’s Boat Races.

In the final race of the day, the Lightweight Men’s Boat Race, Oxford’s lower cadence proved successful in the difficult water. Both crews got out of the blocks cleanly, with Oxford taking a slight lead by the 250m point. Rating 34 compared to Cambridge’s 39, they extended this to ¾ length by 500m. Cambridge made a push, holding Oxford’s speed and checking their advance for the middle of the race. But a confident Oxford crew maintained control, and with the crowds cheering them on they crossed the line 1 â…” lengths ahead.

Christian Proctor, cox for the Oxford crew, said, “Conditions were better than they had been earlier in the week actually. It was OK off the start but we got hit by a nasty gust at 250. The race went according to plan; we were actually happier with the start than normally. The guys did really well. The coach too – he prepared us really well for the conditions.”

Cambridge had the better start in the Newton Women’s Boat Race, taking a lead of a few seats after ten strokes. They extended the lead to half a length at the 250m mark, rating 35 strokes per minute to Oxford’s 31. However, Oxford’s longer rhythm proved more effective, as they started to hold their opponents speed. By 750m in, they began eat away at the Cambridge lead, and at the 1250m mark they drew level. Cambridge seemed less comfortable in the choppy water, and Oxford looked commanding as they raced past the crowds of supporters. Cambridge were unable to respond, and Oxford won by a margin of 1 ¾ lengths.

Mary Foord-Weston, who rowed at 3 in the Oxford crew this year and in last year’s losing Oxford crew, said, “It was pretty grim. We trained here throughout the week so we were used to the horrible winds. We weren’t surprised they got ahead off the start, we’re quite a small crew. Our real strength was our race rhythm once we got in into the middle section of the race. Once we crossed the line it took a minute to sink in, but then I was incredibly excited.”

Emily Day, who rowed at 7 in the Cambridge crew, said, “It was pretty windy – it was hard work off the start, but I think all the crews dealt with it pretty well. We had the race of our lives, we’re really proud of how we rowed. There’s nothing we could have done that we didn’t do, we left everything on the water. Thank you for a fantastic race.” 

Cambridge took an early advantage in the Lightweight Women’s Boat Race. However, after the first 100m Oxford began reeling in the slight Cambridge lead, and by 500m had just got their bows in front. While both crews maintained a rate of striking of 34, Oxford looked more stable and solid in the gusty cross-headwind. Oxford had a one length lead at the halfway mark, and the famous Dorney roar helped them extend to a final verdict of 4 ¾ lengths.

Conditions proved difficult for the Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club reserves, Blondie, who were still adjusting their boat when umpire Sir Matthew Pinsent started the crews. Their opponents from Oxford, Osiris, relaxed into the race and showed excellent rhythm, while Blondie rated slightly higher. By the 500m point, Osiris had built a lead of a ¼ length. Their more relaxed approach to dealing with the conditions then paid off, and they extended this to two and a half lengths at the halfway point. Blondie had too much work to do, and Osiris crossed the line well ahead.

A very cold umpire, Sir Matthew Pinsent, said, “The women’s lightweight race was close for the first 500 or so but the Women’s Boat Race had that chance of lead, which was great.

“I’ve definitely noticed the professionalism of the boat clubs going up. I’ve interacted with them during trial eights, had briefings this week and was at the weigh-in and their expectations are rising.” 

Downing College, Cambridge, triumphed over St John’s College, Oxford in the Intercollegiate Women’s Race. After a tight race that saw both crews still level at the halfway mark, it was Downing that maintained their form over the distance, winning by 1 length. Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge showed excellent class, beating Balliol College, Oxford by 7 lengths to give them their third consecutive win in the race.

Tom James, MBE, presented the winning Oxford presidents with the Francombe Cup for Victor Ludorum.

The Henley Boat Races will return to Henley-on-Thames next year, including for the final time the Newton Women’s Boat race before it moves to the tideway in 2015.

Travel Blog: Moscow in March

Tom Beardsworth
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Travel Blog: Moscow in March

Yep, it’s cold at this time of year.

But that’s not why you should stay away from Moscow in March.

It’s an awful month to visit the Russian capital, famous for the Kremlin and Red Square. Moscow is currently struggling to emerge from a biting winter. Last time I visited, six years ago, it was winter proper. I didn’t get the relatively long hours of daylight that March affords you, but at least once I returned home I was able to capitalise on bragging rights about the temperatures I endured (“-25C? Phwoar”). To that extent winter is fine. But you should really visit in summer.

March, sadly, is caught between the two with little to recommend it. The temperature has inched close enough to zero for the ice to start thawing. And the consequences are gross: sludge, greyed by exhaust fumes, greases the pavements. It’s also dangerous. Chunks of ice that line rooftops and balconies start to disintegrate and tumble down onto the street below. It’ll rarely kill a man, but it’s bound to ruin some poor sod’s evening.

Moan over (or at least suspended for the time being).

Moscow is a sprawling metropolis and it has all the best features of one. Unlike St Petersburg, which is commonly characterised as Russian’s ‘European’ city, Moscow – provincial, gritty and industrious – feels distinctively otherworldly. Georgian cuisine (extraordinarily delicious) and Russian jazz are two evenings out that I’d recommend to those who have never visited countries within the former Soviet bloc before.

The menu of tourist attractions is impressive. Aside from the Kremlin and Kitai Gorod (a central area near Red Square) there’s plenty to keep you busy. The Pushkinskaya Art Gallery, the State History Museum and Gorky Park each easily consume half a day, and it’s a half-day well spent too.

By contrast, avoid the places that stink of cliché. The grandiloquently titled ‘Museum of the Soviet Union’ was as tacky, tired and tedious as its subject matter and the contents of its gift shop were so overpriced and shitty that I briefly entertained the possibility that the museum had seized upon a brilliant post-ironical metaphor. Unfortunately I don’t think it had: it was just overpriced and shitty.

Right – prices. Tickets for Moscow’s metro system – itself an experience not to be missed – are fantastically cheap (about 50p a journey anywhere on the map). Museum entry is also great value; a bit of eagerness with your Bod card will get you in on a dirt-cheap student tariff in most places.

The problem is that Russian cafes, restaurants and bars all understand the aforementioned government-subsidised largess as a licence to rip you off. Expect to pay close to 500 rubles (£10) for a latte and a hot sandwich, say, in a decent café. Street vendors will charge up to 100r for a soft drink. There are greasy spoons and, of course, value supermarkets to go to instead, but the fruit&veg from such places is invariably poor quality and the meat is of dubious authenticity.

There’s also the issue of being copped by the transit police who, as the notorious wheeze goes, will demand documents that they know you don’t have in order to ‘fine’ you extortionate sums. The government doesn’t issue a corruption price-list but the going rate can be quite high. Apparently though the practice – a tacitly sanctioned means by which law enforcement officials ‘top up’ their wages – is being cracked down on, but nonetheless attempting not to look like a clueless foreigner will serve you well.

I’d promised myself not to give Moscow a withering write-up and, darn it, I have done. Like any city break however, if you have the money, company and curiosity to enjoy Moscow, then you will.

Just don’t go in March.

Review: Broken

Anna Spencer
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Review: Broken

Broken explores the relationships both within and between three families living in adjacent houses in an unnamed north London suburb: depicting a picture of dead-end Britain seen through the eyes of twelve year old Skunk (Eloise Lawrence). Each of these families are struggling to respond to their own issues– whether divorce, death of a loved one, or mental illness. However, it is the conflict between these families, provoked by the troublesome Oswalds, which is the focus of the film.  

It is difficult to dispute the fact that Broken is a well-made film. The cinematography is very well done and manages to subtly highlight the juxtaposition of the innocent Skunk with the violence and lies that surround her – adding comic details which are appropriate for seeing the world through the eyes of a twelve year old and help break up the often bleak tension of the narrative.

The cast are pretty faultless; each actor develops their role well, and the stereotypical nature of characters such as Mr. Oswald is a fault of the screenwriting rather than anything else. Above all, this film should be watched for newcomer Eloise Lawrence’s excellent performance as Skunk, who she portrays convincingly as kind, trusting and without agenda. Indeed, the scenes between Skunk and her ‘boyfriend’ Dillon in the countryside by a nearby scrap-yard were some of my favourites of the film, offering a kind of escapism from the tension of the central plot.   

However, it is the overwhelming and, by the end, overdone drama and tension that ultimately dominate the storyline of Broken, making it very difficult to come away feeling anything but drained. The initial point of high tension, with Mr Oswald violently attacking Rick Buckley for seemingly no reason, is an effective and attention-grabbing opening to the film. However, as the narrative continues, the amount of drama and tension escalates and eventually reaches unrealistic levels. In a film that is at least on some level meant to be a realist-style examination of troubled modern British suburban life, it arguably ends in melodrama, trying to cram far too much into ninety one minutes. 

Brent is Back

Tom Goulding
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Brent is Back

“It’s a good cause [Comic Relief]…..I just don’t want to have to join in with someone else’s idea of wackiness. It’s the wackiness I can’t stand.”
Tim Canterbury, Episode 5, Series 2, The Office

After 10 years of saying he would never bring back The Office or David Brent, Ricky Gervais did ten minutes of Brent, and a video for his character’s political reggae song ‘Equality Street’, for BBC’s Comic Relief on 15th March. The laugh, the look-to-the-camera, the attempt to be 15 years younger – the Brentisms were all there for everyone to enjoy.

There was a huge amount to hold sacred in The Office and David Brent, mainly because we were originally left with only twelve episodes and a special. A friend described to me how the ending’s strength owed a lot to the viewer being able to make up their own mind about what would follow, just as with The Sopranos. Would Tim and Dawn stay at Wernham Hogg? Would Gareth continue to be the boss? Part of us really believed Brent had found a long-term partner in Carol, his Christmas party date; he wanted to try her Thai food, and she laughed when his jokes weren’t funny.

Now we’re told exactly where he is and what he’s doing. But Brent would not have lost weight and got into shape, or got a tan, as Gervais has. If you’re going to do one of the greatest characters in television, do him properly. And as we are treated to the full meaning of his song ‘The Serpent That Guards The Gates Of Hell’, we learn Brent had a fiancée who cheated on him, and we’re suddenly meant to believe that Brent had been through a failed engagement pre-Office, which doesn’t really fit with what we had previously seen of him.

Gervais had been developing his ‘Seedy Boss’ character since the mid-1990s, and with Stephen Merchant he spent years writing and perfecting the character into the finished article of David Brent. They spent three years casting the supporting characters, just to surround him with the perfect team. This ten-minute sketch, on the other hand, was clearly hashed together at the last minute in no time at all, with what seems like no contribution from Merchant, whose input to both The Office and Extras should never be underestimated.

And all for Comic Relief, an institution that does great charity work but, in comedic terms, is an expert in the lowest common denominator. It has Michael MacIntyre observing us into oblivion, and lauds James Corden as a comedy icon. Nick Grimshaw getting into a bathtub full of beans is surely the best indicator of the level at which the organisation aims. Why is Gervais even associating with this institution, let alone in the form of his best and most prized creation?

Of course the new segment had lots of funny moments – Brent is the funniest character in British comedy after all. But none of the jokes were new: shouting ‘Charlie’ to the pensioner in the pub and getting no reply just as he shouted ‘Taffy’ to Glyn in the warehouse; shouting outdated, awkward show catchphrases such as “Feck” and ‘Arse’ (Father Ted) just as he did The Muppets’ catchphrases to Dawn; getting out the car and trying to look sophisticated as he holds cleaning products, just as he did in the Christmas Special.

He even reused “sue me”. All these things together have brought Brent closer and closer to a catchphrase character the like of which Gervais demonized in his Extras’ creation, Ray ‘Are You Havin’ A Laugh?’ Stokes. How could you improve on The Office’s reputation? Certainly not by making the same jokes again, ten years on, all for the enjoyment of the BBC1 Friday night crowd.

Brent was funny because of his relation to the other Office characters, and, even when he had been fired in the specials, he spent much of it in the office (tragically), his natural comic environment. The monstrosity of the character Brent put on for the cameras was painstakingly obvious, but the characters (Tim, Dawn etc) couldn’t say so because he was their boss and they had to respect him – they could only let the camera know what they really thought with a simple look of bemusement.

But the studio manager in the new sketch is making explicit Brent’s buffoonery by calling him the “middle aged man in a polyester suit”. He says “horrendous, absolutely horrendous’” to end the sketch, which The Office, written properly (with Merchant), would have left obvious but unsaid. Lower levels of subtlety and sophistication were required, as heaven forbid the Comic Relief crowd might be at risk of not understanding the joke.

The YouTube video of the sketch ends with “Click To Subscribe For More Ricky Gervais”, making clear his quest for as much exposure and as many hits as possible. Gervais asked Twitter whether they’d want a series of free YouTube sing-a-long tutorials with Brent, going through his favourite songs. Of course, the overwhelming response was positive, and now Gervais has agreed to do them, with ‘Freelove Freeway’ the subject of Episode One. The Brent character is dying a death of a thousand YouTube hits, reduced to nothing but a meme, to stand alongside the Sneezing Panda and Charlie Bit My Finger, ruined by over-use.

Gervais realizes each project he does is popular, and this self-awareness doesn’t help – his first two presentations of the Golden Globes were hilarious, but the third time he just knew he was funny. Unlike Daniel Kitson or Stewart Lee, he doesn’t curb this popularity to retain a cult following and a critically pure status, but he pushes for more exposure, more hits, until we are all retweeting him in unison.

A parody Chris Finch twitter account last week tweeted to Gervais “Brent you fat bastard it’s yer good friend Chris Finch” to which Gervais replied “I thought I told you to fuck off”. In sending that line to his four millions followers, ripe for trending and being made into a hashtag, Gervais is trivialising one of the greatest lines in television.

The YouTube videos will bring us to a sadder and sadder saturation of Brent, just as with the animated shows of Gervais, Merchant and Karl Pilkington’s podcasts and audiobooks for Channel 4. We didn’t need a cartoon monkey on a screen to find Karl Pilkington’s Monkey News funny. And we don’t need Brent saying “Guilty, sue me” again, ten years on, to laugh at it. It was Comic Relief wackiness, and as with a lot of things, this is an issue on which we should stand with Tim Canterbury.

Review: Welcome to the Punch

Georgina Pollard
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Review: Welcome to the Punch

Every now and again a film comes out that sounds good, looks good and has a solid idea, but somehow doesn’t quite manage to translate onto the big screen. Welcome to the Punch clearly has the essentials of an action thriller: pace, suspense, a smattering of chase scenes and some cockney geezers to carry it off. So why is it still lacking?

The movie starts by plunging the audience into the world of Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy), for whom things aren’t going too well. He goes it alone in his pursuit for justice and winds up on the floor of a tunnel, having received a bullet in the leg from the mysterious Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Sherlock Holmes). So far so good. We then meet Sarah (Andrea Riseborough of Made In Dagenham, W.E.), who adds a touch of comedy to proceedings, showing clear disdain for Lewinsky’s disillusionment with his work for the police. In the course of all this we meet Daniel Mays (yet another Made In Dagenham alumni) who plays Nathan, a corrupt police officer embroiled in…well actually it’s not that clear what he’s embroiled in. It’s from here that things start to go awry.

From the very beginning we’re geared to hate Sternwood, who ruthlessly shoots poor Lewinsky, however the focus shifts to the point where we see the two adversaries collaborate with little trouble. Sternwood’s son Ruan turns up (albeit briefly to try to help make the plot at least semi-intelligible), then Riseborough’s character breathes her last in a storage container at the rather brutal hands of Warnes. Warnes appears to be a key player in the mess of plot lines and unexplained events, however his lack of screen time at the beginning of the movie fails to convey this. To top all this off, neither the police nor the various unsavoury characters in Sternwood’s circle seem to be able to shoot. As a result, we experience extended shoot-out scenes, disconnected dialogue and James McAvoy running around quite happily, despite supposedly sustaining a leg wound in scene one and a further shot to the arm later on.

The main problem is whilst on paper this movie is packed with ingredients set to induce cinemagoers to perch on the edges of their seats, ironically, it lacks punch. McAvoy is obsessed and consumed by a vendetta, we get that, the policemen are all corrupt because they’re aiding an election bid, we get that, but what we don’t get is anything new. There are no surprises, just a different combination of well-used elements. It’s a disappointing turn from McAvoy and Strong who are both involved with huge movies set to hit our screens: the next X-Men instalment is in pre-production for McAvoy and Strong is currently filming Before I Go To Sleep alongside Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman. Hopefully these projects will be more successful, as despite the good intentions of those behind Welcome to the Punch, it’s a far cry from the knock-out that was promised.

3 stars

St Hugh’s settle court case over "selecting by wealth"

Rowan Borchers
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St Hugh’s settle court case over "selecting by wealth"

A joint statement by Shannon and St Hugh’s said, “St Hugh’s College and Damien Shannon are pleased to announce that they have resolved the dispute between them, and that the Court proceedings in Manchester County Court are at an end with immediate effect.”

In the agreement announced tonight, Shannon will take up his place in Michaelmas. The university has also agreed to review the Financial Guarantee Policy, which ruled that Shannon did not have sufficient funds to live in Oxford, such that he could not study at the university.

The St Hugh’s statement promised a university wide review into the fairness and practicality of graduate funding. “On completion of the review” it said, “recommendations will be put to the University’s Council and the Conference of Colleges for consideration. It is anticipated that the process will be completed by September 2013.”

A source at St Hugh’s told Cherwell that Dame Elish Angiolini, Principal of St Hugh’s, had questioned the merits of the financial guarantee system and whether there should be other options when funding isn’t available.

Shannon was unable to take up his offer last year after the university found he did not have £12,900 living costs. He was suing the college for “selecting students on the basis of wealth, and excluding those not in possession of it.”

In an email to students, St Hugh’s College stated that, “St Hugh’s College and the History Faculty of the University of Oxford have jointly made available to Mr Shannon a place on the one year MSc in Economic and Social History, the course for which he originally applied. Both parties have agreed to pay their own costs and no moneys have changed hands.”

David Messling, OUSU Vice-President for Access and Academic Affairs, told Cherwell, “This is a positive development, and it’s heartening that all involved have recognised the unjustifiable nature of the Financial Guarantee policy as it stands. OUSU, working with MCRs, are closely involved in the review of the Financial Guarantee to ensure that any future policy will not act as a disproportionate and unfair barrier to graduate study.”

He continued, “This case has shone even more light on the issues of postgraduate access – some of the answers are to be found here in Oxford, but many are on a national level where there is mounting need for means-based postgraduate financial support.”

 

 

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