Bellamy's People (2010)

Bellamy's People is not a sitcom or a panel show or a sketch show, and it's one of the funniest new series I've seen on the BBC since, well last year's Miranda! Rhys Thomas plays Gary Bellamy, a radio talkshow host who's got his own series driving round the country and meeting the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And that's it really. It's a spoof of those celebrity travel documentaries that interview various members of the public for no good reason, and I suppose it's a semi-sketch show, with recurring vox pops talking heads, expertly played by creators Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse, along with the superb Simon Day, Felix Dexter, Amelia Bulmore et al. 

Each of the 8 episodes had us both chuckling from beginning to end. Part of what makes the show so funny is that the talking heads are so real - if you didn't know it was scripted and you came across Bellamy's People while channel hopping I reckon you wouldn't click very quickly that it's not one of those earnest lets-define-the-nation celebrity bore-fests. The fact it's not boring sets it apart from the real shows, along with the make-up jobs on Higson and Whitehouse. 

My favourite character was the elderly gent played by Higson as he talked so much sense, and coming from a crusty old figure the conceit is, it shouldn't. He's the first to declare religion rubbish, to support youth and modern language, and to love email. He's a wonderful creation. Simon Day played a fair few of my other faves, such as the Alan-Bennett-like Yorkshire poet, the reformed ex-con, and a whole host of other pitch-perfect pastiches. Felix Dexter used an array of accents to play a street wise bloke who's use of English completely confuses Bellamy, and a hilarious African hotel-management trainee with a curious idea of what Britain is and means. 

I'm not sure if there will be another series of Bellamy's People, but I'm hopeful that there will be, and that there will be new characters as well as old. And Rhys Thomas is a comic genius - especially in scenes where he tries to frame a question about Islam for 3 Muslims, without trying to offend them. Priceless.