5 posts tagged “sketch”

At one point, it seemed Keeley Hawes was getting cast in receptionist roles. There was The Avengers movie with Ralph Fiennes and Sean Connery; and this pre-Tipping the Velvet Channel Five comedy, Hotel!, which had nothing to do with Arthur Hailey. Watch out instead for the stunning Lysette Anthony (who would be in her mid-30s at this point, but wow), Pakistani actor Athar Malik, better known as Art Malik, playing a terrorist again (he was a Mujahadin warrior in The Living Daylights and the villain in True Lies), and Lee Majors as the President (who probably doesn’t need much of an introduction). Some good sight gags, much in the vein of the Zucker movies.

One of my favourite Benny Hill sketches—probably because I was a fan of The New Avengers, which was still on telly when this parody aired. Watch out for Jackie Wright as Mike Gambit! (This was originally preceded by a TV awards’ announcement, where Patrick Macnee wins best actor over Tiddles the Wonder Cat.)

Famous British comedian (I mean, politician—sorry, I get the two professions confused) Tony Blair, who has guest-voiced on The Simpsons, appeared in this sketch with Catherine Tate playing Lauren Cooper.

I think here is the reason New Zealanders are worried about the sale of Auckland Airport to Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), a company in the United Arab Emirates. I told you the reasons go back to the 1980s. This is from The Billy T. James Show in 1984, directed by Tony Holden and written by the late Mr James and Peter Rowley. James appears with Bruce Allpress, but I do not recognize the youngest actor here. (In case anyone from the Gulf Coast thinks they have been stereotyped, I should note that so have the New Zealanders in this sketch.)

[Cross-posted] My Irish friend Stefano Sopelza (not a typo) drew this back at the 2006 Vodafone ID Dunedin Fashion Week—at a time, I should note, when he was not with his lovely young ladyfriend. I always said I would publish it, but due to one thing or another (plenty of those in 2006), I never did. Well, here it is: Mr Sopelza’s illustration. Not suited 100 per cent to the pages of Lucire, but at least it’s linked from the web edition. The bald chap in the illustration is, I believe, himself.