Review

  • 'Phoenix nights' is destined to become a classic of British comedy, in the same league as 'Fawlty Towers' and 'I'm Alan Partidge'. It really is that good.

    The humour is clever, observational, very politically incorrect and oh-so Northern England. As with all really excellent comedy it draws you in and makes you fond of the characters, despite their many flaws. You all know the type of people in this show because you see them everyday at home and work.

    'Phoenix nights' follows Brian and his attempts to rebuild his nightclub for the third time... most recently after it burnt to the ground (hence the name phoenix). Peter Kay plays many of the parts himself (all brilliantly) including Brian, the club owner and memorable of all, Keith Lard the fire inspector with some odd personal habits. Quite apart from Kay, every single actor in the show does a superb job capturing the quirks and oddities that make human life so amusing... there's not one single bad performance.

    The only possible problem is that it's hard to tell how well it will travel. Many of the jokes are, as I mentioned earlier, very British and even more specifically, very Northern.