Between Iraq and a Hard Place (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Directors:

Steve Connelly
Geraldine Dowd

Writers:

Geoff Atkinson (writer)
John Bird (writer)

Release Date:

5 January 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

Satirical comedy examing the war on Terror.

Plot Keywords:

Iraq War | Iraq

Cast

Rory Bremner	...	Various
John Bird	...	Himself
John Fortune	...	Himself
Doña Croll	...	Condoleeza Rice
Omid Djalili	...	Iraqi Television Host
Krishnan Guru-Murthy	...	Himself
Vic Tablian	...	Iraqi Official
Jon Glover	...	Various Characters (voice)
Mac McDonald	...	Various Characters (voice)
Andrew Sachs	...	Mullah Omar

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Vera Productions Ltd.

Quotes:

Rory Bremner: And if we do get rid of Saddam, then what? Well it paves the way for the country to be governed by any one, or all, of the numerous opposition parties who hate each other only slightly less than they hate Saddam.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Beyond Iraq and a Hard Place (2003) (TV)

Spot on satire that sometimes leaves you unsure whether to laugh or cry

Each week Rory Bremner, John Bird and John Fortune review the latest happenings in politics and the wider news through monologues, sketches and impressions. No target is too easy or too sharp and they regularly expose a lot of truth behind the news through their sketches.

The downside of this is that occasionally I can watch a whole episode and only laugh four or five times. This is especially true of late where Iraq has been in the air, meaning that BBF attack the Bush/Blair approach to great effect – but it's often hard to laugh at that stuff. Most of the time they are hilarious and it is a thing of wonder that anyone is doing satire anymore, never mind finding a programme that does it consistently well.

Bremner is a superb impressionist and his voices are perfect. He exaggerates his subjects habits to great effect, to the point that some in the public eye have deliberately tried to change the thing that Bremner has picked up on. Over the years he has had many great characters – Ian McCaskil being one from years ago but also his Des Lynam and, at the moment, his Robin Cook is a hilariously exaggerated joke! Adding Bird and Fortune to the mix was a stroke of genius as they really add layers to the show. They don't do impressions but they do do great monologues and interviews that are absurd and hilarious.

Satire is not a big audience draw as it requires the audience to have a good knowledge of the news and political events, which sadly few have. However this series is consistently brilliant and is one of the few satires on TV. The writing is wonderful and the impressions are spot on. The addition of the sheer absurdity of Bird and Fortune just makes the programme much better. The downside of the satire is that it isn't always funny – often it's just plain depressing. Sometimes they expose the absurdities of politics so very well that you don't know whether to laugh or cry!