Review of Alistair McGowan`s Big World Cup

Introduction

Alistair McGowan has been around for a long while, mainly doing impressions on the stand up comedy circuit, but he also played Spock in the excellent BBC comedy/drama All Quiet on the Preston Front (where`s the DVD of that BBC?) He`s also had a couple of series of Alistair McGowan`s Big Impression as well as various one off specials like the two featured here.

Fans or sharp-eyed readers will remember that McGowan has already had a football impressions DVD out, in the shape of Alistair McGowan`s Football Backchat, which was mostly related to the 1998 World Cup.

This one covers Alistair McGowan`s Big World Cup and Alistair McGowan`s Big Jubilee, both of which were broadcast in the summer of 2002.

Video

A 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer which all looks fine and dandy and is pretty much as it was broadcast during the World Cup and Jubilee weekend. There are some bonus bits which weren`t in the original broadcasts but I can`t tell you what they are since I don`t know!

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, which is all that`s required. Everything is clear and audible, apart from those impressions that are intentionally difficult to understand!

As there`s not much else to say about the soundtrack, I`ll comment briefly on the quality of some of the impressions. If you`re not a huge football fan, you might not realise how good some of them are, or in a few cases, how bad.

McGowan has changed his repertoire of footballers and pundits over the years, phasing out Alan Hansen and Martin O`Neill (my favourite) and bringing in Gary Lineker and Mark Lawrenson (a new favourite). Sven is in there too, and is even being used to front BBC ads for this year`s Xmas output.

The Jubilee impressions aren`t really my cup of tea (particularly the Caroline Aherne/Camilla one), although Louis Theroux raises a few smiles.

Features

Depends how you look at it. It`s called Alistair McGowan`s Big World Cup so the inclusion of Alistair McGowan`s Big Jubilee could be seen as an extra. If you don`t look at it that way then there aren`t any!

Conclusion

The World Cup has long since passed into the memory, and in some ways the appeal of this DVD is rather limited. If you`re a football fanthen you`ll enjoy what`s on here, but more casual fans will miss a lot of the jokes. If you`re a fan of McGowan then you`ll enjoy it too, but you don`t get a lot for your money. More material or a lower RRP would have made this a more attractive title.

Most of the impressions are spot on, but there are still a few that are just a bit on the dodgy side. One for hardcore fans only perhaps since I can`t see too many people wanting to watch over and over again.