When you ram the phrase ‘epic’ into something, then it’s essential to know you’re on fairly strong foundations.
n film phrases, you’re wanting on the likes of Ben Hur or The Shawshank Redemption, in music Bohemian Rhapsody or my private favorite, Epic by Faith No More, a quantity 25 hit in 1990. Not so epic.
In telly phrases, although, it does appear a bit grandiose and misplaced, particularly when the encompassing phrases are Alan, Carr and game present.
Nothing towards Mr Carr, a very humorous man certainly, however the third collection of his revamping of ‘epic’ game exhibits returned with Play Your Cards Right, a format that Charlton Heston or Morgan Freeman would battle to provide gravitas.
Other classics of the previous to come back embody Bullseye, Take Your Pick, Strike It Lucky and new this time round, Child’s Play.
I’m significantly wanting ahead to the latter as will probably be a probability for my buddy (we will name him Alexander to avoid wasting his embarrassment) who failed the audition on the unique present when he blabbed out ‘Margaret Thatcher’ when requested to explain the prime minister. Still bought a sweatshirt. And it nonetheless suits him.
I digress.
Arguably, Play Your Cards Right was larger than Maggie in its heyday. It began in 1980 and ran for seven years within the arms of Bruce Forsyth.
But Carr’s reboot isn’t the primary. Brucie returned for one other five-year run in 1994 and for one other, much less profitable bash, in 2002.
Carr’s differs in that it options celebrity {couples}, with Sir Mo and Lady Tania Farah up towards comic Russell Kane and his spouse Lindsey.
We additionally had actor Jimi Mistry together with his different half, former Strictly Come Dancing professional Flavia Cacace, and Clare Balding and her broadcasting missus Alice Arnold, all taking part in for charity.
That’s good and worthy, however it doesn’t have the identical affect or romance as Gary and Tracy from Grimsby hoping to win a few quid to pebbledash their caravan.
Some issues stay the identical. In homage to Brucie, Carr’s opening monologue is toe-curlingly terrible and the staged banter is sufficient to ship even the jolliest of jacks into despair. We even have ‘nothing for a pair — not in this game’ when two playing cards of the identical worth are revealed, sending the viewers into apoplexy.
What we don’t have are the ‘dolly dealers’. For the uninitiated, these have been two women, often blonde and beautiful, whose arduous process it was to participate in banter with Brucie and put the playing cards up on a shelf.
We have moved on. There is now a seller, dressed for a new technology, however we weren’t even proven her face, not to mention advised her identify, till nicely into the present.
We did get to be taught issues concerning the celebs, although. Lady Farah revealed that Mo was very messy, particularly when he left chocolate bar wrappers at his bottom. Bet it was a Marathon…
Flavia and Jimi personal 12 sheep, dolly sellers by the sound of them, and so they gambolled or gambled into the ultimate to play Mo and Tania.
“We’ve raided the archive from the original series of Play Your Cards Right, so it’s time to travel back to 1997,” Carr advised us.
This made me nervous. Some of the questions within the older variations have been, let’s consider, not appropriate for these extra enlightened instances.
“We asked 100 married women in their 20s, could you recognise your husband if he was wearing nothing but a paper bag on his head?” he mentioned.
This may have been a lot worse. Don’t imagine me? Well, the 2002 reboot is proven in the meanwhile on Challenge the place the dollies are alive and nicely and political correctness was in its infancy.
For instance, Brucie’s opening monologue.
“And as Prince Phillip said to Pavarotti — ‘hello fatty’,” he mentioned to nervous laughter earlier than rescuing issues with a fast ‘nice to see, to see you nice’.
There’s additionally the greeting to the feminine workers members, with ‘here’s a pair price revealing, okay dollies, do your dealing’ and people instances are actually in all probability nonetheless being labored on by attorneys.
Not as a lot although as this classic query of its time — and this was in 2002 by the way in which.
“We asked 100 male models, if a female casting director pinched your bottom would you report her for sexual harassment?” requested Brucie, earlier than a bit of banter with the dolly sellers pinching suggestively within the nook of the studio.
A feminine contestant replied that ‘it goes with the job, doesn’t it?’ Her hubby mentioned, ‘I wouldn’t complain’ and you may solely think about that trawl by means of the archives for a query right this moment was thorough.
As for Sir Mo and Lady Tania, they gained heaps of money for charity, in all probability serving to traumatised sellers and male fashions get a recent begin in life.