Review of Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse’s tribute to 100 years of the BBC

Anyone who remembers The Story Of The Twos, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse’s marvellous lampooning of 50 years of BBC Two programming from a few years back, would have been delighted to learn that they were asked to pay similar tribute – if that’s quite the right word – for the  BBC’s centenary.

And they will be even more thrilled to know that The Love Box In Your Living Room is an equally exquisite parody,  if not more so, as the pair gleefully shovel sacred cows from our national broadcaster on to their bonfire of ridicule.

In this case they’ve been inspired by Adam Curtis’s sprawling documentaries as they cover 100 years of social history and how it’s intertwined with cultural touchstones from the Corporation’s archives. But it doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen a Curtis film, just know it gives Enfield licence to intone his preposterous nonsense with great, pompous authority – and to give the programme the maximum possible scope for its dense onslaught of verbal and visual gags, all delivered with a straight-faced silliness.

Much of the genuine footage the pair of plundered from the archives is fascinating on its own merits, but any insight into bygone days is soon undermined by the pair's wonderfully weird take on events.

The story starts with Marconi’s radio experiments and the way the new technology made it easier for the British to ‘kill Germans before breakfast’ before John Reith – who had an optimistic view of life ‘despite being Scottish’ – saw the potential for the peaceful power of broadcasting. It’s then full-throttle through some of the BBC’s greatest hits  some of which – such as Howard’s Way,  Jackanory or Blake's 7– may be on the edge of memory.

In this they are joined by a talented cast including Rosie Cavaliero and Simon Greenall from Story Of The Blues. The latter displays an impressive range of caricatures that will be a revelation if you only know him as Alan Partridge’s Geordie mate Michael. Meanwhile, Seann Walsh gets to show off his on-point Michael McIntyre impression.

Eurovision parodies provide musical interludes, while politics runs strong alongside the pop culture, channelled though impressions of good cop Brian Walden, bad cop Sir Robin Day and louche, sneery cop Jeremy Paxman. We get Margaret Thatcher spouting even more nonsense than usual, and Tony Blair cosying up to ‘Raised By Dingoes’. No prize for guessing which toxic Australian media baron that might be.

Sketch shows rarely get on TV because of the cost of requiring so many sets or locations, but here Enfield and Whitehouse crack through a dizzying number of scenes, many barely lasting a few seconds – just long enough to deliver a well-aimed jab – before moving on.

So many BBC icons are skewered, from The Archers to trippy 1970s dramas, from Strictly to Only Fools And Horses – giving Whitehouse a chance to reprise the Grandad role he originated on the West End stage.

If it’s fair to pick out highlight in this embarrassment of riches, the pair are especially witty on the ‘angry young men’ dramas of the 1960s, with a brilliant side-by-side comparison of how the Oxbridge dominated BBC and working-class ITV  would handle the same scene. And when Peaky Blinders take on Downton Abbey, another nod to ITV, the results are a delight.

Enfield and Whitehouse pull no punches in embracing criticism of the Corporation, but they are very even-handed: one minute mocking its past dominated by patriarchal ruling-class men, the next bewailing a present obsession with inclusivity at the expense of meaningful depth.

And for all the taunting of the BBC, it’s very clear this is a love letter to an institution that has been at the cornerstone of British cultural life for a century at a time when its future is under threat at a time like never before.

Cultural vandal Nadine Dorries’s laughable attempts at free-market broadcasting this week might be the best advert for maintaining the licence fee, but the surprisingly heart-warming conclusion to this bitingly funny hour comes a close second.

We’ll miss the BBC when it’s gone... and this excellent programme is just one more reason why.

• The Love Box in Your Living Room is on BBC Two at 9pm tonight. Click here for a gallery of images from the show.

Review date: 27 Oct 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett