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Dead Ringers (series)

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Dead Ringers
GenreComedy
Created byBill Dare
StarringJon Culshaw
Jan Ravens
Phil Cornwell (−2007)
Kevin Connelly (−2007)
Mark Perry (−2007)
Duncan Wisbey (2014–)
Lewis MacLeod (2014–)
Debra Stephenson (2014–)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes42
Production
Executive producerJon Plowman
Running time28 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC Radio 4 2000–2007, 2014–
BBC Two 2002–2007
Release18 November 2002 –
29 March 2007

Dead Ringers is a United Kingdom radio and television comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry. The main writers for season 1–3 on Radio were Jon Holmes and Andy Hurst with Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain coming on board in Series 4. Other writers have included Simon Blackwell, Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, John Finnemore, David Mitchell, Terry Newman, Jonathan Morris and Carl Carter. It was revealed by star Jan Ravens that the BBC quietly cancelled the television run in 2007 after five years of broadcast.[1]

Dead Ringers' return to Radio 4 was announced on 8 July 2014.[2]

History

The programme first aired in 2000. The cast of the first series was different from other instalments. Of the established team, only Culshaw and Ravens appeared, as did Kate Robbins, Simon Lipson and Alistair McGowan. Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain were the only writers to write on Dead Ringers from series 1 of the Radio show through all seven series of Dead Ringers TV on BBC2 where they were head writers.

On the radio, there have been ten series plus a number of specials, including one devoted to the BBC radio soap The Archers, one to Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, and an episode focusing on Tony Blair in May 2007.

The television incarnation aired its fifth series in 2005, including a special devoted to the United Kingdom General Election on 5 May to start the six-part series, and a Christmas programme on 23 December. The sixth series started on 8 May 2006 and ended on 12 June 2006 running 6 episodes. Series 7 ran from 22 February 2007 to 29 March 2007 on BBC Two at 9.30pm.[1] In March 2007, the series parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" became the 40th most viewed video on YouTube. The final episode, featuring David Tennant as himself and as a newly-regenerated Tony Blair, was broadcast on 29 March 2007. It was announced that the series had been axed in 2009.[3]

Dead Ringers returned to radio in July 2014.

Content

The series is known for portrayal of BBC employees such as Radio 4 newsreader Brian Perkins as a Godfather-like figure ("Who's the daddy?"), controlling all Radio 4. He sends death threats to other members of the BBC, and threatens to kill anyone who chats up Charlotte Green. In one sketch, the Dead Ringers Perkins telephoned the real Perkins, the impersonator accusing the real Perkins of not being "hard" enough. Perkins joined in, claiming that he once put colleague Peter Donaldson's feet in concrete and threw him into a canal. The Perkins character was written by Jon Holmes although he claims he was simply transcribing overheard threats from the real one. In the television version this role was taken by Michael Buerk.

Another character was the former director general of the BBC, Greg Dyke, portrayed with a Michael Caine-like accent by Phil Cornwell, who had previously played Caine in Stella Street. Dyke was portrayed claiming to have recommissioned Fame Academy while he was drunk at a BBC Christmas party. Dyke is portrayed as hating the Daleks: "Bring back Doctor Who? OK – but there's going to be no Daleks in it. They've crossed me too many times!"

Kirsty Wark of Newsnight opens bulletins on the programme with a line from a popular song read in an incongruously solemn newseader's tone, closing with "More on that story later" ("My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like, it's better than yours, damn right, it's better than yours. More on that story later.") Fiona Bruce and Charlotte Green (of Radio 4) are portrayed as seductive and saucy; Green confesses to a "ribald" sense of humour.

Broadcasts reportedly from Downing Street parody previous BBC political editor Andrew Marr, showing his supposed eccentric manner, interminable sentences, and jerky movements — he is shown with giant hands operated by rods and speaks in mixed metaphor: "Well Fiona, might I say my goose has well and truly had its chips". Sir Patrick Moore is revealed as not an astronomer but a peeping-tom and psychic around the London Eye. Movie quotes are twisted and added to everyday things. Russell Crowe in Gladiator: "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife... and that's when I called Claims Direct!" 'Jazz' singer Jamie Cullum is portrayed with the voice and body movements of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.

One recurring gag includes celebrities being introduced in news or interviews as the "offspring" of a famous person, character or even an object from everyday entertainment or culture.

Culshaw performs prank telephone calls, impersonating among others Tom Baker's incarnation of the Doctor, Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, art critic Brian Sewell and talk show presenter Michael Parkinson. In the TV version, he roams as such characters, vexing shop assistants and salesmen with such pronouncements as, "I seek passage to Aldershot" which mirrors Alec Guinness's line in Star Wars "I seek passage to Alderaan." He also interviewed a bus stop of people as Parkinson. As the Doctor, he ventured into a furniture store seeking a replacement TARDIS, entering one wardrobe and re-emerging from another (to the astonishment of the shop clerk). He accompanied tourists on the London Eye while declaring they were trapped in a Sontaran "interstitial time helix".

Alan Bennett is also another person impersonated. His sketches were monologues, each recounting an improbable tale about an incident with Thora Hird, normally getting Peter Sallis and the fictional Mr Pettiforth from No. 42 in the story. Past exploits have included Hird as a dominatrix, a football hooligan, a dictator (having plastic surgery to look like Saddam Hussein), a Satanic priestess, a May Day protestor, and raised by Southerners.

The Jeremy Kyle Show is also featured, with Kyle calling the guests 'scum' and forcing them to make up. He screams at audience and guests. "HUG HIM!" then "THAT'S NOT HUGGING!" He shouts "Roll the credits... FASTER!" "Hello I'm Jeremy Kyle, and you're scum."

Radio 4 shows are mocked in the radio series. They include the Today Programme, where John Humphrys never gets the time right, Sue MacGregor stressing the "Mac" in her name, and Rabbi Lionel Blue on "Thought for the Day" telling listeners "Don't worry, something will turn up, it usually does." Other shows mocked include Go 4 It as a Radio 4 children's programme with little for children. It was formerly hosted by Matt Smith, noted for saying "Ace", at the end of every sentence. He is the only person that Brian Perkins fears taking on.

However, the show most mocked is Radio 4's The Archers. Characters impersonated include Clarrie and Eddie Grundy, stumbling from one crisis to another, Joe Grundy and his incomprehensible yokel accent, Jack Woolley’s incomprehensible Brummie, posh Brian Aldridge, snooty Lynda Snell, and Geordie-accented Ruth "Oh noooh" Archer. Other Radio 4 programmes mocked include Letter from America, Money Box, Brain of Britain, Counterpoint, Loose Ends, You and Yours and Front Row.

Politicians

A running gag, dating back to the earliest radio series, has former Prime Minister, Tony Blair referring to his physical characteristics and mannerisms as if he were reading from a script and forgetting to stop when he got to the stage directions ("Hello, I'm Tony Blair. Reassuring gesture, concerned brow, smug smile"). More recently, this was replaced by Blair addressing the nation in an insulting, oppressive or vaguely aggressive way. In one episode, prior to resignation as prime minister, Blair is seen regenerating into David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor) during an interview with Nick Robinson, after stating that the Blair legacy must go on.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, speaks in incomprehensible long sentences. On one occasion he catches fire when two sentences rub together, along with being the subject of the "Prescott-Widening Scheme" to go with a similar one for Britain's roads. When he announces that this scheme would reduce the amount of incomprehensible sentences uttered, Kirsty Wark comments that this could be the most popular thing he's ever done.

John Reid is portrayed as a Victor Meldrew-like character, always complaining and throwing abuse at TV presenters, but is later portrayed as a tough hardman.

When David Blunkett was Home Secretary, he was portrayed as a hard man who was "Only in this Home Secretary game for the arse-kicking". On a revamped episode of the Today show, he expressed his desire to become a Hollywood reporter and sort out Ben Affleck. After he was sacked as Home Secretary, Blunkett was in line to become the next hard man on EastEnders, with "Dirty" Den having a premonition that he was about to die in a needlessly sensationalist way. It later emerged that Blunkett had had an affair with "Dirty" Den and then cruelly dumped him.

Robin Cook is even less coherent, and it has been suggested that the famous Doctor Who theme music was created by combining a recording of Cook explaining his views on the European Union with (for the higher-pitched sounds) his reaction to being told that all young, female BBC employees were turned on by ugly ginger men with beards.

Clare Short is meanwhile portrayed as an angry woman hated by the government, with an almost fixed grimace: "I was so flabbergasted when the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, announced that we were going to war that my jaw dropped by almost half a millimetre!", while Alistair Darling's contrasting black eyebrows and white hair make him more badger than human.

Charles Kennedy, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, appears as a bit of a drunk, while Michael Howard, the former head of the Conservative Party, was shown as a vampire (a reference to the "something of the night about him" comment by Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe). In some episodes, he channelled all of his evil into his left hand, to create a "hand of evil", which would often embarrass him when he tried to express his view on something. During a time when some Conservative peers defected to the UK Independence Party, his hand of evil defected to UKIP, so he cut off his hand to remove it from the party and his body. But, as a result, his other hand became evil (and defected to the BNP).

Opposition leaders of the day were also parodied; David Cameron is a vote-grabbing popularist, who avoids the tough issues in favour of policies about coat hangers and children's clothing, and has to write down the name of his party on the palm of his hand. Menzies Campbell meanwhile is portrayed as an old, out-of-touch grandfatherly figure ignored by his party; at one point, the Liberal Democrats brick up all the windows and doors to his house. He frequently complains about the poor conditions in the old people's home in which he resides and always refers to himself in the third person as "Mighty Ming", a reference to the arch-enemy of Flash Gordon, Ming the Merciless. He ends every speech by saying "night night" and turning off the lamp by which he is sitting.

The Queen is also ridiculed, portrayed as someone who constantly makes announcements. She is first seen making an apology for her involvement in the Paul Burrell affair — and is mocked by the media as being someone "who holds all the answers to all the unsolved cases without even realising it". The Queen also appears for fictional newspaper The Bung, as "an old lady who met Diana once or twice in a big house". She comments briefly on the princess and asks "Can one have one's money now?" The Queen has also fought Darth Vader, who turned out to be Prince Philip behind the mask. The Queen also hosts "QVC Shopping Channel" with Prince Philip, who is selling a diamond tiara for nothing to any member of the Royal household. He advises them that they can take it round the "society jewellers and flog it for more money than Harry spends on hashish". She also took over Helen Mirren's role in Prime Suspect in revenge for Mirren playing the Queen in the movie of the same title. She closed the episode with the line "One's telling you one's nicked, you slag!"

In Series 7, John Reid is portrayed as the nodding dog "Churchill", which says "oh, yes" when something is correct, and, when he was asked if he would fix the Home Office, he said "Oh, no no". There was a parody of the Apple Mac computer, where Blair was the "PC" and Cameron was the "Mac"; they both agreed that they are all the public have (for leadership), and then Campbell drives in in his electric wheelchair, saying that he's a Sinclair ZX81. Gordon Brown, initially portrayed simply as an incredibly emotionless and unexpressive man, became a fully robotic character, often malfunctioning and occasionally issuing Dalek-esque calls to "EXTERMINATE!" He is also shown as a dictatorial, Stalin-esque figure.

George W. Bush

Unlike Spitting Image, which satirised many international public figures, Dead Ringers tends to concentrate on British ones. One notable exception is U.S. President George W. Bush, whose own Bushisms are ridiculed even further with invented words such as "Ignorify",[4] "Astonisherate", "Climactification" and "Shockerating". At one point he refers to Condoleezza Rice as "Basmati Rice" and displays his misspeaking with the statement "I want Osama Bin Laden capturised alive or dead or both!" His use of malapropisms is also lampooned ruthlessly, such as when he says, "My fellow Abbytitmuses, this is your Steradent speaking..."

Sometimes, his actions are caricatured as childlike and lacking in understanding of the consequences (for example, taping over intelligence videos with episodes of Sesame Street).[5] One of the most famous sketches of the President involves him telling the captured Saddam Hussein that it's now his turn to start hiding in a new game of international hide-and-seek (lampooning the Monty Python sketch of the same name). In one sketch, the show lampoons the American public by using Bush as a 'translator' for a speech that Culshaw's Tony Blair is making. Bush reduces the speech to statements such as "America good" and "Bad man obliterified!"

International

Despite its emphasis on British personalities who may not be well known in other countries, Dead Ringers has been shown outside the UK on BBC Prime (now BBC Entertainment) in Europe and Africa, BBC America in the United States, ABC in Australia, BBC Canada in Canada and UK.TV in New Zealand. Although it has had to be re-edited considerably, much of the show can be watched without contextual knowledge.

Parodies

Song parodies

In later TV series of the show, there have been parodies of songs, parodying the song, the singer and the music videos. Some examples of these are:

  • Norah Jones – (2004 Christmas Special) She is portrayed with a very soft voice so that no one actually takes notice of her, and she fades easily into the background, no matter how hard she tries to attract people's attention.
  • James Blunt – "It's Bloody Cold" (2005 Christmas Special): Mimics the song You're Beautiful, and is about how other singers mock James Blunt. States that his name is rhyming slang.
  • Arctic Monkeys (Series Six, Episode One): Culshaw lampoons the vocal style, before revealing the Northern comedy singer George Formby as the real secret of their success.
  • Katie Melua (Series Six, Episode Two), spoof of Nine Million Bicycles.
  • Gwen Stefani – her song parodies the randomness of her music videos, with unicorns and random Japanese girls running, and the idea that some of the grunts heard in her songs aren't sexual but constipation due to the fact that she doesn't eat. [citation needed]
  • Jamie Cullum (Series Six, Episode Five): Portraying him as the Gollum of the jazz world.
  • Jack Johnson (Series Six, Episode Six): This parodies the relaxed and mellow style of the singer's work, and the idea that they are similar to "nursery rhymes and the theme to Postman Pat". The parody song also says that if he were to be more mellow, he would be "clinically dead".[citation needed]
  • Dido – Her music is portrayed as hard to follow and depressing, and the video involves some highly comical suicides.
  • Beyoncé Knowles – Ravens lampoons how her music videos constantly promote her bottom as the root of her fame. She also sings about some female politicians using their bottoms to woo others.
  • Madonna – Shown as desperate for publicity, she goes through all her various incarnations. In a bid to stay popular, she claims she will do anything, even learn to sing.
  • Take That – An alternative version of their song "Back for Good". (Series Seven; Episode One)
  • Amy Winehouse – A parody of her song "Rehab", with the first line changed from "They're trying to make me go to Rehab" to "I'm trying to get into the lav". (Series Seven; Episode Two)
  • Pete Doherty – A parody which he sings about his affair with Kate Moss and his drug abuse. (Series Seven; Episode Three)
  • Lily Allen – An alternative version parodying her song "Littlest Things", where she sings about how she is better than everyone and thinks everyone else is rubbish. (Series Seven; Episode Four)
  • Scissor Sisters – A parody of their song "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" in which Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees is mentioned. (Series Seven; Episode six)

Animated content

Dead Ringers also includes animated content occasionally; this includes:

Robin Hood

A parody of the recent adaptation of Robin Hood, including:

  • A version with an iPod playing church choral music, 21st Century language terms and break dancing between Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham.[6]
  • The titles that show the viewers where the characters are, are shown more here, and respond to the criticism of the cast, but when Robin Hood and others are over-critical, the titles tell them they are in Peckham High Road instead of Sherwood Forest. [citation needed]
  • When the Sheriff of Nottingham imposes a 21st Century tax which the peasants can't pay, he decides that Robin Hood needs to be got rid of, and one of Guy of Gisbourne's soldiers suggests an arrow amnesty to disarm Robin Hood. This is because at the time of broadcast there had recently been a nationwide knife amnesty in an attempt to reduce armed crime.
  • When the Sheriff of Nottingham decides to send soldiers into Sherwood forest, Guy of Gisbourne alerts him to the recently imposed congestion charge around it of £8.06 by the Earl of Livingstone.
  • Robin Hood and Little John are introduced to Friar Tuck (in the form of Russell Brand).

Doctor Who and Torchwood

There were various sketches which parodied popular long-running sci-fi show Doctor Who in which the titular Doctor (usually the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), played by Jon Culshaw) wanders around tourist spots such as the London Eye or finds himself in humorous situations (e.g. speed dating), often speaking to members of the public with his characteristic "technobabble". In one sketch, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) spends Christmas with his past incarnations, namely the Second (Patrick Troughton), Fourth (Tom Baker), Seventh (Sylvester McCoy) and Ninth (Christopher Eccleston).

Living with the Enemy was used as a fake BBC show, a pastiche of reality shows such as Wife Swap, within Dead Ringers, where the Doctor must live with a Cyber Family.[citation needed]

The recent series have included various sketches devoted to Torchwood where the Cardiff Rift is seen as a way of randomly changing scene locations; the sketch also makes fun of the fact that it is seen as an adult version of Doctor Who, the Welsh setting, along with the campness of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). Each character is so one dimensional they have to keep their characteristic stuck to the jacket, such as "Annoying" (Owen Harper), "Dull and Annoying" (Ianto Jones), "Camp and Annoying" (Jack Harkness) and Gwen is simply "Welsh".

Earlier episodes of the show featured a number of spoof episodes of the TV programme The Weakest Link, variously featuring Jesus's disciples, Robert Falcon Scott and his Antarctic explorers, and monks who had taken a vow of silence. In the former two, Anne Robinson (played by Jan Ravens) appeared from nowhere, riding her desk, and entered an apparently historical scene, which rapidly converted into the Weakest Link studio. Robinson herself was depicted as being unreasonably and sadistically cruel, throwing a snowball at doomed explorer Captain Lawrence Oates as he leaves, while responding to his famous last words with "You'll be gone forever matey! Now shove off!" Also, Robinson appeared from nowhere when Jesus and his disciples (only eight are shown) have their last supper, in which Judas is voted off from the round (as 'the Weakest Disciple').

The radio show versions featured King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and a themed sketch that had a large number of television gameshow hosts like Chris Tarrant, Richard Whiteley and Ruby Wax. It was called The Weakest Host and Anne berated them each, voting them all out. A Doctor Who-themed sketch featured Anne Robinson as a possible candidate to play the Ninth Doctor. Featuring the Daleks and the Cybermen, the Daleks were voted as The Weakest Evil Creature and had to perform the Walk of Shame; "The most embarrassing part was the walk of shame, I'm sure it never used to be three flights of stairs." But possibly the most famous of these radio sketches was the ultimate showdown between Anne and Brian Perkins, which results in Anne being declared the weakest link by the "Daddy of the BBC".[7]

Deal or No Deal

The programme also parodies the daytime Channel 4 game show Deal or No Deal, with Culshaw impersonating Noel Edmonds and frequently mocking both the repetitive nature of the programme and fact that the show's excitement is derived entirely from the opening of boxes. Another sketch also showed Anne Robinson, host of daytime game show The Weakest Link, appearing in the Deal or No Deal studio and ruining Edmond's television comeback by summoning Noel's House Party regular Mr Blobby, who destroys the studio before wrestling Edmonds to the ground, causing Edmonds to sob whilst yelling "You've ruined everything!"

On 29 October 2006 Culshaw appeared on Deal or No Deal itself, impersonating Edmonds as part of the show's first birthday special.

Alan Rickman, Ian McKellen and Brian Blessed

Another running gag is a satire on the fact that Ian McKellen, Alan Rickman and Brian Blessed are often typecast as over-the-top, melodramatic or camp stock villains in films and TV shows.

Countdown Extra

"Countdown Extra" was a sketch that featured a Big Brother-esque "extra" programme to complement Countdown. The show was filled with excitable presenters such as Justin Lee Collins and a hyped up studio audience similar to Saturday morning shows and Big Brother spin-offs on E4. The audience were asked for their reactions on the day's questions and the camera was spun everywhere with the audience cheering in the background. Comedy actress and regular impressionist Jess Robinson featured as a blonde bimbo type, exclaiming 'I'd like to give Des; one from the top, two from the bottom and three from anywhere else!'. At the end of the sketch, another Big Brother parody was shown when the audience was asked to evict one of two letters.

Countdown is a slow and traditional show that was mercilessly compared with Channel 4's youth-orientated line-up. Des Lynam is portrayed as the disgruntled and defeatist presenter, who seems constantly in conflict with the show which he takes every opportunity to devalue ('OK, so Dave is the best at making a word out of Strobcats..'). He is seen as dismayed by the passing of time in his current status ('...that's another 30 seconds of my life I'll never see again') and as a result is frequently in reminiscence of his past ('Do you think when I was 25 I was playing word games with Martin bloody Jarvis?'), particularly his football commentator roots ('I used to be the most important man in football, you know.') In one episode, he appears on Match of the Day determined to become the presenter again. He says he doesn't mind just covering the boring matches, "the ones with America playing".

The performers

The actors behind some impressions include:

Jon Culshaw

George W. Bush,[8] Tony Blair,[9][10][11] James Bond, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, Ozzy Osbourne,[12] Sir Patrick Moore, Obi-Wan Kenobi,[citation needed] Victor Meldrew and Richard Wilson, Brian Sewell,[13] Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), Tenth Doctor (David Tennant), Brian Perkins,[7][14] Simon Cowell, Master Yoda (on radio)), Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall,[15] David Beckham, Chris Tarrant, William Hague,[16] Simon Schama, Russell Crowe & Maximus Decimus Meridius, Ricky Gervais, Michael Buerk, Sir Trevor McDonald (on television), George Lucas, Jeremy Clarkson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sir Alan Sugar,[citation needed] David Frost,[17] Ross Kemp,[citation needed] Eminem, Gordon Ramsay, Judge John Deed, Terry Wogan, John Humphrys,[18] Rolf Harris,[citation needed]Charlotte Church (on radio), Jonathan Ross, Dale Winton,[19] Jon Pertwee, Chris Eubank, Frank Bruno (on radio), Richard Whiteley,[20] Morgan Freeman, Bono, Homer Simpson (on radio), John Craven, Griff Rhys Jones, Billy Connolly, Nick Ross,[21] Senator John Edwards, Phil Spencer, Robbie Williams, John Motson, Gary Lineker (on radio), Jack Bauer, Dermot Murnaghan,[22] Johnny Vegas, Shane Richie, Liam Gallagher, Captain Jack Sparrow, Jar Jar Binks, Doctor Octopus, José Mourinho, Hugh Laurie & Dr Gregory House, James Blunt, Alex Turner, Noel Edmonds, Justin Lee Collins, Jamie Cullum, Jamie Oliver, Wolverine, Ian Hislop, Jeremy Kyle,[citation needed] Wayne Rooney, Gordon Brown, Michael Owen, Jack Johnson,[citation needed] Captain Jack Harkness,[citation needed] Pete Doherty, Ewan McGregor, Peter Andre, Robin Hood, James Nesbitt, Michael Pike, David Cameron, Alan Carr, Ed Miliband, Boris Johnson, Idris Elba, Alan Bennett, John Bishop, Brian Cox, Jim Carter, Neil Nunes, Quentin Letts, Michael Portillo, David Mitchell, Mark Radcliffe, Stuart Maconie, Zane Lowe, Nick Clegg, David Attenborough, Paul Hollywood, Michael Johnson, Danny Dyer, Richard Osman, Jeremy Paxman, Vince Cable, Michael Parkinson, Piers Morgan, Sean Bean, Glenn Campbell, Andy Murray, Sylvester Stallone, Thomas the Apostle, Nigel Farage (Christmas Special), Dominic Parker, Christian Jessen, Prince Charles, Alan Carr, Julian Clary, Nick Robinson, Barack Obama, Nick Hewer, Michael Caine (Series 14), Ed Byrne, Douglas Carswell, Aidan Turner, Paul O'Grady, Russell Brand, Harvey Keitel, Paddy Ashdown, David Miliband, Andy Burnham, Mo Farah, Neil Kinnock

Jan Ravens

Queen Elizabeth II, Anne Robinson, Judi Dench and M, Cherie Blair, Sophie Raworth, Fiona Bruce,[23] Delia Smith, Patricia Routledge, Margaret Thatcher, Charlotte Green, Norah Jones, Natasha Kaplinsky, Kate Adie, Clarrie Grundy, Germaine Greer, Clare Short, Ann Widdecombe, Hillary Clinton, Meryl Streep, Ellen MacArthur,[24] Kirstie Allsopp, Carol Smillie (Smiley Carol), Linda Barker,[25] Nigella Lawson,[26] Kirsty Wark, Frodo Baggins, Sharon Osbourne, Lesley Garrett, Jessie Wallace, Tessa Jowell, Amanda Burton, Thora Hird, Sue McGregor, Barbara Windsor, Carol Vorderman,[27] Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Caroline Quentin, Tom Cruise, C.J. Cregg, Condoleezza Rice, Dido, Dr Tanya Byron, Julia Thorne, Diane Sawyer, Clarice Starling (on radio), Trisha Goddard,[28] Marge Simpson (on radio), Peggy Mitchell, Pat Evans, Victoria "Nana" Moon, Kat Moon, Sophie Neveu, Katie Melua, Rose Tyler, Jennifer Aniston, Bree Hodge, Nicky Hambleton-Jones, Beyoncé Knowles, Jessica Fletcher, Mariella Frostrup, Jane Fonda, June Whitfield, Helen Mirren, Gwen Cooper, Renée Zellweger & Beatrix Potter, Lily Allen, Kerry Katona, Jenny Eclair, Katie Price, Chloe O'Brian (voice only), Victoria Wood, Diane Abbott, Arlene Phillips, Victoria Coren Mitchell, Sarah Montague, Naga Munchetty, Alison Mitchell, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Theresa May, Gabby Logan, Claire Balding, Penelope Wilton, Mel Giedroyc, Lily James, Winifred Robinson, Janet Street-Porter, Stephanie Parker, Vanessa Redgrave, Leanne Wood, Natalie Bennett, Samantha Cameron, Heida Reed, Yvette Cooper,

Lewis MacLeod

Dara O'Briain, Nigel Farage, Peter Capaldi, Andrew Neil, Ian McKellen, Sean Connery, George Galloway, James Naughtie, Morrissey, Boris Johnson, Johnnie Walker, Liam Neeson, Alan Carr, Ed Balls, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eric Pickles, Neil Oliver, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Pacino, Ray Winstone, Saint Peter, Alex Salmond, Prince Harry, Boy George, Paul McCartney, Nick Clegg, Brian Blessed, David Dimbleby, Jeremy Vine, Arthur Conan Doyle, James May, Sir Tom Jones, Donald Trump

Duncan Wisbey

Nick Clegg (Christmas Special), Gareth Malone, Hugh Bonneville, Patrick Stewart, Stephen Hawking, Elton John, Jools Holland, Michael Caine, Paul Lewis, Justin Webb, Evan Davis, Dan Snow, Mark Kermode, George Osborne, Amir Khan, Brendan Foster, Eric Robson, James Hetfield, Benedict Cumberbatch, Roy Hodgson, Mel Gibson, Judas Iscariot, Alistair Darling, David Cameron (Christmas Special + Series 14), Jamie Oliver, Prince Williams, John Hurt, Michael Fallon, David Dimbleby, Bill Clinton, Eddie Izzard, Gregg Wallace, Mark Reckless, Kenneth Williams, Aleksandr Orlov, Mike Read, Rupert Murdoch, Douglas Carswell, Tim Farron, William Shakespeare, Jeremy Corbyn, Tony Hall, Morrissey, Richard Hammond

Debra Stephenson

Victoria Wood, Cheryl Cole, Melanie Phillips, Olivia Coleman, Jenna Coleman, Laura Carmichael, Esther McVey, Katie Hopkins, Davina McCall, Claudia Winkleman, Helena Bonham Carter, Alex Jones, Michelle Dockery, Sue Perkins, Penélope Cruz, Angelina Jolie, Kirsty Young, Caroline Aherne, Dot Cotton, Miranda Hart, Pixie McKenna, Judy Murray, Kate Middleston, Nicola Sturgeon, Sandi Toksvig, Justine Thornton, Margaret Thatcher, Jessica Hynes, Eleanor Tomlinson, Liz Kendall, Sara Cox, Carol Smillie, Letitia Dean

Radio Series 2 – 11 + TV 7 series

Kevin Connelly

Sven-Göran Eriksson, David Dimbleby, Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, Charles Kennedy, Iain Duncan Smith, [citation needed] Mark Lawson,[29] David Starkey, Des Lynam, Michael Howard, Harry Potter, James Naughtie, Kenneth Clarke, Andrew Marr, Bill Oddie, Michael Palin, Andrew Neil, Adrian Chiles, President Josiah Bartlet,[30] Boris Johnson, John Simpson (on radio), Rev. Ian Paisley, Andrew Gilligan, Ned Sherrin,[31] Seventh Doctor & Sylvester McCoy, Sir Menzies Campbell, Ringo Starr, Nick Robinson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Alan Carr, John Reid, Stephen Fry

Mark Perry

David Dickinson,[32] John Prescott, Robin Cook, Gandalf,[33] David Cameron, Magneto and Ian McKellen, Professor Robert Winston, Dr Rowan Williams, David Blunkett, Tom Paulin, Saddam Hussein, Peter Mandelson, Graham Norton, Martin Jarvis, Trevor McDonald (on radio), Bob Geldof, Ken Livingstone, Brian Blessed, Luciano Pavarotti, Monty Don, Richard Briers, Patrick Stewart, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Toby Ziegler, Donald Rumsfeld, Adam Hart-Davis, Hannibal Lecter (on radio), Lord Voldemort (on radio), Hercule Poirot, Second Doctor & Patrick Troughton, Bernard Matthews, Rocky Balboa, Al Gore, George Lamb

Phil Cornwell

Greg Dyke, Darth Vader, The Duke of Edinburgh, Saruman and Christopher Lee, Don Vito Corleone, Michael Caine, Derren Brown, Professor Snape & Alan Rickman, Jack Nicholson,[34] Jamie Oliver, Jacques Chirac, Alistair Darling, Jack Straw, Marlon Brando, Bruce Forsyth, Osama Bin Laden, Senator John Kerry, Leo McGarry, Ninth Doctor Who & Christopher Eccleston, Prince Charles,[citation needed] Gerry Adams, Justin Hawkins, Jon Snow, Jimmy Hill, Stelios Haji-Ioannou (on radio), Alistair Cooke (on radio),[35] Tony Robinson, Lord Hutton, Jimmy Savile, Adolf Hitler, God, Judas Iscariot, Russell Brand, Jeremy Vine, Evan Davis, Neil Burgess a.k.a. Barry Scott, Donald Duck

References

  1. ^ a b "Comedy News | Daily Fix | Comedy News". Comedy Central. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  2. ^ "Radio 4 is bringing back Dead Ringers – News – British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Ringers is dead : News 2009 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  4. ^ "BBC Media Player". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
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