The Mimic- Channel 4 Comedy Sitcom Review

The Mimic- Review 

Episode 2

After watching the first episode of Channel 4’s new sitcom and so called 'comedy', The Mimic, last Wednesday, I decided to give the show another chance this week in the hope that the idea I really wanted to work would eventually get its feet off the ground.

Sadly it still doesn't look like the series is going anywhere and this new sitcom is yet to get the slightest laugh out of me.

The show is about an everyday person, Martin Hurdle, who is living on the bottom floor of his land lady's house, Jean. Martin (played by Terry Mynott) is living a lonely life and in a dead end job as an everyday maintenance man. 

Channel 4 has listed this programme as 'a heart-warming comedy' but I’m failing to understand how the writers have categorised this in the genre of comedy. It could be a lot better if just made into a drama as I’m not getting very much humour out of the attempted gags in the show. 

There are a slight few moment that are humours, for instance, last week there was a moment where Martin was able to impersonate his boss down the intercom and embarrassed his employer to the rest of the workforce. I did find that moment quite amusing, but is a few laughs what you expect from a 30 minute comedy sitcom?

Ultimately the story is very boring and has no signs of moving forward any time soon. You are following this dull character with some very good impersonations but that's it. Not all are that brilliant though. 

Martin's friend he made last week, via doing a very poor Al Pacino impersonation, recommends that Martin takes up internet dating (a potential way for him to cure his loneliness). You do feel sorry for Martin who is static and scared to move forward as he puts excuses in front of his ambitions, like his dream to go to India. It’s that part of Martin's personality that is stopping the show to move up a gear.

I think his talents will get him somewhere eventually, especially with his son pushing him in the right direction, after discovering his father’s talents, but after two episodes we are still in the same situation and place we started.  

I love listening to talented people doing impersonations but not all the impersonation are the best I’ve heard. There are a lot of repeat voices already and we are only on the second episode. There is a lot of time spent impersonating Christopher Walken including in the opening sequences. I couldn't even work out who he was impersonating until Christopher’s IMDb page appeared on screen. I had to pause the programme at that point and just see whether the impression was anywhere near close. It wasn't. 

As well as this we heard the popular choice of Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Attenborough again and Alan Rickman. The portfolio of characters doesn’t appear to be that large. Terry is a talent and his Alec Guinness and Alan Rickman are good but there isn’t really a lot on offer as of yet to fill a sitcom full of the entertainment factor just on the voices alone.

I found it quite ironic in the opening ten minutes when Martin did impressions of Alan Rickman and Alec Guinness that Jean's response is, "It’s not just about the voices Martin. It’s about the story." It’s weird that this quote is something that isn’t taken into account for the show itself. 

I wanted this show to work. The basic foundations for this idea looked promising and I love listening to impersonations. There are some very accurate voices Terry can do but I could hear more impersonations and better ones from a five minute video on YouTube. Jim Meskimen is probably the best I’ve seen and can produce a big entertainment factor without a dull sitcom around it. I will still watch the show just because I do like Terry Mynott and I do think he is talented but I do just hope that the story can shift into something a little more exciting next week.