Number 20 in the Telegraph's space-filling list of the 20 best comedy sketches.
Alan Partridge at the Races (The Day Today, 1994)
Chris Morris’ coruscating news satire provided the origin story of Steve Coogan’s career-defining creation. The hapless sports reporter was dispatched to cover the Queen Henry Stakes at Marple – despite knowing as little about horse-racing as he does about anything. As the North Norfolk blowhard frantically filled airtime, he mistook a 33-year-old jockey for a child and managed to insult most of the racecourse crowd. Best of all were the nags’ names: Onion Terror, Diabetic Dancer, Two Headed Sex Beast, Trust Me I’m A Stomach, Massive Bereavement and Zeinab Badawi’s Twenty Hotels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7rTk8Vihe0
For the record, here is the Telegraph's list. They've included some American sketches, presumably because the Telegraph wants to break into the American market. I imagine the list must have taken a good five minutes to compile after a good lunch.
1. Dead Parrot (Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 1969) 2. Four Candles (The Two Ronnies, 1976) 3. The Class System (The Frost Report, 1966) 4. Going For An English (Goodness Gracious Me, 1998) 5. Racist Word Association (Saturday Night Live, 1975)
6. Breakfast Dance (Morecambe & Wise, 1976) 7. One Leg Too Few (Beyond The Fringe, 1961) 8. Mastermind (The Two Ronnies, 1980) 9. Acorn Antiques: The Death of Mrs Overall (Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV, 1987) 10. Gerald The Talking Gorilla (Not The Nine O’Clock News, 1979)
11. The House Of Idiot (French & Saunders, 1993) 12. Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 1969) 13. Last F--kable Day (Inside Amy Schumer, 2015) 14. Thatcher & Her Cabinet (Spitting Image, 1985) 15. Instagram Brunch (I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, 2019)
16. Women: Know Your Limits (Harry Enfield & Chums, 1990) 17. Ted & Ralph’s Drinking Game (The Fast Show, 1997) 18. Continental Breakfast (Key & Peele, 2013) 19. Saying Goodbye (Smack The Pony, 1999) 20. Alan Partridge at the Races (The Day Today, 1994)
For the record, here is the Telegraph's list. They've included some American sketches, presumably because the Telegraph wants to break into the American market. I imagine the list must have taken a good five minutes to compile after a good lunch.1. D
Had they taken more than five minutes perhaps at a push 2 of their list would have made a list consisting of American comedy? Phil Silvers, Robin Williams and the Marx Brothers to name but three would make a list twice as long and much funnier?
Had they taken more than five minutes perhaps at a push 2 of their list would have made a list consisting of American comedy? Phil Silvers, Robin Williams and the Marx Brothers to name but three would make a list twice as long and much funnier?