We Wish You a Mandy Christmas, review: a giddily absurd Dickens parody – but with more Tia Maria
Bite-sized comedy Mandy (BBC Two) returned for a giddily absurd seasonal special, subtitled We Wish You a Mandy Christmas. Creator Diane Morgan had extended the show’s usual running time of 15 minutes to a suitably epic 20. Now there’s the true spirit of Christmas.
Boltonian comic Morgan (Motherland) played our eponymous perma-pouting heroine in a knowingly daft Dickens pastiche. “Christmas is just a con to make the poor feel poorer and the rich feel smug,” said cynical Mandy. Yes, this was Scrooge with a mohair jumper and a nicotine-scented beehive hairdo. Her plan for the big day? “The usual. Just watch Die Hard and get a---holed on Tia Maria.”
Guest stars played her three spectral visitors. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Johnny Vegas) whisked Mandy back to childhood to illustrate her ingratitude. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Pearce Quigley) took her flying over the town to witness the loneliness of her friend Lola from the nail bar (Michelle Greenidge). Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (John Cooper Clarke) took Mandy to her own sparsely attended funeral after she’d died in a freak steamroller accident. Cut to a comically thin coffin.
Was she really transported into the spirit realm? Or had she just fallen asleep drunk in front of The Muppet Christmas Carol? Either way, it taught Mandy to mend her ways. She duly spent the day with Lola, eating Terry’s Chocolate Oranges washed down with Kylie Minogue rosé.
With no agenda other than to make viewers laugh, it was cartoonishly larger-than-life and infectiously funny. Best of all was scene-stealing pet pooch “Small Tim”, who wore a canine paper crown and high-fived Mandy with a paw when she gave him his present (a tin of ham). I noticed from the closing credits that he was played by Robert “Bovril” Morgan. Yes, he was the star’s own rescue dog. I’m not sure why I found this so touching but I did. Too much Tia Maria, perhaps.
