Picture from Mirror
It is very easy to dislike Peter Kay for his exploitation of fans by releasing three seperate DVDs of the same act word for word, or for his arrogance on chat shows and especially for his sarcastic 'don't get up' acceptance speech when he was inexplicably given the Outstanding Contribution to Comedy prize at the 2009 British Comedy Awards. However I do begrudgingly admit that Kay's talent as a writer who manages to capture real life is remarkable; That Peter Kay Thing contained characters that we all seemed to know, portraying the North West mannerisms in a way not seen since Victoria Wood's television heyday. The crowning glory was Phoenix Nights, especially as I have worked in Northern Working Man Clubs and could pick out every single character and give them a real life name. As a huge admirer of Danny Baker I was looking forward to his autobiographies being turned into a television series, but my heart sank when I read Peter Kay's name being bandied about to play Fred 'Spud' Baker, the undisputed star of the books.
A lot of the time an adaptation has little resemblance to the book as the author has no input once the contract has been signed, but in this case Danny Baker co-wrote the series and has been on set as an advisor so what you see on screen is genuine. Of course a sitcom adaptation is going to be hard to pull off, especially given that the main character is a South London wheeler-dealer which brings with it the burden of comparisons with Only Fools and Horses, yet this works, even with Peter Kay's involvement. In fact, although the cock-er-nee accent wavers from time to time, you soon forget that it is Kay playing the part. If you've read the books then you know that the series isn't exactly going along in chronological order, rather they have pulled out the funniest stories and worked with them making it less a biopic and more a series of recollections from a master storyteller.
In the publicity for Cradle to Grave Danny Baker has defended his choice of Peter Kay in the role by focussing on his talent as an actor rather than a comedian, mentioning Ronnie Barker in the same breath which might seem a bit grand until you see him in action. There are currently two books of Baker's life with another one on the way so this series should hopefully run and run. Best of all, there isn't a single mention of garlic bread.
The Sunday Alternative #54 is available from here.
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September housekeeping
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