Dennis Pennis - Pennis From Heaven [DVD]

The first series, 'Anyone for...' seems fairly inoffensive ten years on, with Dennis sticking to home grown stars like Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson, and generally - for the most part at least - going pretty easy on them (...especially if we compare some of the put downs here to the ones that would crop up in 'VIP'). There was also less reliance on comic-sketches to intersperse the celeb-based footage, so this was essentially Pennis mark. 1... before people started to get in on the joke. As with the other two series, 'Anyone For...' is great stuff; funny in the sense that we can't believe this guy would have the nerve to slag off these celebrities right to their pompous faces, but genuinely funny in the way that actual the gags are written and, of course, the dry and sarcastic manner in which Paul Kaye delivers them. The definite highlight from this series for me was the interaction between Dennis and Hugh Grant, with that great, cutting gab; "Hugh, I've often found your acting a little woody... I mean, how do you get yourself psyched up for a role? Do you go into the forest and stare at some trees?" to which Grant can only blather the F-word before slinking away.

'VIP' advances on the formula, offering a bigger budget... which means that Dennis can jet off to Venice and Cannes and offer his pearls of wisdom to the likes of Mel Gibson ("I hadn't had sex in a long time, I went to see Braveheart, and slept with the entire audience"), Tom Hanks ("Tom, you've made the ultimate space movie, man... completely lacking in atmosphere") and Kenneth Branaugh ("is this your first comedy since Frankenstein?"). There's also more gags and sketches, most of which have never been seen on TV, including Dennis' tour of London and his BBC video diary... both of which are hilarious, as is the insert of attorney Mike Strutter, who offers his advice on lawsuits, as well as relating some of his more recent legal victories ("this schmuck stays up late to watch a movie, the next morning, he oversleeps, arrives late for work and loses his job... I found out who produced the movie, I hit 'um, and I hit 'um f*cking hard!").

Strutter returns again for a more pivotal role in 'Dennis Pennis, RIP', in which he gives one of the most hilarious advertising pitches I've ever seen (novelty pipes, fake erections, on-the-spot suicide notes and a swear-censor are all up for grabs... the latter product is pitched with the classy line "as some of you may have noticed, I've got a f*cking filthy mouth!!"). There are also early appearances from Matt Lucas and David Walliams of Little Britain fame, becoming embroiled alongside Strutter in the downfall of Pennis (the whole programme is sort of like a self-referential take on the Dennis character being put to rest) alongside other Paul Kaye characters like Ken Toucan, the international goalie who is forced to take over Pennis' role (amusingly offering John Gielgud - or "Goalgood" - the chance to knock a plastic ball into a miniature net), Tony Cream, the upper-class protestor trying to bring Pennis down, popular contemporary composer Labien Quest (who appears in the spoof South Bank-style discussion programme, 'Artshole'), and the riotous "oh-ah" Bob Boonah, the American soccer pundit.

There's also more of Pennis' celebrity put-downs, for example, another encounter with Ken Branaugh ("I'd imagine you're no fun at picnics, man... you always take the biggest roles for yourself"), Michael Winner ("you deserve a knighthood... 'Michael Winner: O.B.E...S.E.') and a great quip shouted to Michael Jackson, that I probably won't get away with repeating here. In terms of content, there's certainly a lot here to enjoy, with 'Anyone For...' clocking it at about 40 minutes, whilst both VIP and RIP - what with their inter-cut sketches, etc - offer roughly an hour and half each of entertainment. As a result, this collection is great value for money, even if the extras are a little skimpy (the interview with Kaye in Leister Square is only five minutes long) and I seem to remember an interview with Sylvester Stallone and one interview with Adam West that were both shown when the programmes were first broadcast, yet both of them are missing here (...why?).

Pennis From Heaven is a great collection, offering us an example of true, anarchic, anti-establishment comedy, that has sort of been forgotten in these celebrity-worshiping times. The jokes, skits, word-play and situations are all fantastic, managing to appear both intelligent and low-brow without descending to the pits of desperation as mined by the overrated Bo' Selecta or similarly more successful - though certainly in debt to Pennis - shows, like Da Ali G Show and Trigger Happy TV. At a time when even the most half-witted of fools can become a celebrity for doing absolutely nothing, the lack of a Dennis Pennis-like figure to put them in their rightful place is a great shame... though one that is slightly alleviated by the appearance of this great DVD.