Andy Hamilton’s comedy works best when people have to keep dealing with one another. We value his carefully drawn ensembles, though the old news in Drop the Dead Donkey is a less reliable reason to watch.
Fi1m perspective
In the newsroom of Drop the Dead Donkey (1990), somebody’s personal shortcomings can quickly become a colleague’s problem. Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin give the staff enough definition for that arrangement to sustain a workplace comedy. We warmed to these people because the writing gives them more to do than take opposing positions on the news. Hamilton is worth watching for that attention to character, with some patience required for the topical material.
The topical material was built for a different sort of attention, with scripts updated close to transmission. That gives Drop the Dead Donkey an obvious difficulty when watched long after the headlines have changed. We would not recommend it chiefly as satire, nor pretend that a good ensemble solves the problem of old references. The writing partnership with Jenkin gives us enough interest in the staff to make the reservation worth accepting.
Outnumbered (2007) moves the work into the family home and gives Hamilton a directing role alongside writing and producing duties. Its semi-improvised scenes with children use another way of making characters feel like people. Storylines and dialogue are prepared, but the children have room to express themselves in ways the writers have not prescribed. That makes the director’s willingness to allow a departure from the script part of the craft. Here, the family can sound untidy without the writing having simply been abandoned.
What We Did on Our Holiday (2014), co-written and directed by Hamilton, carries that family-comedy style into a feature starring David Tennant and Rosamund Pike. The change of format is less important to our view than his continuing interest in people obliged to spend time together. Our recommendation still rests most firmly on the newsroom ensemble he created with Jenkin. Start with Drop the Dead Donkey for the staff, and allow for the possibility that their news will interest them more than it interests us.
Biography
Andy Hamilton is a British comedy writer, director and producer. With Guy Jenkin he co-created the Channel 4 series Drop the Dead Donkey (1990), on which he also wrote and produced, and the BBC series Outnumbered (2007), on which he wrote, directed and produced.
He studied English at Downing College, Cambridge. His other credits include the screenplay for the film What We Did on Our Holiday (2014). He has written and performed in radio comedy, including voicing Satan in Old Harry's Game, and has been a regular panellist on Have I Got News for You and QI.
