Other Doctor Lives: W1A: 2024 Comic Relief (2024)

While W1A did a short special over Zoom in 2020, David Tennant wasn’t a part of that one, so we’re jumping ahead to this Comic Relief bit from a couple years ago. Although, when I was looking for this, I found out that there’s a new new spinoff with Ian and Siobhan, and Tennant narrates that one too. Not sure if I’m going to jump right into that show or if I’ll take another short break from this franchise. I guess you’ll find out next week!

It’s Sir Lenny Henry’s last year hosting Comic Relief, and Ian, Tracey, and Siobhan have invited him over to the BBC offices to say farewell, showering him with thanks and telling him how irreplaceable he is. Unfortunately, Lenny shows up late to the meeting, causing it to overrun with the people auditioning to replace him as host.

It’s an 11-minute sketch with essentially one main joke: that BBC doesn’t think Lenny Henry is nearly as “irreplaceable” as they claim. A host of British celebrities pop in and out of the meeting room, most of whom are people I don’t recognize. There are some amusing bits. One guy auditions as one of Lenny’s old characters, and Lenny gripes that another shouldn’t get the job because he’s already in everything—to prove his point, he switches on the TV, where the guy is hosting The Weakest Link. And this bit, from the start of the meeting, made me smile:

IAN: “After nearly 30 years of Comic Relief…” 

LENNY: “Actually, it’s nearly 40.” 

IAN: “Gosh, is it really?” 

At which point, of course, Ian takes the farewell card they got Lenny and writes a heavy “4” over the “3.”

As with the previous Comic Relief special, there’s only a smidge of David Tennant here, mainly just a quick intro at the start of the sketch. I liked, ““It’s Friday, and somewhere—in wherever the BBC is now—some senior executives have gathered together.”

Okay, last thoughts on the David Tennant portion of W1A!

Accent Watch

Scottish.

Recommend?

In General – A soft maybe. It’s amusing, but it gets too repetitive for me.

David Tennant – Not necessarily. While he does a nice job, it’s not really worth it to watch just for Tennant if you’re not otherwise interested in the show.

Warnings

Language, drinking/smoking, and mild thematic elements.

Y tu Luna también: Pan y circo: Season 2, Episode 1 – “Access to Healthcare” (2021)

“Season 2” is a slight misnomer, because Pan y circo doesn’t really have a full second season. By virtue of the simple fact that it’s a show about people coming together around a dinner table, filmed in 2019 but released in 2020, that made it difficult to move forward with a second season. As such, the show has only filmed three further “special” episodes, two in the fall of 2021 and one in the summer of 2022. This first special is really set in the “new normal” era, which makes for bittersweet viewing these days.

Understandably, the topic for the episode spends a lot of time looking back on the early days of the pandemic, examining the present in-between period of vaccine rollouts, and thinking ahead to the future. Diego Luna and the guests are concerned, not just with addressing inequalities in healthcare access during the pandemic, but with improving healthcare access in all areas of life for generations to come. Here are some highlights from the episode.

• Just generally, it’s striking to see the COVID mitigation strategies and considerations in effect here. In Luna’s opening narration, he stresses the work the show has done to ensure that they can film in the safest format possible, we see people wearing masks, and several guests participate over Zoom instead of attending the dinner. It’s thoughtful and inclusive in a way that we’ve since almost entirely lost
• The episode includes both a chef and a restauranteur, the latter of whom supplies the drinks for the evening – He mixes a cocktail using sake from his restaurant, billing it as “Japanese sake with a Mexican heart.”
• The first Zoom guest, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., recites a familiar line that makes me want to weep in the present day – “No one is safe here until everyone is safe.” So much for that!
• The ambassador also explains the progress of attempted reforms within the WHO – “We’re trying to clearly establish that public health issues, once they become global, should be considered issues of international safety.”
• I really like this statement from a political scientist – “I’m troubled by this idea that health is only something that allows me to work. Why do I want to be healthy? To be able to work. Otherwise I can’t support my family.”
• A surgeon shares an excellent, succinct quote with the table – “The pandemic has been a triumph of science and the failure of political leadership.”
• One of the developers of the AstraVeneca vaccine, appearing over Zoom, has this to say (again, I weep in the present day) – “First of all, we need to get populations around the world vaccinated. Because we know that if we allow this virus to continue to spread without check in different countries, more mutations will arise, and then those mutant viruses will start to circulate around the world and possibly evade the immunity that we’ve managed to bring about by vaccination—and make things worse for everybody.”
•  An activist in the group discusses the issue of misinformation, noting that Mexico’s traditionally high vaccine uptake has taken a nosedive since the start of the pandemic – “In a country with so much inequality, with so many living in poverty, with no formal education, we need to find a way for everyone, regardless of education level, to come back to the belief that science is good for us. It’s fundamental.”
• A traditional healer contributes over Zoom by looking at the larger systems in the world that impact health – “Capitalism is trying to finish what the colonizers started. Capitalism doesn’t care about death and destruction or if it causes greater poverty.”
• I like this remark from the surgeon – “Even across party lines, we can agree on what we want. We may differ on how, but if you agree on the what, the rest can be worked out.”

Luna does a nice job with his hosting duties here. Again, it’s something of a balm to see him considering the safety and health of his guests, even as it’s disappointing to think about how much we’ve lost in the last few years. As for the dinner conversation, he tells the guests, “The nice thing about eating is that, while we chew, we have to listen. Unlike social media, where everyone yells and no one listens.”

As usual, Luna takes a light hand in directing the conversation, although he has some longer remarks to make at the end of the evening. I enjoy some of his lighter comments. One guest, the director of the Mexican Social Security Institute, takes issue with the prevailing opinion that the government fumbled their pandemic response and urges everyone to ask people in government about the actions they’ve taken. Not missing a beat, Luna responds, “They won’t take our calls.” And when the surgeon repeatedly grades the meal’s courses, giving everything an A, Luna tells him, “I’m going to invite you for every episode.”

Other Doctor Lives / Joel Fry-days: W1A: Series 3, Episode 6 (2017)

*Spoilers from episode 5*

This is the last episode of W1A, although there’s also a short special from 2020 that David Tennant narrated. So I’ve got a bit more for the show with Other Doctor Lives, but this is the end for Joel Fry-days.

The Less is More Initiative strikes again: it’s just come out that Head of Values, Head of Output, and Director of Better and being rolled into one new position. Matt has already cut his losses, so now Ian and Anna are left to decide whether they want to apply for it. To Izzy’s surprise, she learns that Will managed to pull out a last-minute save for the Hugh Grant fiasco. Everything comes to a head, where else? At the BBC Me launch.

Our last character of the week is Fiona Craig, played by Pooky Quesnel. She’s the civil servant who’s been working with the BBC on the contract negotiations. Fiona doesn’t have a very big role in the finale, but she’s at the BBC Me launch with everybody else.

I won’t get into spoilers, but there’s a little of everything quintessentially W1A here. Ian trying to pin things down in a meeting where no one wants to commit to anything. David not realizing he’s just thrown a huge wrench into things and Siobhan offering a very bad idea as a “fix.” Mostly unspoken love triangle stuff between Ian, Anna, and Lucy. A major crisis at a key movement that Ian has to step in and smooth over.

I like how things shake out with Will, Izzy, and Jack. Often, Will’s wins have been completely by accident, but this time, he sets out with a specific plan and it actually pays off. We also get a good full-circle moment for On Your Bike that’s nice to see.

Here’s what we’ve got for David Tennant’s narration today:

• This is how Tennant introduces David making everything worse at the eleventh hour  – “Even though it’s already been a big week at the BBC, for those that haven’t managed to get out of the building yet, it’s just got even bigger.”
• As the characters deal with an unfolding/urgent crisis, this made me smile – “They need to think of something fast, and worse still, something good.”

Karl and the rest of Siobhan’s team are at the BBC Me launch. Ostensibly, they’re there to help run things (I think? they all have their tablets with them,) but more than anything, they wind up serving more of a hype man role. Most of their lines are simply “yay!”, shouted after Siobhan or anyone else says something significant.

As such, Joel Fry doesn’t get to do much for his final episode. It’s an improvement over the Twenty Twelve finale, but not by much. Karl continues his habit of often being a little behind the others, at one point chiming in with a “yay!” when Barney and Coco don’t do it. And when Siobhan’s explaining some plans involving a smoke machine to the execs, Karl adds, “With, like, real smoke.” Oh, Karl!

Okay, last thoughts on the Joel Fry portion of W1A (I’ll do my David Tennant wrap-up next week): 

Accent Watch

Southern British English.

Recommend?

In General – A soft maybe. It’s amusing, but it gets too repetitive for me.

Joel Fry – I would. It can be hard to watch at times when the others are mean to Karl, but he’s always hilarious and endearing to me!