Featuring Avid Merrion as the Scandinavian stalker/host and sketches in which he plays the parts of pop stars like Craig David and Britney Spears in lurid, latex masks, Bo’ Selecta! is a brilliantly surreal take on celebrity culture,
This first series (originally broadcast in 2002) features a number of cameos and guest appearances from minor celebs : Boyzone’s Keith Duffy, Davina McCall, Vanessa Feltz and the hapless Christine Hamilton, one of numerous guests to be interviewed by a puppet bear played by Merrion whose feverish line of questioning invariably results in him sprouting a little erection,
Another character is hauled up in a neckbrace (following an altercation with Lisa Tarbuck), but Merrion’s innocent broken English can’t conceal the fact that he’s a psychotic sex maniac who explicitly lusts after celebs who “make me do a sex wee”, keeps Craig from Big Brother locked in a cupboard and his dead mother in a wardrobe,
Merrion’s pop spoofs are also masterly : rather than mimic the stars, he reinvents them–Mel B and Britney Spears–as farting, hairy-chested Northerners, slobbing out on fry-up breakfasts washed down with lager and, most improbably, Michael Jackson as a cussing, jive-talking black dude à la Huggy Bear,
Bo’ Selecta! doesn’t so much satirise celebrities as debase them, exposing their humiliating none-dimensionality by drawing them into a vortex of vulgar absurdity, not unlike Vic Reeves’ Shooting Stars,
Of course, they play along–they’re on television,
Although initially off-putting to some, once you get into Bo’ Selecta! there is, as for Big Brother‘s Craig, no escape,
On the DVD : Bo’ Selecta! on disc features numerous extras, including a behind the scenes feature in which the production team discuss making the show (“like directing a squirrel on roller-skates”), deleted scenes including Gareth Gates as a Tourette’s victim, which was deemed a little beyond the pale, some unfunny bloopers and a feature on the life story of “Craig David” with Kate Thornton, including an unmissable nativity scene in which the infant Craig plays Jesus,
There’s also a commentary, with Merrion as his stalker self watching himself with consternation (It’s strange seeing yourself on TV”),
It’s a pity we don’t get to hear from the “real” Merrion,
—David Stubbs
- Actor:Leigh Francis
- Actor:Patsy Kensit
- Actor:Craig Phillips
- Actor:Caroline Flack
- Actor:Michelle Heaton
- AudienceRating:Suitable for 15 years and over
- Binding:DVD
- Creator:Leigh Francis
- Creator:Patsy Kensit
- EAN:5014138070144
- EANList:
- Format:PAL
- Label:2 Entertain Video
- Languages:
- ListPrice:
- Manufacturer:2 Entertain Video
- NumberOfDiscs:1
- NumberOfItems:1
- PackageDimensions:
- PackageQuantity:1
- ProductGroup:DVD
- ProductTypeName:ABIS_DVD
- Publisher:2 Entertain Video
- RegionCode:2
- ReleaseDate:2003-06-16
- SKU:U5014138070144
- Studio:2 Entertain Video
- Title:Bo Selecta! – Series 1 [DVD] [2002]