The lowdown: 'Dead Ringers' is a British sketch-comedy show that was first broadcast in 2002, with the final
episode of the seventh season being shown on BB2 in late March 2007. The show features impressions of public
figures, including television personalities, actors and politicians, and takes a light-hearted look at recent events
in business, politics and the arts. It is filmed one day before broadcast in order to keep it as topical as possible.
Many of the sketches involve the Dead Ringers cast catching members of the public unawares by pretending to
be a celebrity, such as Michael Parkinson interviewing people at a bus stop or Torchwood's Capt Jack Harkness
calling room service in a hotel and being found in bed with two Cybermen. John Culshaw provides many of the 
impersonations, and his Tom Baker is particularly memorable. Other public figures to regularly be lampooned
include Tony Blair and George W Bush (who is portrayed as a simpleton, strangely enough).

Aside from Tom Baker, the Dead Ringers team regularly do Doctor Who-related sketches, including a look at
the real reason why Christopher Eccleston quit after one season. The last episode of season seven, broadcast
on 29 March 2007, featured a guest appearance by David Tennant (as himself). Tony Blair was being interviewed
on the subject of Gordon Brown replacing him as Prime Minister, but Tony decides that the only way to protect
his legacy is to go on... and on... and on, so he regenerates into the 10th Doctor. The sketch includes a nice
reference to the "new teeth" comment in Tennant's regeneration scene.

The verdict: 'Dead Ringers' is extremely funny in places and some of the impersonations are spot on, although
they probably worked better on the original radio series because while most of the voices are accurate the difficulty
of making the actors look like the people they are parodying is obvious at times. Although much of the humour 
translates well to overseas markets, viewers must really be in the UK in order to appreciate many of the people 
being parodied (such as news presenters and less well-known British politicians), and a good knowledge of
recent events in Britain is useful to truly appreciate many of the cultural references. Nevertheless, the show
is highly enjoyable and offers plenty of laughs. 

Quote: 'New Labour. That's weird.'

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