It goes without saying that Dave is one of the best things to have happened to British television in the last year. What other channel can you see classic QI, Mock The Week and, less impressively, 20 showings of Top Gear a day? And all free as long as you have one of those digital boxes or a TV set with one built in.
Now to prove that they are more than just repeats and endless Clarkson they are now starting to make their own shows. But not being a huge enterprise like the BBC or ITV most of these are very cheap and easily assembled; not that there’s anything wrong with that as having less flashy visuals usually gives rise to better quality substance. In theory, of course.
Celebs Talking about Gadgets
Batteries Not Included is just one of the few Dave originals to appear in recent months and on January 18 the channel dedicated a night to the entire first series so this is a perfect opportunity to see just how it stands up to repeated viewings.
This show mainly involves a bunch of famous people talking about gadgets they like or hate while trying their best to make jokes about some of the crazy things they are given to test out. Most of them familiar Dave faces, such as regular Phill Jupitus who narrates with what sounds like improvised witty dialogue until a glance at the credits shows it was written by the hilarious Richard Herring – part of underrated and forgotten comedy team Lee and Herring (with Stewart Lee).
Some of the people who turn up on Batteries Not Included have almost made a career out of appearing as talking heads in TV list shows, although bizarrely there's no Andrew Collins. This includes older faces such as Ed Byrne, Lucy Porter and John Thomson and new blood in the form of Stephen K Amos and Katy Brand, but the value of their contributions depend on if you like their style of comedy.
John Cleese in Tomorrow’s World mode
The most famous name they managed to attract was John Cleese, who takes a slightly more in depth look into something new in a Tomorrow’s World kind of way and chances are he only got the job because he was Q in a couple of sub-par James Bond films.
This is a man who at his peak was responsible for some of the best and most influential comedy but now he’s been demoted to pratfalling and grinning inanely in terrible Hollywood films. In Batteries Not Included you see that he does have a genuine interest in some of the crazy inventions and tries to be engaging but you can’t help thinking he’s there just for name value alone.
Obligatory Look at Japan
Another feature is that a camera crew take a look around celebrity homes to see what weird and downright pointless things they have to enhance their lives while said celeb rambles on. Some of these are actually funny – writer Danny Wallace for example has great comic timing – and others just can’t end sooner (like hyperactive presenter Alex Zane).
The there’s always the obligatory look at Japan every episode to see what crazy inventions won’t be reaching British shores at any point in the future. This section would work better if someone was out there trying out these gadgets but as the budget won’t allow it you’re left with Jupitus’s comments running over stock footage.
Not Funny Enough, not Geeky Enough
Considering the people they’ve managed to rope in to talk about their favourite gadgets and to guess what the strange thing in their hand is for it’s not really as amusing or entertaining as it could have been. Plus, the lack of a resident expert means that there are not enough facts being thrown around for true gadget enthusiasts to sink their teeth into.
The problem with Batteries Not Included is that it’s not funny enough for the passing viewer to take a real interest and there are very little new things and proper expert opinion for the techy geeks to enjoy.
As a result Batteries Not Included ends up being stuck in television limbo of just being vaguely watchable when there’s nothing else on but not the type of programme to get excited about seeing every week.
 |
