Jim Howick
Rachel Louise Brown
- Gareth McLean
Star of Here We Go. Nominated for actor in a comedy
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Jim Howick's Top 10 Comedy Picks
- The Thick of It
- Stath Lets Flats
- Bottom
- Peep Show
- I'm Alan Partridge
- Alan Partridge Mid Morning Matters
- The Office
- Blackadder
- The Day Today
Why do you think Here We Go has become such a success?
It follows family dynamic tropes very well, but the stories can often be quite goofy and mad. Also, sitcoms really benefit from a sort of “open house” culture. Often, when the doorbell goes – and that’s actually a joke in the show – you know that it’s going to offer a new flavour and texture to the comedy.
As part of the collective behind Ghosts and Horrible Histories, what’s the difference working with scripts you didn’t co-write?
It’s a lot more relaxing to be an actor for hire on someone else’s script, especially when it’s one of Tom’s scripts. Tom is a quiet genius and his scripts make me laugh out loud. I would never laugh out loud at my own script – that would be sort of psychopathic.
How much latitude is there for improvisation?
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Tom can be particular sometimes, but as long as it’s not disrupting the story beats and as long as you’re not being self-indulgent, there’s a real value in ad-libbing, especially as it fits with the guerrilla film-making format of Here We Go.
Authors
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean has been writing about television for nearly 30 years. As a critic, he's reviewed thousands of programmes. As a feature writer, he's interviewed hundreds of people, from Liza Minnelli to Jimmy Savile. He has also written for TV.
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