alanmarsden
I'm sure Dave Allen would have approved of the humour of Aiden "Littlefinger" Gillen playing him, but unfortunately Aiden didn't quite manage to portray his mischievous humour, but then who could? The film showed his childhood influences, but seemed to skip quickly through his early days, not mentioning his early days in Australia and his marriages and children. A good attempt, but could have delved deeper!
john-allen76-1
The first reviewer has not one clue.
This was a brilliant tribute to the wonderful man with a top cast
Paul Evans
Dave Allen will forever be one of the funniest men to grace a stage, a true comic genius, perhaps a little before his time.This dramatisation helped to give a little back story, perhaps explain the motivation in some of his humour, and provide plenty of laughs with the sketches. Very well acted, Aiden Gillen was genuinely superb as the legendary comic, doing great justice.At times it was a little disjointed, and didn't perhaps flow as has been the usual with these biopic dramas, when you think of ones for Frankie Howerd, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor, each had a beginning, middle and end, this one was a little clunky in terms of flow. It didn't seem to matter though as it was interesting and funny, like the great man himself.Whimsical rather then informative. A fun watch.
Prismark10
I was a fan of Dave Allen's comedy. In the late 1980s when he did his stand up series for the BBC, he showed the up and coming generation of comics that he could still produce the goods.Dave Allen was 'alternative' before the phrase was even coined. His target was the Catholic church. Just imagine if he was alive today what he would have made of the revelations of the church's misdeeds in Ireland over the past decades.Well this drama reflected it on it. Young Dave being whacked by the nuns. It seems Dave had a comfortable lifestyle (bar going to a church school) in Ireland thanks to his father who worked in newspapers but then he died.Dave with the help of his older brother got into comedy in Butlins. While his older brother became an alcoholic, Dave hit it big on the BBC.Yet this was a curious drama, it recreated some sketches, you saw a bit of his stand up or should it be sit down comedy. You see a reflection of his childhood and a tender moment between the adult Dave and his brother as he once again tries to recover from his alcoholism. I did walk away knowing little about Dave Allen apart from why he picked on Catholicism, we never even find out how he lost his finger!
AD
