“It was like Mrs Brown’s Boys but funny”

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“Let’s face it, unless you have got an ocean liner and an iceberg handy, there is a limit to how spectacular disasters can be. Instead, they increased the pace of the comedy, hurling jokes by the sackful at the live audience. Some delivered explosive laughs, other went with a more modest ‘pop’, but there was fun for any age.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“This old-fashioned, family-friendly comedy trod the line between seasonal cheer and black humour with aplomb. It was like Mrs Brown’s Boys but funny.”
Michael Hogan, Telegraph

“It is performed in front of a live audience but, watching from the sofa, I felt detached. The television screen put up a barrier, which neutered the (faux) humiliation of the actors.”
Rupert Hawksley, The i

“Everybody needs a bit of festive stupidity at this time of year – pratfalls, broad humour, Christmas cracker wit – but too much of it can leave you feeling a bit bad about yourself. The Goes Wrong Show would, I think, wring laughs from just about anyone, young or old, sober or not so much.”
Tim Dowling, The Guardian

“Henry Lewis’s shambolic festive story was artfully physical, clever and childish enough to work. It was funny more than a few times, which isn’t easy when you’re astride such a well-ridden horse. Half an hour was quite enough, though.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“This was a luvvie backslapping session, rather than a rigorous journalistic endeavour. Grant’s political activities weren’t mentioned and his notorious 1995 arrest for lewd conduct in a public place was tactfully skipped over. Yet with a back catalogue this beloved and a subject so charming, it was impossible to resist.”
Michael Hogan, Telegraph

“A hastily put together Wikipedia entry with added hairspray. Grant’s childhood, university years and time as an unsuccessful stage actor were all skated over in the time it takes to draw the curtains and pick out the right Quality Street.”
Rupert Hawksley, The i

“What this programme showed, dammit, is that Grant is funny, self-deprecating and doesn’t appear to take himself too seriously — that’s all the British really ask of anyone.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Everything was so scripted I kept expecting Gordon to blurt Jeremy Clarkson’s catchphrases, ‘What could possibly go wrong? And on that bombshell …’”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail