Lorraine Ashbourne press clippings - British Comedy Guide (original) (raw)

Press clippings

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Alma's Not Normal review

For a pilot episode, Alma's Not Normal easily achieves what it's meant to do and introduces a cast of intriguing, sympathetic characters we'd like to hear more from. Most crucially, they are complex, authentic people portrayed in a way we don't usually see on television.

Steve Bennett, Chortle, 7th April 2020

TV preview: Alma's Not Normal, BBC Two

Comedian Sophie Willan has been one of stand-up's most distinctive voices in recent years. Honest, outspoken and frank about her life, she has now has drawn on her history to write this one-off pilot. If the BBC does not commission a series it must need its head examined.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 5th April 2020

Radio Times review

The praise lavished upon this anthology series from viewers and TV critics alike is justly deserved, and this episode is another cracker. In Nana's Party, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (writing and directing) play prankster brothers-in-law who, with their wives (Claire Skinner as an OCD mum and Lorraine Ashbourne as her alcoholic sister), gather for Maggie's 79th birthday. Cue another delightfully ditsy turn from Benidorm's Elsie Kelly.

The half-hour unfolds like a micro-packaged Mike Leigh drama, with finely judged performances as secrets and lies are exposed in cosy suburbia. All it's lacking is Timothy Spall grunting.

Patrick Mulkern, Radio Times, 23rd April 2015

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