McKellen and Jacobi sitcom gets critical panning – Daily TV round-up

The new sitcom starring Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi has received a panning at the hands of the TV critics.

'Vicious' premiered on ITV last night based around Freddie and Stuart, two ageing gay men who have lived in the same flat in Covent Garden for nearly 50 years.

It has been penned by Gary Janetti, a writer on shows including 'Will & Grace' and 'Family Guy', and also stars Frances de la Tour and Marcia Warren, but so far critics have been less than kind about the new show.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Benjamin Secher called the show 'the least funny new comedy in recent memory'.

“What on Earth were they thinking?” he wrote.

“The makers of' Vicious', ITV’s latest stab at a sitcom, have squandered not only the estimable acting talents of Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Derek Jacobi and Frances de la Tour, but also the combined screenwriting welly of Olivier Award-winning playwright Mark Ravenhill and Gary Janetti (Will & Grace) on perhaps the least funny new comedy in recent memory.

“It's a horror.”

Sadly, many of today's reviews of the show echo the sentiment.

“Vicious... is full of lines that have the cadence of comedy but often prove to be devoid of wit when examined more closely,” added Tom Sutcliffe in The Independent.

“Only Marcia Warren comes out of it with her dignity intact, as an absent-minded friend. Seems almost blasphemous to say it but McKellen and Jacobi should watch her and take some notes on comic acting.”

The Daily Mirror's Ian Hyland called the show 'a particular letdown'.

“Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi may well be legendary actors, but it’s going to take a lot to convince me that this isn’t just a pair of gay refugees from a 'Benidorm' script rewrite theatrically bitching each other off for half an hour,” he added.

Sam Wollaston in The Guardian said: “It's not just old-fashioned, pre-'Office' TV comedy, it's also, frankly, a bit lame.

“I want a bit more artfulness, wit and surprise from my television. Especially when it's delivered by Sirs Ian and Derek. A Greggs doughnut of a show – albeit filled with Gentlemen's Relish instead of jam, but still a Greggs doughnut.” [Daily Telegraph/The Guardian/Daily Mirror/The Independent]