Review of his new black and white BBC Two shorts

There’s something about Harry Hill that suggests he’d probably be making these silly black and white short films whether he’d been commissioned by the BBC or not.

His Lonely Island sketches, the first of which aired last night, have the feel of a man-child just mucking about for his own entertainment. Hill leans into the home-made ethos with low-grade costumes and ‘special’ effects he makes no attempt to conceal. The amateur execution is true to the word’s original roots, something done for pure love.

Gone are Hill’s trademark oversized collars as he dons a caveman’s bearskin to do battle with a skeleton; a fake nose, drawn-on eyebrows and an extravagant hat to become Napoleon atop a donkey Marengo; and a full monkey suit to become a primate in search of some delicious fruit… if only that pesky bird doesn’t get it first.

Another episode, due to air tonight, had featured the comedian as the Queen on a camping holiday, but has mysteriously disappeared from the schedules at the last minute – perhaps Her Maj has had enough TV coverage this week  – and is now promised at an unspecified 'later date’.

Hill’s  shorts are wordless, with all the emphasis on physical comedy. Such a format inevitably pays homage to old-fashioned variety turns, and the comic unapologetically celebrates the exaggerated mugging and corny visual gags. The opening scene of the first episode, Caveman, calls to mind Jake The Peg, Harry Worth and early 2000s double-act Men In Coats, themselves a combination of creative invention and throwback. But the skits are distinctively Hill’s,

There’s no language barrier, and they are family-friendly, too, despite the 10.40pm slot, which could lead to the sort of universal appeal that’s made the live-action Mr Bean’s such a mammoth hit. However. Hill’s offerings are much looser than Rowan Atkinson’s meticulously engineered skits.

Three five-minute episodes might not be an especially substantial contribution to the BBC’s ongoing Festival Of Funny, but they are amusing diversions, as charmingly daft as you might expect from the veteran nonsense-pedlar.

• The first episode of Harry Hill’s Lonely Island aired last night, and continues at 10.40pm tonight and tomorrow.

Review date: 9 Mar 2021
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett