CHARLIE CONDOU CONFIDENTIAL: CHARLIE CONDOU

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

CHARLIE CONDOU - No.945

THE BEST XMAS THIS YEAR

Charliecondou: Bloody power cut since Monday. No heat/water/lights/internet. Spent most of today on the motorway with 2 miserable hungry kids. Bah humbug

LucyJo_Hudson: @Charliecondou awwww no that's terrible! Sending lots of hugs and kisses xxx

Charliecondou: @LucyJo_Hudson can't you send turkey and booze instead?

ShobnaGulati: @Charliecondou @LucyJo_Hudson come to mine ! Got heat water lights good food room for littlies!

Charliecondou: @ShobnaGulati @LucyJo_Hudson the kids are in bed and I will be too after this pint of wine x

ClareMariscal: @Charliecondou oh my. That must have been...um....fun. Sorry for your woes. Xx

Charliecondou: @ClareMariscal next year we 're coming to yours

ClareMariscal: @Charliecondou no Internet would have been the worst part of this nightmare scenario.

Jay_boy_: @Charliecondou it can only get better happy Christmas XxX

Charliecondou: @Jay_boy_ ta x

misterknight: @Charliecondou chin up fella...it'll be a New Year soon! ;-)

Charliecondou: @misterknight too true x

MissCharleyWebb: @Charliecondou Oh no you're kidding! That's awful.....thinking of you all

Charliecondou: @MissCharleyWebb cheers love xxx

furquan: @Charliecondou wouldn't have happened on Eid. #justsayin

Charliecondou: @furquan next year I'm going Muslim

SirTomShaw: @Charliecondou 'bah humbug' or BAH HUMBUG? http://t.co/WakRAHT86l

Charliecondou: @SirTomShaw nice

WestwoodDan: @Charliecondou hope today hasn't had been as bad as it seems! Merry Xmas x

GIMME GIMME GIMME

Jonathan Blackburn 24 December 2013

ABBA was camp.
The 90s were camper.
This comedy was the campest...
And do you remember that affair with Charlie Condou?

The strong blend of camp, crude humour with a dour look on middle class British life in the 90s may have only been three series long, but that didn't stop it becoming legendary. As testament to the talented individuals behind GGG's first series, the BBC commissioned a follow up - but first they wanted a New Year's special, and with this being broadcast on the very night that heralded in a new era, it had to be good. Down with the expectations of a big glitzy party with friends and fabulous cocktails that Tom (James Dreyfus) and Linda (Kathy Burke) thought they'd be going too. Instead, we joined the fairly odd couple in their flat as they prepare for the night's festivities. Obviously, they never actually leave their flat (save for a couple of hilarious dream sequences, involving Tom's idol Simon Shepard and a sketch with Oscar Wilde) and the pair wallow in self pity as they realise they have no friends, as Linda poignantly point out when she declares that Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is a rip off. "Phone a friend? Phone a friend! What if you haven't got any friends!?" Quite. Then there is Tom worrying over Timothy tree, which Linda had previously upended. He is outraged that she hasn't helped at all with the Christmas prep. "The little fairy didn't jump off the tree and make the punch, or cook the Christmas dinner or decorate the flat!" "Yes 'e did" replies Linda, coyly. Fabulous. It may feel dated today, but not so much that the DVD set can't be dusted off and watched just one more time. Even some of the jokes have more relevance than they did back then, when Tom states that Steps are the ABBA of the 90s - would he think that of their reunion? Definitely not cheery, this comedy would warm the coldest cockles of your hearts this winter, even if it just reignites the laughter you may have once had for it. The millennium special is certainly in a category of its own when it comes to festive TV. There are no children, the story doesn't feel forced and the gags just keep on coming. We just wish that Burke and Dreyfus would be reignited enough to do a one-off special sometime soon, maybe where Tom can get married - although, he may have to divorce his American lesbian wife Gloria firstand find a man that genuinely liked him. Until such time, remember the affair he had with Charlie Condou, as he pretend to be an Italian, strutting about in a pair of Calvins? Here's hoping they pursue that. Pretty please Kathy? It'd really make our Christmas.

Gimme Gimme Gimme can be ordered from Amazon.

benj_carter: "All my life I have wanted to meet someone with an inner ear infection!" Classic @Charliecondou on Gimme Gimme Gimme!

@ChasCondouFans @ChasCondouBlog
@Tom_in_Oz_ @SirThomasWynn

MERRY XMAS 2013 – Tom in Oz

MERRY XMAS 2013

Yep, been busy building a sandman with the g kids.

Merry Xmas to all, have a lovely time with your families and friends - Tom.

MERRY XMAS 2013 – Tom in Oz

Tom_in_Oz_: @MarkMMerrett @tnvol19 @Charliecondou back from church, off to cook lunch & stay with daughter. Santa did bring me stuff (musta bin good)! Have a good Xmas all. x