''Lee Nelson's Well Good Show'' is a British
comedy sketch show, written and presented by
Simon Brodkin and produced by Avalon Television for
BBC Three. It featured Brodkin hosting a studio based show as his comedy character
Lee Nelson, a happy-go-lucky
chav, and also featured television sketches of Brodkin's other
comedy characters
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...
.
Production
The
BBC commissioned the show in 2009.
Written by Brodkin, it was produced by Avalon Television.
Cast
* Lee Nelson, Dr. Bob, Jason Bent & Chris Young –
Simon Brodkin
* Omelette – Terry Noble
* Nan – Kathy Berry
Characters and sketches
The programme consists of Brodkin (in character as Nelson throughout) hosting a studio show before an audience, which includes audience interaction, games (which contain unusual prizes, such as a pair of sunglasses, a victory belt and a tree), and features involving the characters Omelette, and Nelson's nan.
The programme also includes inserted recorded sketches featuring three other characters also portrayed by Brodkin: due to time limitations, in some episodes only two insert sketches would feature, though in others all three would appear. The insert sketches are:
* ''110% Bent'', a spoof of fly-on-the-wall celebrity documentaries featuring Brodkin as the bland and unintelligent Premiership footballer Jason Bent, who was briefly a Manchester City player;
* ''Hospital Life'', a parody of daytime medical documentaries, featuring Brodkin as the insensitive 'Dr. Bob';
* ''Faliraki Nights'', a spoof of late-evening 'nightlife' documentaries. This features Brodkin as holiday rep Chris Young, and includes narration by former
BBC Three continuity announcer
In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of t ...
Lola Buckley (who also voices the introduction to ''110% Bent'')
Some of the characters have appeared previously in Brodkin's earlier TV work: sketches featuring the Jason Bent character appeared in ''
Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder
''Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder'' is a British sketch show starring comedian Al Murray. The multi character aspect of the show was a departure from Murray's previous television comedy work, as the sole character The Pub Landlord. Th ...
'', an Avalon production first broadcast on
ITV1 in 2009; these featured Murray as a sports reporter conducting post-match interviews with Bent. The same Al Murray series also featured the Lee Nelson character in a run of comic monologues. In 2008, the Dr. Bob character had appeared (as 'Dr. Omprakash') in
BBC Three comedy showcase series ''
The Wall''.
Reception
Despite popular appeal, the show has received mainly negative reviews from critics. Liam Tucker of ''
TV Pixie'' writes, 'Lee Nelson's Well Good Show is less 'well good' and more a pile of irredeemable crap littered with witless demi-jokes, all limping along on the questionable talent of Simon Brodkin. Presumably someone at BBC Three saw that he looks a little like
Kevin Bishop, noticed that
Ali G
Alistair Leslie Graham, better known as Ali G, is a satirical fictional character created and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. A faux-streetwise poseur from Staines, Ali G speaks in rude boy-style Multicultural London English a ...
hasn't been around for the best part of a decade and calculated success on that shaky basis.'
Stuart Heritage of ''
The Guardian'' remarks in an article concerning the justification behind Television Show names that 'BBC3's Lee Nelson's Well Good Show suffers from the fact that it's almost the exact scientific opposite of well good.' Despite the negative reviews, ratings were such that the BBC commissioned a second show,
Lee Nelson's Well Funny People
''Lee Nelson's Well Funny People'' is a British television comedy series starring Simon Brodkin produced by Avalon for BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was ...
.
DVD release
A DVD was released on 22 August 2011 entitled ''The Complete Series 1''. "Lee Nelson Live" was also released on 19 November 2012 featuring a live stand-up routine from Lee Nelson's live 2012 stand-up tour.
Transmissions
Ratings
Series 1
Series 2
References
External links
*
*
''Lee Nelson's Well Good Show''at Avalon Television
*
*{{IMDb title, id=1618461, title=Lee Nelson's Well Good Show
2010s British comedy television series
2010 British television series debuts
2011 British television series endings
BBC television comedy
British stand-up comedy television series
BBC television sketch shows
Television series by ITV Studios
English-language television shows