Animal Magic...!

Puppets have been a mainstay on British Television for Years – Spitting Image, Thunderbirds, Rainbow and Dale Winton to name but a few. But not since Spitting Image has there been a Comedy Puppet Series that has actually been, well, funny.

Thankfully the good ol’ digital Beeb has come up with the goods, resulting in Mongrels (BBC Three), the latest Sitcom from the Kings of Crap Comedy. Praise the Gods though, that for once, BBC Three has obviously tried something different, resulting in an actual decent Sitcom.

The Plotline? A Dog, a Cat, a Pigeon, and a Fox hang out in a dirty alleyway behind a Pub. Hilarity ensures. But don’t let the simplicity of the whole thing make you turn off the TV and go outside to get some fresh air. Less is more, resulting in a rather hilarious Sitcom, something you don’t see enough of on BBC Three (or any channel for that matter).

The puppetry is superb, as is the voice acting and the production design. Everything has a rather disgusting look to it, appropriate for a Show that’s so disgusting in its humour. But thankfully the humour on display is actually quite laugh out loud funny.

OK, the humour is actually rather basic (to the point that it completely copies Family Guy’s style of comedy, from the random cut scenes to the constant tidal wave of Jew jokes), but I’ll forgive it this once because seeing a Jewish man fighting a Badger Puppet with a Pitchfork is possibly one of the funniest images I’ve seen this Year, if not my entire life.

There’s also the huge controversy regarding the Show’s resemblance to Pets, a 2001 Puppet Sitcom for Channel 4, but then again, I never watched Pets, and I won’t be watching it any time soon.

So, if filthy comedy is up your street, and you still sit at home with your Thunderbird 2 Model and a Sooty glove puppet, then Mongrels will be right up your street. Yes it’s hardly original, and yes Katy Brand is in it, which makes me want to hurl my guts up, but thankfully the great writing and puppet design more than make up for it. If BBC Three carries on churning out felt gold like this, they’ll be onto a winner.

Guess no one’s pulling their strings, eh? Eh? Anyone, eh? Oh, fine, whatever...!