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- Les Dennis banned from Good Morning Britain by Piers Morgan
- LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 27: Ricky Gervais and Les Dennis attend a special screening and Q&A for new Netflix series 'After Life' at BAFTA on February 27, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
The comedian responded after the spray-paint tributes were highlighted on social media.
- Hollywood was calling Paddy McGuinness and Keith Lemon once again. The “madcap” comedians – as they probably say on their CVs – dusted down their popular movie-parody series, The Keith & Paddy Picture Show (ITV), for a seasonal lap of honour. Having fondly poked fun at everything from Dirty Dancing to The Terminator, this Christmas they set their sights on Gremlins, the 1984 festive classic about feral muppets running amok in small-town America. Movie parodies are hardly a groundbreaking innovation, as French and Saunders would be the first to say. What elevates the Paddy & Keith Picture Show is the geekish ardour it brings to the nose-tweaking. Rather than lazily pointing out the absurdity of their chosen films, the duo’s deep riffing gets under the originals’ skin, and functions more as a giggly homage than a spoof. And so it once again proved. They capered through a backhanded valentine to Joe Dante’s comedy-cum-horror, a gross-out flick that somehow became a box-office smash – and introduced a generation of ten-year-olds to the concept of rubber monsters exploding in microwaves. Because of the sheer humour of the parody premise, McGuinness and Lemon have never had much difficulty securing A-list cameos. Robbie Williams, Anna Friel and Rick Astley have all previously mucked in, and this time it was the star of the original Gremlins, Zach Galligan. Thirty-four years ago, he was perfect as the fresh-faced high-schooler Billy; now aged 54, he still had some of that boy-scout twinkle. But he was also very much in on the joke, as McGuinness (soon to strap in alongside Andrew Flintoff on Top Gear) critiqued his dramatic skills as “wooden”, and Galligan volunteered to suit up as the evil gremlin Stripe for the final confrontation with Lemon’s cutesy “mogwai” Gizmo. The part of Billy’s girlfriend, originally played by Phoebe Cates, was taken by former Strictly Come Dancing champion Kara Tointon, complete with rickety American accent. In Dante’s film, the gremlins were voiced by famous early-Eighties American comedians; so, in a witty riff on that, McGuinness and Lemon had arranged for British light entertainers from the same era to portray the creatures. And thus did Les Dennis and Su Pollard, shrouded in cabbage-hued CGI, ambush Lemon (as Billy’s mother) in the kitchen. It was more surreal than funny, but still worth the admission fee. The humour throughout was silly rather than razor-edged, and the running gag about ITV not being able to afford proper gremlin puppets began to wear thin. (Basil Brush and Zippy from Rainbow were among the hasty substitutes shoved before the cameras.) But the entire affair whizzed by and, as with the source material, the tongue-in-cheek glee and icky special effects (they really did explode a gremlin in a microwave) were in perfect symbiosis. The best compliment you could pay this big-hearted skit is that it made you want to dash off and watch the real Gremlins – which was on ITV immediately afterwards.
- LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 27: Les Dennis attends a special screening and Q&A for new Netflix series 'After Life' at BAFTA on February 27, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
- LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 28: Les Dennis attends the funeral service of Sir Ken Dodd at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on March 28, 2018 in Liverpool, England. British comedy legend Ken Dodd's career stretched over seven decades and was famous for his jokes and singing voice. Ken Dodd died aged 90 on March 11, 2018 at his Liverpool home, the same house where he was born. (Photo by (Photo by Peter Bryne - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
- LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 29: Les Dennis during a photocall for ITV show 'Benidorm ' which is celebrating it's 10th anniversary at The Curzon Mayfair on January 29, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)
- LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 29: Les Dennis during a photocall for ITV show 'Benidorm ' which is celebrating it's 10th anniversary at The Curzon Mayfair on January 29, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)
- Les Dennis as Uncle Fester, ahead of a dress rehearsal of The Addams Family musical, which makes its UK Premiere at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh before embarking on a UK tour. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)
- LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 07: Les Dennis attends the press night performance of 'She Loves Me' at Menier Chocolate Factory on December 7, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
- Comedian & quiz show host Les Dennis, with his wife, actress Amanda Holden (currently starring in ITV's 'The Grimleys'), at the Grosvenor House Hotel for the Carlton London Restaurant Awards. (Photo by Peter Jordan - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
- Show business personalities after attending the Memorial service for Benny Hill at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. L-R Top Row Henry McGee, Alfred Marks, Freddie Starr, Les Dennis. Bottom row L-R Davie Kaye and Ronnie Corbett.