Name: Cattle Drive
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2006-01-12
Rating: 7.4
Cast: Rich Hall, Mike Wilmot, Simon Evans

A disappointingly poor sitcom that wastes the talents of Hall by serving him with generally lacking material

Having been arrested for kicking the sh1t out of someone who tried to rob their flat, Rich and Mike decide that they have had enough to trying to follow England's messed up laws and pledge to become outlaws. Stealing a couple of police horses they buy a head of cattle to drive them across England to Wales  feeding them up for sale. However, as they start out on their journey, the police sets a ruthless bounty hunter on their trail to bring the horses back.

Having seen Rich Hall in stand-up several times and having quite enjoyed his other work with Wilmot (his Fishing Show and his Election Special) I was quite looking forward to this series and was quite taken in by the imaginative (if silly) concept. However in reality the show is a rather poor sitcom with disappointingly few laughs across the six episodes. The concept may have been good but the actual plot isn't and too much time is spent on it where really it would have been better used as a very basic frame for lots of Hall and Wilmot rambling while riding their horses. There is very little of this and instead the series seems to have mistakenly thought that it really is delivering a story that any viewer will care about. They were wrong in this assumption because really what I wanted was plenty of the humour that has made me love Rich Hall  sadly little of this was evident.

The direction makes the series look cheap and the shots are too close on the characters  the overall result is that it looks like it was very cheaply made. The cast are pretty poor as well. Hall and Wilmot enjoy some good scenes together where they chat but mostly they don't really have any material to work with and just flap in the wind. Hall seems half asleep in his main role and has too little comedy in his "bad guy" character (although he is more memorable as the latter). Wilmot is less interesting but he looks like Lawrence Olivier compared to some smaller turns from the support cast who are generally clunky and as stiff as wood.

Overall a really disappointing series that wastes the talent of Rich Hall. Those wondering why I like him will struggle to work it out on the basis of this and would be best served checking out his stand up material. No real laughs and a script that puts more onus on the story rather than getting a consistent humour into it  and those who enjoyed the Fishing Show know that it is better when it is the other way round. Unlikely to be shown outside of BBC4, this is a poor sitcom that is not worth trying to find.

The comedy genre refers to a category of entertainment that aims to amuse and entertain audiences by using humor, wit, and comedic situations. Comedies are created with the primary intention of eliciting laughter and providing lighthearted enjoyment. They encompass a wide range of styles, tones, and themes, appealing to various tastes and audiences.

Will Ferrell, Angela Grillo, and Lap-Gei Cheung in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

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Cattle Drive

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