Review of Wogan

Wogan (1982–1992)
5/10
Oh woe!
23 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The late Terry Wogan these days is remembered as a bland chat show host and this equally bland chat show is probably the best remembered of his work, though maybe not for the right reasons. The 'king of Blarney' was notorious for asking his guests questions and then let his mouth run on auto pilot before letting the unfortunate guest get a word in edgeways.

There were some interesting guests on the show, though it would have taken someone with a heart of stone not to feel sorry for them as they were subject to Terry's gibberish spouting. Half the time I don't believe Terry really knew anything about the person he was interviewing nor did he even know anything about their work. In one edition, Gregor Fisher appeared before Terry alongside Ade Edmondson and Griff Rhys Jones ( a Scotsman, an Irishman, an Englishman and a Welshman! Can it possibly get anymore awkward? ) to promote the upcoming series of 'Rab C. Nesbitt' and prior to his appearance, Terry announced to the audience :''Please welcome 'Rob C. Nesbitt's' alter ego!'' One wonders whether Gregor's failure to correct Terry on his blunder was out of embarrassment or politeness.

Reg Varney appeared with his 'On The Buses' co stars to promote the then much anticipated reboot of 'On The Buses' ( which sadly fell through ) and yet again the poor bunch were subject to Terry's motormouth.

Some of the best moments on the show came from a guest peforming on the show in character. Rik Mayall appeared as his spotty alter ego Rik from 'The Young Ones' reciting one of his inane poems before sitting down to his interview. Gregor Fisher appeared prior to his interview in character as 'Rab C.' telling Terry his show has gone downhill in quality and that he should have Gregor Fisher as a guest on the show. ''Is he funny?'' asks Terry. ''Not in the least!'', replies Rab, ''as this past peformance will testify!''. Patricia Routledge also appeared giving an over enthusiastic rendition of 'I Want To Sing In Opera', utilising the vocal talents she would later adopt as Hyacinth Bucket in 'Keeping Up Appearances'.

Occassionally, Terry was absent and had the likes of Joanna Lumley and Gloria Hunniford among others standing in for him. They seemed to have more of an idea on how to conduct themselves with their guests than Tel ever did.

Other notable guests on the show included Emma Thompson, Freddie Starr, David Bowie, Cilla Black and Ronnie Barker.

The show came to an end in 1991 following a decline in ratings. A replacement for its slot was the BBC's disastrous soap 'Eldorado'. Wogan died in 2016 from cancer, aged 77. Not a great show by a long chalk but miles better than anything we have to endure in this day and age, i.e anything featuring Katie Price or Kate Garraway.
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