As an intro to this review, a mention of One Night In, an extremely uninspiring series. It has all the magnetic attraction of watching a friends holiday videos. Josh Widdicombe, Alex Brooker and their guests appear to enjoy the adventure but as a non-participating viewer the experience it is mind numbingly tedious.
Not even Roisin Conaty or Aisling Bea could inject sufficient life into an empty Alton Towers or a spooky Natural History Museum to make this series worth the time. Whether Desiree Burch and Guz Khan can do more at London Zoo remains to be seen (Thursday 30th C4 9pm)
Jon and Lucy’s Christmas Sleepover saw the pair entertain fellow comedians in a rented ‘cottage’ for dinner and obviously a sleepover.
Having recovered from her reluctant rollercoaster rides, Roisin Conaty was a guest along with the ubiquitous Romesh Ranganathan and his frequent partner in crime, Rob Beckett. The group were indeed friends as they had worked alongside each other on the comedy circuit as their careers developed. In particular, Richardson with Conalty and Lucy with Rom and Rob.
Jon Richardson, complete with clipboard, ‘pulled a Monica’, as they say on Friends, by organising a schedule of events and an accompanying timetable. Viewing/eavesdropping on the dinner party was more interesting than watching comedians have One Night In.
In a pre-show interview (read here) Richardson said “there’s some tension, some people who are late, people who are angry about the food”. Those people were just Rob Beckett who turned up late with a half-eaten Ferrero Roche tower and vented his distaste for vegan cuisine which had been prepared for Ranganathan and Richardson, who are both vegans (not that Romesh has ever mentioned it). At some point in the discussion there was an intrusive piece of product placement for McDonald’s.
Big Zuu turned up briefly to cook a very unappetising looking vegan dish. Rob Beckett’s face lit up when Jon delivered a dish of pigs in blankets however, the light was quickly extinguished when he realised that they were vegan plant based substitutes.
The evening had an explosive finish and a somewhat unnecessary cameo from a 2021 viral ‘internet sensation’. Overall pleasant viewing which, with a few tweaks, could make series.
One thought on “Review: Jon and Lucy’s Christmas Sleepover”