The Dinosaur Hour Review: John Cleese Chats in a Castle with Cats
The British alternative news channel GB News gave John Cleese an offer he couldn’t refuse. They gave him carte blanche to make a television show about anything he wanted, however he wanted, and so we have The Dinosaur Hour, a chat show set in a castle, with the guests sat comfortably at tables being served drinks, surrounded by adorable cats to stroke. As Cleese says in his irreverent intro, the show is for the out of touch. Not, in other words, for those whose media diet comes in little bites of nonsense from TikTok. Anyway, the subject of this first episode is the unscrupulous nature of the print media in the UK, how it has affected both ordinary people and celebrities, and how it has managed to escape censure for so many years.
For those of you who are in touch enough with the fabric of our culture to know Cleese’s illustrious past work – Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, A Fish Called Wanda – this writer is happy to report that Cleese’s distinctive sense of humour remains pleasingly intact. After his opening preamble, Cleese introduces the subject of the show with what could very easily be a Python sketch. He stands before a board displaying a graph that demonstrates countries throughout the world, and how much the people in those countries trust the print media. Well, spoiler alert, the UK comes last. That board is dropped to the floor to reveal another for the following year, and surprise, the UK is last again. Board after board is dropped, while Cleese demonstrates mock sympathy, then pride when the UK manages to scrape its way up to second (or even third!!) from last, then bursts into crocodile tears when the UK hits bottom once again. This opening segment is genuinely funny, and displays Cleese’s gift for aggressive, absurd, and intelligent comedy in fine style.
“The setting it must be said is a stroke of genius, creating a strange, off-kilter, rather casual atmosphere, as Cleese moves among his guests like the host of a grand dinner party.”
Overall, the subject of the show is dealt with in a refreshingly thorough, and entirely engaging way. Swanning casually from table to table, Cleese chats with a communications expert, the head of a support group for those who have been the victims of illegal press intrusion; a hacker (the very hacker who stole information from Cleese), a beautician who was pushed to the brink of suicide by a trash piece that was written about her,,and TV presenter Chris Tarrant, who throughout the show has been sitting playing cards with a group of nuns. Not one of the interviews goes on too long, and each provides a valuable puzzle piece in the disconcerting picture being put together about the rock bottom quality and moral standing of the British print media. Of course, one could say that Cleese is simply using his new-found platform to grind a very personal axe, but since the show is about subjects that interest him, that doesn’t seem unreasonable. More importantly, as becomes evident as the show goes on, press intrusion and false reporting is a subject that affects many people who have little to no redress. In other words, go Cleese!
The setting it must be said is a stroke of genius, creating a strange, off-kilter, rather casual atmosphere, as Cleese moves among his guests like the host of a grand dinner party. And Cleese, it turns out, is a rather good interviewer. He is fully engaged, empathetic, and asks interesting questions. Thankfully, he remains his self-consciously abrasive, yet silly self throughout. At one point, he introduces the private investigator who hacked him with an expletive, and he ends an interview with a lawyer by telling him good naturedly to shut up. Now, this kind of thing might not be to everyone’s taste, but as a Brit this writer can tell you that we enjoy nothing more than being rude to people we like. More warmly he signs off one interview by saying, “here have a cat,” before handing one over, getting up and moving onto his next guest. If this all sounds rather strange, it is. What else would you want or expect?
The Dinosaur Hour might be for people who are out of touch, but sometimes you need to be a bit out of touch to see the bigger picture. GB News should be congratulated for commissioning the most interesting, informative, and delightfully bizarre chat show in recent memory.
