Imagine: The Academy of Armando, review: leaves no doubt that Iannucci is the foremost satirist of our time
There will be some people out there whose cultural lives haven't been improved by Armando Iannucci but not, I'd guess, that many. Imagine: Academy of Armando (BBC One) was therefore a bit of an open goal: simply string together a show-reel of Iannucci's greatest hits, from On the Hour to The Day Today to The Thick of It and onwards, throw in some illustrious talking heads (Chris Morris, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Palin and Steve Coogan all turned up) to say how brilliant he is and (to quote from his and Coogan's greatest creation Alan Partridge) it's back of the net.
To its credit, Imagine attempted something a little more intricate than straight hagiography, telling Iannucci's story but trying to show his method ('quicker, shorter, funnier' are his watchwords), how it all fits with his world-view (dark absurdity) and his sphere of his influence (absolutely massive). A deft combination of the three left you in no doubt at the end of the hour that Iannucci is the foremost satirist of our time.
With so many riches to choose from – not just the clips but the queues of grandees gushing with praise – Imagine only faltered occasionally. One misstep was to frame Iannucci as some kind of recluse in the JD Salinger mould. Presenter Alan Yentob spent the first 10 minutes appearing to be sniffing him out like a bespectacled bloodhound. But I've interviewed Iannucci before for this publication; many journalists have. I don't recall him being averse to talking about himself or his work at all. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to sit down with Yentob.
When you watched the programme you sensed Iannucci's discomfort with the pomposity of talking about himself with the perennially po-faced other Alan (and there was a priceless moment when they talked about the naming of Alan Partridge, concluding that, 'he was just an Alan', with Iannucci staring hard at the other Alan in the room). Ultimately, Iannucci's work has always made fun of things like Imagine, people like Yentob, and the very notion that there could be an 'Academy of Armando'.
None of this distracted from the excellence of the work, or the strength of the programme, but it did make you imagine if Iannucci's next project might involve the inner workings and egos of a flagship arts show.
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