Comedy writer Barry Cryer has slammed the Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi programme 'Vicious' calling it 'positively homophobic.'
'Vicious' follows Jacobs and McKellen as an ageing gay couple but Cryer has accused the show of having homosexual cliches. Cryer wrote in the latest Radio Times that 'A sitcom with two old gays could be really good and moving. With two great actors in Sir Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi it should be fantastic,But it was insult, insult, insult every other line. You don't believe in them You don’t like them, for a start. It was positively homophobic! It made John Inman look restrained'.
Cryer has a long career of comedy writing behind him, having written for the likes of Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, The Two Ronnies and The Morecambe and Wise Show. However he believes 'Vicious' is concentrating on being funny all the time rather then developing the characters within the show. He also said shows like 'The Wright Way' and 'Mrs Browns Boys' were 'back to basics' sitcoms relying more on jokes to win over the audience.
The veteran comedy writer went onto say 'It's a serious business writing comedy. You don't necessarily need funny lines all the time. The key is to create characters. Characters people can identify with. But right now we've gone back at least 30 years in terms of format. The great sitcom writers of the past didn't think jokes were remotely important'.
Whether or not 'Vicious' will be commissioned for another series is yet to be seen but a Christmas special will be aired in December.
