The Big Impression

The Big Impression
Title card from series 1
Also known as	'Alistair McGowan's Big Impression'
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Alistair McGowan Ronni Ancona
Starring	Alistair McGowan Ronni Ancona
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	31
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jon Plowman
Producer(s)	Charlie Hanson
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Vera Productions
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	26 April 2000 (2000-04-26) – 10 June 2004 (2004-06-10)

The Big Impression, known as Alistair McGowan's Big Impression for the first three series, is a British comedy sketch show. It features Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona impersonating personalities from entertainment and sport. Four series and a number of specials were made by Vera Productions and it was first broadcast on BBC One between 2000 and 2004.

The series has won five awards, including the 2003 BAFTA comedy programme prize.

Production

McGowan and Ancona first met at a comedy club, and later started dating. They worked together on a number of projects, with their first television series being The Staggering Stories of Ferdinand de Bargos in 1989. After performing in his own show in Edinburgh in 1998, McGowan was approached by a BBC executive about working on a series, which he wanted Ancona to be involved in. Alistair McGowan's Big Impression first aired on BBC One in 2000, with the couple splitting up just before filming began. Speaking with The Independent, Ancona said working on the series was "exciting but it was tricky and there were some very low points. [...] But, if anything, the tension added a little frisson to some of the sketches and it made the show better."^[1]

For the fourth series in 2003, McGowan's name was dropped from the show's title.

Speaking to the Daily Mail about the ending of the series, McGowan said: "We were just getting into our stride when suddenly it felt that there were five other shows all saying: "We'll do that as well." It felt like there were lots of people fishing in a small pool." The BBC wanted the series to continue, but he found his "enthusiasm had gone and without that, the show wouldn't have happened".^[2]

Impressions

Alistair McGowan

There have been many characters that Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona have impersonated. Some celebrities that McGowan has done impressions of include:

Ronni Ancona

Some celebrities that Ancona has done impressions of include:

Episodes

Four series of the programme were made between 2000 and 2003.

Special episodes

There have also been a number of one-off specials, including:

• Alistair McGowan's 2000 Impressions (30 December 2000)
• Alistair McGowan's Big 'Enders (10 August 2001)
• Alistair McGowan's Big World Cup (31 May 2002)
• Alistair McGowan's Big Jubilee (2 June 2002)
• The Big Impression Christmas Special (25 December 2002)
• Posh & Becks' Big Impression (25 December 2003)
• The Big Impression Euro 2004 Special (10 June 2004)

Awards

The series has been nominated for a number of awards, winning one from BAFTA, two from the Royal Television Society, and two British Comedy Awards.

References

External links

• Alistair McGowan's Big Impression at BBC Online Comedy Guide
• Alistair McGowan's Big Impression at BBC Programmes
• The Big Impression at BBC Programmes
• The Big Impression at the Internet Movie Database