armando iannucci, welcome to hardtalk. hello. have you on the show at a very difficult time. ijust wonder, with reference to coronavirus and everything else that is happening right now, do you need to be in a certain frame of mind to write, and in particular, to write funny? i mean, that's interesting. i mean, it's good, i've got some structure to the day because we're actually in the middle of writing a new series of avenue 5, which is the sci—fi comedy we do for hbo, but on the other hand, that show‘s premise is about 6,500 people being trapped in a spaceship that they can't get out of, and suffering a fundamental lack of leadership, and it's very difficult under these circumstances to feel — i can certainly empathise with them, but it's very difficult to see the funny side of it because it is so real and so kind of current at the moment. yeah, and i asked the question partly because i feel you've been quite honest in recent things you've said in public, and i'm just going to quote one where you said, "do people really want gag

in the personal history of david copperfield, director and co—writer armando iannucci works comedic wondersern elements of dickens‘ endlessly reinterpretable source. boasting a barnstorming central performance by dev patel, this features an astonishing array of players cast with a colour—blind inclusivity that allows iannucci to broaden the scope and reach of his film beyond that of many previous dickens adaptations. it's an absolute treat. jip likes you. don't you,jip? "yes, i do!" jip never lies. the same cannot be said of dolittle, a disastrously dull screen reboot of hugh lofting's much loved character. here, he's played by robert downeer who, for reasons best known to himself, has decided to play dolittle with what he fondly imagines to be a broad welsh accent. lay down. we could resume your treatment. as actual welshmen michael sheen — who co—stars with downey in the film — observed, "he asked me everything about the welsh accent except the most important question which was ‘should i be doing a welsh accent?" you're a sick kitty! the answer, loud and clear, is no. you can avoid dolitt

in the personal history of david copperfield, director and co—writer armando iannucci works comedic wondershing array of players cast with a colour—blind inclusivity that allows iannucci to broaden the scope and reach of his film beyond that of many previous dickens adaptations. it's an absolute treat. jip likes you. don't you,jip? "yes, i do!" jip never lies. the same cannot be said of dolittle, a disastrously dull screen reboot of hugh lofting's much—loved character. here, he's played by robert downeer who, for reasons best known to himself, has decided to play dolittle with what he fondly imagines to be a broad welsh accent. lay down. we could resume your treatment. as actual welshmen michael sheen — who co—stars with downey in the film — observed, "he asked me everything about the welsh accent except the most important question which was ‘should i be doing a welsh accent?”' you're a sick kitty! the answer, loud and clear, is no. you can avoid dolittle, or should that be "don't—little", on dvd now. that's it for this week. thanks for watching the film review. stay safe, and i'll be back