“You know your mummy, she’s got very strong wrists.” God, you would hate to hear those words coming from your father, yet Michael Whitehall, the father of comedian Jack Whitehall, is just the sort of dad to deliver them. Michael’s verbal quips throughout are exactly what you would expect from an embarrassing dad.

Jack and Michael are a great partnership and play the father-son roles to perfection. Jack is the cool, hip, witty, good-looking kid who devours the culture of the present. Except for his sense of humour, Michael could not be more of an anathema. He dresses in a grey suit, waistcoat and blue tie; very Tory Party indeed. But even though he comes off as a strict boarding school headmaster, he has the best gags.

The witty comments he makes, would fill an Embarrassing Dad box to the brim. He says “I’m well hung” when describing what type of elastic in his underwear he has, and ridicules his son for giving up higher education in order to “make jokes about his penis.” All son Jack can do is laugh in embarrassment. Who would think that the funniest person in the chat show would be the curmudgeonly old man and not the young, slightly nerdy-looking guy?

This does not mean that Jack isn’t humorous, however this is not his best work so far and the first episode tailed off towards the end which made for somewhat unsatisfying viewing.

However, if Jack gets funnier and we see him at his best, I believe that the show will be well worth watching every Thursday night. The latest episode guest’s were the stars of Geordie Shore, its worth a watch simply for Michael’s reaction to meeting them.

Backchat is on Wednesdays, 10pm on BBC3

Read our review of Fresh Meat starring Jack Whitehall here

Harry Wise

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