Bo Selecta

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Bo' Selecta! is a British TV comedy sketch show which ran for three series and one Christmas special on Channel 4 television and had several spin-offs. Written and created by Leigh Francis, the programme involved lampooning celebrity culture, featuring Francis himself in a series of surreal, often crude, celebrity imitations using rubber masks. Notable personalities spoofed in the series included Michael Jackson, Melanie Brown, David Blaine, Kelly Osbourne, Elton John and Craig David. The title of the series originates from David’s single Re-Rewind, which contains the line "Re-Rewind", when the crowd says "Bo Selecta!".

The programmes were bookended by Francis as an Eastern European celebrity stalker known as Avid Merrion, who would conduct interviews without the celebrities involved realising he was in character, a similar concept to the original Ali G performances. In nods to the 'cult of celebrity', the character was revealed to have Craig Phillips, the winner of the first Big Brother UK TV series, locked in his cupboard. A second character involved in celebrity interviews was Francis as ‘The Bear’, a small creature that would get erections at inopportune moments during interviews.

Although ratings for all three series were strong, critically the show has been singled out for allegations of racism, misogyny, or just being wilfully puerile. Nevertheless, the series, for a time, made its mark on modern society, including being referenced in an episode of The Office.

The show parodied Ricky Gervais in a David Brent style suit and with his manerisms, replete with boxing gloves in reference to the fight. The character was always wanting to perform the famous Office dance.

Karl Pilkington infamously referenced the show on the 09 August 2003 edition of Ricky Gervais's XFM radio series, when he compared deformity sufferer Vicky Lucas to a character from Bo' Selecta! due to the size of her head.

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