Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width (TV Series) David Kossoff? He's a Friend of Mine (1969) User Reviews

.....oh... Is he indeed?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 9 March 2019]

To win bragging rights over Patrick, Manny makes up a story of knowing actor David Kossoff, and with a concert looming, put on my the Father and Rabbi, Manny must get an acquaintance with the star, and land his guest of honour.

It's a lovely episode, heart warming and funny, the obvious charisma of David Kossoff shines through, he's great, but it really is the brilliance of John Bluthal and Joe Lynch that stand out once again, the pair are tremendous. David Kossoff would have been well known to comedy fans through The Larkins, in which he played Peggy Mount' henpecked husband Alf.

Perhaps not the funniest, but simply lovely viewing. 7/10.

One Kossoff too many

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 19 October 2013]

An episode of the hit Vince Powell & Harry Driver sit-com about a Jewish and an Irish tailor.

'Manny Cohen' ( John Bluthal ) boasts to 'Patrick Kelly' ( Joe Lynch ) that he is a personal friend of the actor David Kossoff. Word gets out, and Manny is suddenly asked to recruit Kossoff to be the star attraction of a forthcoming charity concert. To save face, Manny agrees. In his local pub, he and Patrick spot a man who looks uncannily like Kossoff, and they ask him to impersonate the star. The man looks like Kossoff because he is him. He is there to find out why he is being promoted as appearing in a show when he has not been formerly asked. Pretending to be a Cockney named 'Arthur', Kossoff fools the tailors...

At school, we regularly used to listen to David Kossoff on the radio reading Bible stories. A wonderfully talented and much-missed performer. He is on good form here, particularly when called on to be 'Arthur'. Vince Powell must have liked this episode a good deal - he reworked it not once twice - first for 'Love Thy Neighbour' with Charlie Williams, and then for 'Mind Your Language' with Arthur Mullard.

Funniest moment - Manny calling Kossoff 'schmaltzy' unaware he is talking to the real one!

On an unrelated note, if you fancy a good laugh, check out the Amazon reviews of the 'Dr.Who' 50th Anniversary Special 'The Day Of The Doctor'. Almost all are gushing with praise. The thing is - it has not been broadcast yet ( it goes out next month )! The reviewers have convinced themselves it will be a masterpiece. But then that Steven Moffat's fans for you. IMDb does not permit its users to indulge in amateur guesswork, so why does Amazon?