The Big Impression


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

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:
Some celebrities that Ancona has done impressions of include:
Four series of the programme were made between 2000 and 2003.
SeriesEpisodesDates
1626 April 2000 – 25 May 2000
2622 April 2001 – 3 June 2001
3619 April 2002 – 24 May 2002
469 May 2003 – 13 June 2003

Special episodes

There have also been a number of one-off specials, including:
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.
YearAwardResultCategory
2000British Comedy AwardsWonBest Comedy Entertainment Programme
2000British Comedy AwardsNominatedBest Comedy Newcomer
2000British Comedy AwardsNominatedBest New Television Comedy
2000Royal Television Society Craft and Design AwardsWonBest Make Up Design – Entertainment & Non-Drama
2002British Comedy AwardsNominatedBest Comedy Actress
2002National Television AwardsNominatedMost Popular Comedy Performance
2002Royal Television Society Programme AwardsWonEntertainment Performance
2002Royal Television Society Craft and Design AwardsNominatedBest Costume Design – Entertainment & Non-Drama Productions
2002Royal Television Society Craft and Design AwardsNominatedBest Make Up Design – Entertainment & Non-Drama Productions
2002Royal Television Society Craft and Design AwardsNominatedBest Production Design – Entertainment & Non-Drama Productions
2002Royal Television Society Craft and Design AwardsNominatedBest Tape and Film Editing – Entertainment & Situation Comedy
2002Royal Television Society Craft and Design AwardsNominatedTeam Award
2003British Academy Television AwardsWonBest Comedy Programme or Series
2003British Academy Television Craft AwardsNominatedBest Make Up & Hair Design
2003British Comedy AwardsWonBest Television Comedy Actress
2003National Television AwardsNominatedMost Popular Comedy Performance