This Review is from August 2026

Between 1995-2001, a very young Jessica Carrivick and her siblings Jack and Holly used their dad’s borrowed BBC camera to make home movies. Today, Jess is The Academy, and the old VHS movies are presented, For Your Consideration.

These genuine home movie clips are knit together with the present day, live and in person Jess, performing original characters in a series of sketches.

Strap in. The show is fast paced and very funny. There’s a great deal to enjoy. A washed-up elderly Hollywood jazz singer gossips about her co-stars and croons about the paparazzi… a self-obsessed stage actor and mother called Gillian with a Rowan Atkinson obsession… and many more. There’s an entertaining tribute to Glynis Johns, best known for playing the suffragette Winifred Banks in the 1964 Mary Poppins movie.

These seemingly disconnected parts make a very satisfying whole.  Jess Carrivick’s comedy will be on my must-see list from now on.

Martin Walker

In addendum. Jess’s father, Gareth Andrew Carrivick, whose borrowed camera was used to shoot the home movies, was a well-respected director and production manager at the BBC. He worked on several TV shows for French and Saunders, Fry and Laurie, Dave Gorman and many others. He also directed feature films including the 2009 cult classic Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. Gareth died of leukaemia in 2010, at the age of 52.