Voice of London

Channel 4’s The Horne Section TV Show offers a whimsical, if a little disjointed, look into the life of musical funny-man, Alex Horne.

‘Little Alex Horne’ and his band, The Horne Section, have been active in the British comedy scene for the past decade. Horne has spent that decade fashioning a character that is both insanely talented with the self-confidence of a department store doormat. The opening scene of his very own show states the stark reality of Horne’s life to the audience, that despite being the brains behind shows such as Taskmaster, a show Horne developed during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he plays the role of assistant to host Greg Davies.

The Horne Section TV show follows Alex Horne and his decade old band, attempting to finally run his own show. A live talk show, with live music, broadcast entirely from within Horne’s own home, and the trials and tribulations that comes with live TV. Celebrities with demands (Martin Kemp demanding he be allowed to sing Dean Martin songs) and lack of script, being allowed to talk at length about whichever topic they desire (Dr Raj Singh pitching stabiliser wheels for cars), alongside demands from Channel 4 that the show become either edgier or more appealing on social media.

The shows greatest strength is its cast. As ever, Horne and his band are allowed to shine as a hapless group of musical genius’. A wide range of celebrities playing the overt character of themselves. Within the show itself, once the first episode has aired, a review states that John Oliver had stolen the show. Something which is true of The Horne Section anyway, with Oliver appearing throughout the series as a disembodied head on a laptop screen. With a palpable desire just to work with Alex Horne, with much of the comedy coming from Oliver’s grinning head, floating in the back of most scenes.

The show is broken up with random scenes of the band rehearsing downstairs in Horne’s basement. While offering an interesting look at how the band operates with one another, with no live audience, these scenes often break up the pacing of the show – and not always for the best. It’s possible that these scenes are unscripted, and rather just snippets of the band improvising. However, they feel sometimes forced. Or needed just to fill a few extra minutes of the show.

Overall, a delightful comedy that sits nicely alongside Taskmaster. Giving us more Alex Horne than ever before, while offering a meta look at TV production of a whole. Like a British mix of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Wayne’s World.

All six episodes of The Horne Section TV show are now available on All 4.

Words: Kiefer Jones | Subbing: Charissa Halsey