It’s Covid Relief!
Stars put on a pandemic special for Red Nose Day
A STAR-STUDDED cast cheered the nation last night by finding the lighter side of Covid for Comic Relief.
Dame Joan Collins led the celebrity lineup of the spoof trailer for 2020: The Movie, playing ‘the first woman to get the vaccine’.
In a take on the Hollywood classic Sunset Boulevard she looks up to the camera, drops her fur coat from her shoulder and says: ‘I’m ready for my vaccine now Mr DeMille’. Russell Brand did headstands and jumped around in a parody of fitness guru Joe Wicks.
In a dig at former Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings he also joked: ‘You may get fit by going on a trip to Barnard Castle or you can get fit here, now, with me!’
Jodie Whittaker and her on-screen Doctor Who companion Mandip Gill played doctors on a Covid ward. Their mission was to get to the bottom of why people were clapping outside the hospital on a Thursday evening. And Matt Lucas did an impression of Gary Barlow with duets alongside the real Take That star who was mocked for being ‘a bit pitchy’. Another highlight came as Dawn French revived her beloved Vicar of Dibley character – Geraldine Granger – to start the threehour BBC show.
The vicar encouraged people watching to donate ‘oodles of cash’ before doing her Red Nose Day sponsorship challenge, a lip-sync dance to Juice by singer Lizzo.
Known for her love of chocolate, Geraldine danced with bars of Toblerone and tubes of Smarties alongside the real-life Reverend Kate Bottley from Gogglebox. The programme was hosted by celebrities including Davina McCall, Paddy McGuinness, Alesha Dixon, David Tennant and Sir Lenny Henry.
The presenters emphasised how everyone on the show was working to ‘strict Covid guidelines’ with separate dressing rooms and social distancing in place.
The Duke of Cambridge also made an appearance to praise viewers who helped raise millions during the BBC’s fundraising night of comedy staged last year.
In a pre-recorded video message, William highlighted how some of the money raised has gone to the National Emergencies Trust, which he supports as patron. William’s message introduced a powerful film highlighting the huge increase in the number of people experiencing mental health issues over the past year and the support being provided by organisations funded by Comic Relief.
As part of their emergency response, Comic Relief helped deliver a special one-off fundraising campaign in April 2020, the Big Night In, which raised more than £74million for UK charities and was split between Comic Relief, BBC Children in Need and the National Emergencies Trust.
BBC Three’s hugely successful and award-winnings series’ Normal People and Fleabag also joined forces in a sketch that saw a hot priest take an unusual confession from two lovestruck teens.
This year’s Red Nose is 100 per cent plastic-free and plant-based, made from bagasse, a natural byproduct of sugarcane.
Comic Relief has raised more than £1.4billion over 35 years.
Money raised by Red Nose Day will support people in the UK and around the world and help tackle hunger, homelessness, domestic abuse and mental health stigma.
‘Helped raise millions’