Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Sat 02 Feb 2007Send in the cameras, send up the circus'Mockumentary' pioneers are moving into straight - but still funny - narrative, writes Belinda McKeonEarly in January, when promo clips for the RTÉ TV show Dan & Becs began to air on television and to find their way on to websites such as YouTube, Bebo and Blogorrah, initial reponses ran the gamut from confusion to revulsion. "Please, please, please tell me this is a piss-take," went one online comment. "This is serious?" asked someone else. "Is this show reality or is it acted out?" asked a visitor to the Bebo.com page which had been set up for one of the show's characters, and which had further muddied the waters between reality and illusion. Another comment cut straight to the chase: "God help us all."