Critical Reception
Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder provoked considerable controversy, receiving very sharp criticism from some quarters of the press, whilst attracting positive reviews from others. In particular, a scathing review of the show by Tim Teeman was published in The Times, berating the show for its perceived homophobia due to the characterisation of Horst Schwul:
| “ | Not only is the stereotype unfunny, another layer of insensitivity is added when you consider that gays died in their thousands under the Nazis, then after the war were persecuted because their sexuality was still criminalised. | ” |
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—Tim Teeman, The Times. |
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This view was backed up by The Scotsman, which described the characters as "crass" and "one-dimensional", and describing Schwul as "undoubtedly the worst comedy character in the history of civilisation".
By contrast, newspapers such as The Sun and the Daily Mirror gave the show broadly positive reviews, describing some sketches as "chucklesome", praising Murray and Eclair's performance as the Radio Ad Couple, and suggesting the show demonstrates that "the spirit of Benny Hill lives on". The Daily Telegraph noted that, whilst "parts of it may be too crude for some tastes... there are some winning ideas", whilst The Independent also enjoyed several sketches.
However, these views were not shared by the News of the World, which described the show as "just that funny" and the characters as "a collection of Little Britain cast-offs...or Harry Enfield tributes". The Stage was similarly disappointed with the show, describing it as "very lazy comedy...dependent upon ridiculous costumes and cod accents to get laughs".
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