History - Hollywood style

An array of familiar faces adorn this Peter Richardson parody, which casts Christian Slater as an American Churchill over here during the war to save us all from Hitler. Invited to Buck Palace with Chris Jarman's black Eisenhower, he falls for Princess Elizabeth (Neve Campbell, wonderfully apt in voice) and foils a plot by Hitler (Antony Sher) to marry the girl before he does and so secure the throne.

Palpably ridiculous, the film is uneven but has some priceless moments, such as Sher's silent Hitler being driven from Heathrow into London with Eva Braun by a talkative taxi-driver who mistakes him for Charlie Chaplin.

Likewise, Harry Enfield's woozy King, who wanders the palace switching off the lights and central heating to further the war effort.

There are other very funny moments, and some which don't work at all. But the whole sticks in the memory like the best of The Comic Strip, for which Richardson was also responsible. One of the best laughs in the cinema this Christmas.