David puts the Dick into Dickinson (Dickinson's Real Deal)

Member Name: JJJJ

Product:	Dickinson's Real Deal
Date:	26/09/09 (155 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's watchable

Disadvantages: There are better things to watch + lots of ad breaks

Love him or hate him, you have to admit that the gloriously orange-faced David Dickinson is an entertaining character - his ITV show 'Dickinson's Real Deal' is fairly entertaining too - well, entertaining as far as antiques programme's go!

Shown throughout the week at 3pm, the premise is simple - Dickinson and his unusual band of 'experts' set up shop in an auction house, and invite members of the public to bring in their treasures. The experts then lay down some cash on the table, thus starting a haggling process with the 'contestant'. The antique owner can then choose to either accept the offer from the expert, or gamble by putting their item up for auction - Ok, so as afternoon TV goes, on paper, this doesn't sound all that great - but it's mildly entertaining due to the fact that watching auctions is interesting - you never know when the hammer's going to fall.

Apart from presenting, Dickinson occasionally gives his worldly advise to the contestant, and throws his "cheap as chips", and "bobby dazzler" trademark phrases into the mix for good measure. I'm sure he gets to be more and more of a caricature of himself as the days and weeks pass, and one day he will spontaneously combust on screen.

The show lasts for an hour (well, forty-five minutes when you count the frequent ad-breaks), and this is quite a long time for a programme of this nature. However, the time actually flies by, meaning that some part of my mind is enjoying it more than it probably should be.

All in all, Dickinson's real Deal Is a *fairly* enjoyable show, and if there's nothing else on, I'll occasionally give it a viewing. The premise of the programme isn't amazing, but Dickinson's unusual manner and intense stare make me laugh - and besides, now that summer's gone, it's nice to have that orange glow back in the living room.

Summary: average afternoon viewing