British actor/eternal heartthrob Hugh Grant began trending on Twitter on Friday morning after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation. Initially, I thought it was because people were calling for the actor to become PM after his beloved performance in Love, Actually. But it was for something much funnier — he was the reason why the Benny Hill theme blared out across Westminster.
The posho-sounding actor tweeted his request to longstanding protestor Steve Bray — who has been stationed outside the UK Parliament since Brexit — on Thursday evening shortly before BoJo resigned.
He asked specifically for the ‘Benny Hill Theme’ which everyone and their dog associates with sped-up footage of people running around like chooks with their heads cut off.
Kinda like how 60+ ministers scooted the fuck out of government in the last 48 hours.
Morning @snb19692 Glad you have your speakers back. Do you by any chance have the Benny Hill music to hand?
— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) July 7, 2022
The result? Pure comedy.
Just for @HackedOffHugh as requested here today at the media circus… College Green. The Benny Hill theme tune. pic.twitter.com/Tazb57gT8e
— Steve Bray on Mastodon @SNB19692@Mastodon.Social (@snb19692) July 7, 2022
Not only did the comedic track blast out across College Green for everyone to giggle at and have a boogie to in celebration of the conservative Tory party phenomenally eating shit, but it became a perfect backing track to live news crosses.
Hearing the ‘Benny Hill Theme’ soundtracking a Sky News reporter as he’s trying to explain what the government’s next moves are is possibly one of the funniest things I’ve seen all year. And I’ve watched Jackass Forever AND Jackass 4.5.
INCREDIBLE SCENES
“THE BENNY HILL THEME TUNE” IS BEING BLASTED OUT ON SKY NEWS. pic.twitter.com/N06wBwcoZl
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) July 7, 2022
Look at him. You can see his brow furrowing and his demeanour getting terser as the music rings out across the green. It’s truly grating on him with every toot of that deliciously annoying horn. God, I love this so much.
Sure, it might get the earworm lodged deep in your brain for the rest of the week. You might find yourself humming it while doing menial tasks over the weekend. But if there’s one thing the Brits are good at, it’s taking the ever-living piss out of each other.
Perhaps Hugh Grant should replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister after all. He deserves the job after this one.
