Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor ... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice (or Britain's Got the Pop Factor for short) is an Affectionate Parody of TV talent shows, mainly influenced is The X Factor. It was broadcasted as a two-part one-off special on Channel 4 on 12 October 2008, and is notable for being Kay's first Channel 4 production in four years.
The special is a mock talent show grand finale, using recaps to explain the finalists' journeys. The production is very accurate; three of the judges from Pop Idol appear as themselves. Channel 4 were highly impressed by the ratings the special drew and promptly asked Kay to produce another one; it was followed that December with Peter Kay's Britain's Got an Extra Pop Factor and Then Some 2 + 1—a skewering of spin-off companion shows such as The Xtra Factor. "The Winner's Song" also managed to make it to #2 on the UK Singles Chart.
This show contains examples of
- Grand Finale: The special depicts the final of Britain's Got the Pop Factor, with typical Idol/X Factor trappings such as a recap of the season and how the three finalists got here, celebrity performers and mentors (including Rick Astley and Paul McCartney), and the final two acts performing a rendition of an Award-Bait Song, "The Winner's Song", to determine the winner.
- Hopeless Auditionees: Featured as part of the "recap" of the series.
- I Have No Son!: The mother of the transgender Geraldine McQueen gives us this wonderful line: "she is no son of mine!"
- Manipulative Editing: Invoked when a tease shows Geraldine giving an angry interview. It turned out that the part was mined from a portion of the interview where Geraldine was quoting R Wayne complaining about manipulative editing, and that the rest of the interview was the exact opposite.
- Silence, You Fool!: When Cat Deeley walks onto the stage she tries to ask the audience to keep quiet.Cat: (audience gets loud) The voting lines have officially closed. The votes have been counted and verified. Could we please have quiet in the studio?(audience does not get any quieter)Cat: Quiet, please.(audience gets even louder)
- Tragic Backstory: A common characteristic of all three finalists, and in fact mandated by the producers—who didn't let R Wayne advance out of Boot Camp because he didn't have a sob story. That is, until his grandmother died from a heart attack after learning that he didn't make it out of Boot Camp, and was subsequently invited back onto the show.
