Freeview film of the day: Mamma Mia!

I like ABBA, I like going on holiday and I like karaoke. But, as I’ve stated for the record before, Mamma Mia! is not for me. I accept I’m in a mealy-mouthed minority, as the jukebox musical was the highest grossing film of all time at the UK box office until Avatar. A Greek island-set wedding confection, its skeletal story and variable singing are immaterial next to the inclusive, camp, cynicism-free singalong fun it pumps from every pore. A game Meryl Streep and an up-for-it Julie Walters are notably energetic, while Piers Brosnan is captivatingly awful. I’ve always found the whole concept a shoehorning job, but the conversion is commendably done by original theatre director Phyllida Lloyd and Catherine Johnson, who wrote the book. In short, it does what it set out to do: turn a stage hit into a holiday advert.

For more of today’s free-to-air films, see our TV listings