Adrian Edmondson

Video: Lost Pete and Dud sketch re-enacted

A lost Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sketch is re-enacted with Dud (played by Adrian Edmondson) waking up screaming from a dream. Pete (played by Jonny Sweet) decides to attempt to decipher Dud's dream using Freud's theories.

The Wardrobe sketch is from the landmark television comedy show, Not Only... But Also which was largely wiped from the BBC archives.

Was it madness or arrogance that persuaded the volunteers on Pete And Dud: The Lost Sketches that they could sketch in the shadow of genius? The idea of the likes of Angus Deayton and Adrian Edmondson attempting to emulate the comedy chemistry of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore seemed like the product of a lock-in after the Baftas. In other words, it should never have survived the cold light of day.

Yet, though it was light on belly laughs and clearly in thrall to its source material, Pete And Dud: The Lost Sketches was oddly entertaining. Introduced by lifelong Pete and Dud fan Jonathan Ross (and for once he seemed genuine), the set of sketches performed - 'lost' in the sense that the BBC unbelievably wiped the original TV tapes, so they only survive in audio or script form - at least served as a priceless reminder of one of the truly great comedy pairings.

It was like watching a rock tribute band who know all the words and get the notes in the right place. You could sing along but inevitably there was a spark missing. It was the brief clips of the real Pete And Dud that were worth sticking around for, the mix of surreal allusion, schoolboy smut and lady frocks making it clear how much the duo influenced everyone from The Fast Show to Little Britain.

There was a missed opportunity in the mix: Stephen Fry and David Mitchell, only featured as talking heads, would have made a perfect Pete and Dud.

Instead the originals were lovingly, though palely, imitated, new boy Jonny Sweet coming closest to catching the anarchic 1960s spirit that Pete and Dud encapsulated.

Now what we need is a series that rounds up every clip that still exists.

Right up until the late Seventies, it was common policy for the BBC to wipe reels containing previously broadcast programmes in order to make space in the archives and save money by reusing the tape. One of the most significant casualties was Dudley Moore and Peter Cook's seminal comedy sketch show Not Only... But Also, of which fewer than half of the 22 episodes survive - despite apparent efforts by Peter Cook to purchase the masters from the BBC before they were wiped. While some of Pete & Dud's famous routines have been recovered from other filmed performances, others now exist in script form only.

Hence this project, spearheaded by Jonathan Ross, to resurrect Moore and Cook's lost sketches by reperforming them with a group of contemporary comic actors, including Adrian Edmondson, Alistair McGowan (who is rather good as Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling) and Outnumbered's Hugh Dennis. The scripts still sparkle despite the passing of time, but the performances, perhaps inevitably, make you miss the real Pete and Dud all the more. However, the film has undoubtedly been made with the best of intentions, and includes rare archive footage of the original duo in action too.

"Hey, do you remember that teddy bear you had as a kid? You really loved that thing, huh? Bet you'd love to have it back, wouldn't you? Well here it is! We've cut off its head and vomited on it for you too!" Some of Cook and Moore's deleted Not Only But Also sketches are ruined beyond repair by a horrific line-up of Angus Deayton, Alistair McGowan, Hugh Dennis and Adrian Edmondson. Watch this if you enjoy becoming murderously angry before you go to bed on a Sunday night.

The old Young Ones has grown on us, except for the Adrian Edmondson one. It's winning and really stupid but in a properly consistent manner.

Ade: It is SO boring

Actor Adrian Edmondson says cult sitcom The Young Ones, which made him a star, is the most boring TV show ever.

Unforgivable casual racism aside, was ITV1's new Adrian Edmondson sitcom Teenage Kicks all that bad? I laughed out loud a couple of times, and I hadn't even had that much to drink.

His missus has left him for a man from Belgium (Belgium! Ha ha ha!) and now Adrian Edmondson has moved in with his own kids. He's bumbling through his new singledom - bumbling into things and falling over, both metaphorically and literally. We have a good giggle at the way the Chinese lodger speaks - there are misunderstandings, boom boom.

Maybe it's ironic commissioning, like the Andy Millman sitcom in Extras. If so, it's a bit too clever. And if not, then it's just not good enough, I'm afraid. Predictable groan-along sitcoms are no longer acceptable television. There is interesting new comedy out there - look at Pulling - but not on ITV, on a Friday night. Hell, I may have to go out next week.

Adrian Edmondson stars as Vernon, a divorced dad with delusions of trendiness (he used to be in a band), who's forced to move in with his children in their student flat. Cue endless "embarrassing dad" jokes, close-ups of trousers splitting and even that Seventies sitcom staple - the comedy foreigner (a Hong Kong student). In the opening episode, Vernon seeks "an easy hot night of passion" and ends up in bed with more than one person. So old-fashioned it's as if The Young Ones never happened.

Why are half-decent domestic sitcoms so few and far between? Get it right and you've got a long-running hit like My Family on your hands. But get it wrong... It's like a house of cards: if one bit of the whole doesn't work - casting, chemistry, plot or jokes - it all collapses around your ears.

Here we have the latest brave attempt, an eight-part series adapted from a Radio 2 comedy and starring Adrian Edmondson as Vernon, an ageing punk rocker who moves into his kids' student flat after a messy divorce. I know what you're thinking: Adrian Edmondson, ageing punk rocker - this is the continuing adventures of Vyvyan from The Young Ones, but it really isn't. For a start, Vernon is a bit hopeless and poshly spoken and has none of Vyvyan's anarchic energy.

Sadly, neither does the script. If I quote just one exchange - 'I could pass for 39!'... 'What in an IQ test?' - you'll get the idea. There are some good moments, but some shocking ones, too. Can it really still be funny in 2008 to have a joke at the expense of a Chinese accent?