Alex Macqueen

And so the third season of the sharpest sitcom on TV effs and jeffs its way inventively towards its denouement, with Nicola Murray MP (Rebecca Front) and her party facing annihilation at the ballot box. Yet just when they need him most, resident rottweiler of spin Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) has been placed on gardening leave, reduced to lobbing popcorn restlessly at the television when Andrew Neil appears. However, even in his absence, Malcolm's still giving harassed minister Murray the heebie-jeebies - "I keep imagining every time I open my filing cabinet that he's going to be crouched in there eating a lamb shank," she groans - and sure enough, her nightmares become reality when Malcolm's offered a ticket back to the front line by an unlikely new ally, priggish blue-sky thinker Julius Nicholson (Alex MacQueen). "He is Lazarus, isn't he? He just can't die," observes Murray, ruefully. Thrillingly, the episode hints that the Opposition has unearthed its own Malcolm Tucker, a counter-spinner so fearsome that his short and unprintable nickname is whispered in hushed tones throughout the corridors of power. It seems as if everyone's tooling up for a battle royale; sparks and spittle will fly.

The weakest of what's been a promising run from C4's Comedy Showcase season, this will mainly be of curiosity value to fans of Flight Of The Conchords.

Rhys Darby, who plays The Conchords' ineffectual manager Murray, stars as hypnotist and magician Dermot Flint (or "Flunt" as it's pronounced in his New Zealand accent). Written by writing brothers Jack and Harry Williams (Roman's Empire), this sees Flint checking into a rehab clinic to repair his reputation after a series of scandals.

Noel Edmonds and Ulrika Jonsson (neither of whom are actually in this) are also reported to be patients, with "Edmonds" and his stash of prescription painkillers becoming the butt of much of the humour.

A deaf nurse and a body double are unwisely shoe-horned into a busy half hour that can't overcome the unpleasantness of the central character.

Still it's nice to see Holby's Alex MacQueen, who plays the director of the Wellbright centre, allowed out to do comedy.

There are some things you really shouldn't laugh at, like Matt Lucas sporting an enormous pubic wig and querying 'can I pull this off?' or jokes that depend on punning the name Horst Draper ('are you fit to mount a steed?'). But there was something so cheerily daft about Krod Mandoon And The Flaming Sword Of Fire that my sides were split.

It helped that the likes of Lord Of The Rings, Doctor Who and swords 'n' sandals epics such as 300 are ripe for a cheeky rip-off. If you take those kinds of capers deadly seriously then you'd best give Krod a wide berth. But if you enjoy fantasy adventure but wish they weren't so stuck up their own allegories then Krod, complete with its festival of umlauts, is right up your alley.

Buffed-up ex-EastEnder urchin Sean Maguire has carved out a surprising niche as a leather loinclothed spoof action hero - hey, it's a niche - and Krod is a blood brother to the muscle-bound hunk he played in Meet The Spartans. But this time with a much better script. Muscles popping out of his jerkin, Maguire's Krod is a new man in rebel hero's clothing, fretting about hostile work environments and political correctness when he should be sticking it to the bad guy. He makes a fine foil to deliciously evil Lucas, who has a big, bouncy ball as the evil Dongalor.

Subtle it isn't but Kröd works because, though this is satire drawn with a broad brush, there's still a strong story and juicy characters to sink your teeth into. Peppered with neat cameos (The Thick Of It fans will relish Roger Allam and Alex MacQueen taking turns at stealing scenes) and awash with saucy sorcery, it's the best rubbish comedy to come along in dark ages.

I don't know what to make of Krod Mandoon - but it doesn't matter, because Sean Maguire looks absolutely amazing. I haven't been keeping a close eye on his career lately and I realise now that this was a mistake.

After EastEnders he went off to become a pop star and mope about in Dangerfield before becoming massive - in every sense - enjoying a successful TV career in the States and bulking up for movie spoof Meet The Spartans. All I can say is - wow! - in a professional sense, of course.

Krod Mandoon - also starring Matt Lucas as evil Chancellor Dongalor - is a medieval spoof. A bit Robin Hood, a bit Blackadder, a bit Shrek, a bit Monty Python And The Holy Grail - although sadly with much, much weaker jokes. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as it was written by Peter Knight, whose CV includes something called Big Wolf On Campus. What is a surprise though is that the best thing about it is Maguire, who stars as the extremely buff, sword-carrying freedom fighter Krod Mandoon.

Just to underline the cheesiness of it all, he plays it with a flawless American accent, and his girlfriend, pagan warrior Aneka (India de Beaufort) will definitely get the guy vote too. You'll love it or hate it, but you'll be driven mad trying to work out who's under the pageboy bob of Chancellor Dongalor's henchman. Take a bow Holby City's snide (and bald) anaesthetist Keith Greene (Alex MacQueen).