Alison Graham

Radio Times review

A wildly successful pilot last Christmas has inevitably resulted in a series of the refreshed, fuzzily nostalgic version of Ronnie Barker's beloved sitcom. Not that much has changed in that Yorkshire corner shop since 1976.

Yes, hapless nephew Granville (David Jason) is now in charge, but the jokes are still pretty much the same as they ever were, with gags about women's boobs ("How well you are... both looking"), which everyone finds inherently hilarious, pratfalls, men being caught in their underpants and nudge-nudge lines such as "I think I may have dislocated my valuables." Which is doubtless why audiences love it.

In the opening episode it's Valentine's Day and Granville has problems with a new money belt.

Radio Times review

There are certain RT people who have very fond memories of Norman Hunter's Professor Branestawm books from our primary school days and even after all these years we're a bit protective. But I think we're in safe hands, judging by the few clips that were available for preview. Harry Hill, a long-time master of eye-popping anarchy, actually looks the part of Hunter's bonkers, absent-minded inventor, a good-hearted buffoon who never does anything right.

Branestawm is the bane of his pretty village, Pagwell, where a buttoned-up, officious windbag of a councillor, Harold Haggerstone (David Mitchell), decides he's a menace to health and safety and wants his explosion-prone "workshop" closed down.

But of course this pettifogging bureaucrat has an ulterior motive: he wants to pave the way for evil businessman Mr Bullimore (Ben Miller) to open a munitions factory. It's deliciously old-fashioned, and could well be a lot of fun.

Radio Times review

Slacker Lee, in pyjama bottoms, slumped in front of the telly, eating cereal straight from the box, is at the eye of a big festive occasion. But his pint-sized Death Star, his dad Frank (the peerless Bobby Ball) looms large. Or, rather, small.

Inevitably, this means the pair of them get drunk, and their night on the tiles is encapsulated in a brilliant montage of increasing degradation. It's a classic Not Going Out sequence in an episode that's surprisingly poignant. Maybe it's something to do with the time of year.

There are loads of great gags from Lee Mack, the human joke-rocket-launcher, while the stately Geoffrey Whitehead, as Lucy's fridge-freezer father, steals every scene. And watch out for some special guests...

Radio Times review

Steven Toast is in turmoil - the greatest love of his life, Lorna Wynde, is appearing in The Graduate on the London stage. Toast has never recovered from their break-up, after which he had an unfortunate accident in Oddbins.

The best bits of the final, typically uneven episode are the masterly pastiches of dreadful 1980s American soaps. Toast (Matt Berry) and Wynde (Morgana Robinson) starred together in one such atrocity, but it put an end to her TV career as she went cross-eyed in close-ups.

Steve Pemberton, soon to be seen in Mapp and Lucia on BBC One, plays a very effete Francis Bacon and Josh Homme, lead singer of rock band Queens of the Stone Age, guests as Lorna's jealous husband.

Radio Times review

Tim Vine's absence is keenly felt in Not Going Out, but Hugh Dennis's addition to the cast is a shrewd move - he fills a similar comedy foil/sounding board role for those pub chats. But he has a delicious wryness, too, which softens the blokey stuff that goes on elsewhere.

Tonight he's called on, by a very tortuous route, to help Lee torpedo a surprise anniversary party that Lucy is hosting for her parents. Her terrifyingly imperious dad (the magnificent Geoffrey Whitehead, who surely should be knighted for services to both television and radio comedy) hates surprises, while her mum just wants some fun. There's an idiotic phone call involving a fake Italian accent and lots of ludicrous crosstalk.

Radio Times review

Actor Steven Toast is buried alive on a film set (it's a long story) and flashes back to his wedding day on a Thai beach. His speech to the guests and his bored bride (played by Amanda Donohoe) is a litany of the actors who've wronged him, though he puts this in more choice language: "Colin Firth... Hugh Bonneville... Trevor Eve... Martin Shaw."

In an underpowered, thinly written episode with a sprinkling of good moments, Toast (Matt Berry) is offered a job in a Hollywood movie on the strict understanding he doesn't look at or eat or drink within two miles of its megastar lead actor, Max Gland. And we get a disturbing glimpse into the home life of Toast's agent, Jane Plough (pronounced "Pluff").

Radio Times review

Lee's decrepit dad Frank (Bobby Ball) is dossing in Lucy's pristine flat (how can she afford such a wonderful place in London? What does she do for a living?) and he's drinking too much.

Not Going Out totters into potentially difficult territory as Lucy, Daisy and a highly reluctant Lee (Lee Mack) decide to stage an intervention after Frank wees on the yucca plant, to tell him of their fears he's turned into an alcoholic. There's a lot of comic unde'cutting of some difficult situations, including a group session at a rehab centre that becomes very uncomfortable.

But this is Not Going Out and not a Russell Brand treatise, so we expect tastelessness, even if in this case it feels just a bit off-key.

Radio Times review

Steven Toast is in awe of his old friend Axel Jacklin (played by the excellent Terry Mynott as a constipated-sounding James Mason), Britain's finest exponent of acting in high winds.

But if something were ever to happen to Axel, then Toast could step into his shoes, as he's Britain's second finest exponent of acting in high winds. Of course, Axel dies, hurled across the studio to his doom in a windy re-creation of Master and Commander.

There's a great set piece as Toast (Matt Berry) and his nemesis Ray Purchase (Harry Peacock) both audition to be the deceased Axel's replacement, in front of a nuclear-strength wind machine. It's an old-fashioned bit of comic idiocy, the kind of daftness Toast does so well.

Radio Times review

Certain glossy magazines just can't stop speculating about Jennifer Aniston's love life. Oh, poor Jen, they wonder, will she ever find happiness after Brad Pitt? Is she still engaged to Justin Theroux? When are they going to marry? Is he scared of commitment? Is this really anyone's business?

So how far will Graham Norton go tonight when Aniston perches on the sofa with Jason Bateman to discuss their new film, Horrible Bosses 2? The frenzy that constantly surrounds Aniston's romantic life has always fogged the fact that she's an estimable light comic actress. Sadly, she's made some rubbish films since Friends ended, and judging by its trailer, Horrible Bosses 2 won't be a twinkling diamond on her CV.

Making a return visit is the mighty Dame Judi Dench, who'll be talking about her book, Behind the Scenes, and Olly Murs will sing his new single.

Radio Times review

Step onto the Citizen Khan shuttle and travel right back in time, stopping in the early 1970s when you could make a joke about "a dicky bow" on a TV sitcom and audiences would die laughing.

But Citizen Khan scoffs in the faces of chronology and fashion and yes, there it is, a joke about a dicky bow, as in "maybe I'll get my dicky bow out". "Steady on!" wails Mr Khan (Adil Ray) and we are back in the age of innocence. Do people even refer to "dicky bows" any more?

Never mind, Citizen Khan's world is a lost paradise of pratfalls and silly misunderstandings. Tonight he's involved in a daft scam involving cut-price nappies and he faces his formidable sister in law, Aunty Noor (Nina Wadia).