Anton Chekhov

A successful season of short farces by Anton Chekhov draws to a close with a double bill. The Dangers of Tobacco is a monologue in which the hen-pecked Nyukhin (Steve Coogan) is forced to deliver a lecture on the dangers of smoking by his domineering wife. Instead, Nyukhin digresses to bemoan his lot and complain about his "petty, evil miser" of a wife. Better is The Proposal, a witty take on marriage. It finds wimpy hypochondriac Lomov (Mathew Horne) seeking the hand of his neighbour Natasha (Sheridan Smith) from her father (Philip Jackson), until it all disintegrates into a bout of one-upmanship.

Simon Horsford, The Telegraph, 26th November 2010

Another Sky Arts project that will have them scuffing their Hush Puppies with envy over at BBC4: a series of Anton Chekhov's one-act comic plays, revived to celebrate his 150th birthday and featuring some of Britain's best comedy actors.

Tonight it's A Reluctant Tragic Hero, starring Johnny Vegas in overdrive as the put-upon Tolkachov, a man given so many errands to run by his wife and friends that he's come to borrow a gun from his friend Murashkin (Mackenzie Crook).

Nothing gets in the way of Vegas's boiling monologues: with a one-room set, painted backdrop, bright lighting, straightforward translation and no music, it's like a 1970s production and all the better for it.

Jack Seale, Radio Times, 14th November 2010