Arabella Weir

Two Doors Down reunites us with Eric and Beth (Alex Norton and Arabella Weir) a middle-aged Glaswegian couple who are part of a close-knit neighbourhood. From the opening instalment I got the impression that each episode of the series will be based around one crisis or another that the neighbours have with the rest of the street getting involved in the process. This time it was Eric's late night hunt for oven chips that led to Beth's freezer being left open overnight and completely ruining all the food that was in it. This prompts Beth to invite friends and family around to sample a buffet that includes everything from vegetable pakoras to apple pie. Drafted into help in the kitchen is Cathy (Doon Mackichan), Beth's neighbour who can't help but pass comment on how big her freezer is in comparison to her friend's and how it pains to even help put stuff in the oven. The other story running throughout this first episode is that of Eric and Beth's son Ian (Jamie Quinn) who is about to move in with his boyfriend Jaz (Harki Bhambra) but isn't keen to tell his parents just yet. Whilst Two Doors Down wasn't laugh-out-loud funny what I enjoyed about the show was the way in which you identified with at least one of the characters. I feel most people know an Eric or a Beth or a Cathy and therefore it's not a hard task to imagine these people living on your street. The central gag of the freezer breaking down is an equally realistic conceit and the scene in which Beth and Cathy were trying to work out what went in the oven and what temperature was very funny indeed. I feel that the sitcom's creator Simon Carlyle has a very good ear for everyday dialogue and that's true of both Two Doors Down and his work on Boy Meets Girl. The cast are equally on form with Norton, Weir and Mackichan the highlights of a strong ensemble who were all trying their best to make the show work. My only criticism of Two Doors Down at this early stage is that the supporting characters don't feel as well-realised as the main cast which is true of Ian and Jaz as well as Sharon Rooney's Sophie who doesn't get to do much at all. Overall I would say that Two Doors Down is a promising and likeable sitcom that contains believable characters and situations which is something I couldn't say a lot of other contemporary comedies.

Two Doors Down returns for a full series following its one-off 2014 special, rejoining the residents of Latimer Crescent in Glasgow. Eric (Alex Norton) comes home drunk from the pub, leaving the freezer door ajar after bingeing on oven chips. To avoid having to throw away the food, furious Beth (Arabella Weir, her Scottish accent still a work in progress, it would seem) decides to invite the neighbours round to help polish it off. It's a mundane set-up, not helped by a woeful lack of laughs.

It was one of the most successful sketch shows of its time and spawned a host of catchphrases (and a taste for cheesy peas). Seeing the Fast Show back tonight, as part of BBC2's 50th anniversary celebrations, is a bit like stepping back into a much loved pair of comfortable old slippers you've found at the back of the wardrobe.

Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse are still as loveable as upper crust Ralph and the subject of his devotion, loyal estate worker Ted, although times have moved on and the topic of stilted conversation is now Lady Gaga, Twitter and Facebook.

Caroline Aherne will always be inexplicably funny as the "Scorchio" forecasts weather girl and it's great to see Swiss Toni back on fine (and even ruder) form telling a young protege how riding a bike, "is like making love to a beautiful woman".

It's a lovely treat to have the team back. And no, Arabella Weir, your bum doesn't look big in that!

So was there a political edge to scheduling the rambunctious, booze-soaked Two Doors Down on the national network during New Year's Eve primetime? Viewers in the rest of the UK might have their suspicions or preconceptions about what happens at a traditional Scottish Hogmanay house party - underage drinking, sexual promiscuity, almost aggressive sentimentality, the single-minded pursuit of steak pie - and this one-off comedy reinforced and celebrated the best and worst of them.

With a conspiracy bunnet on, you could point to Alex Norton and Arabella Weir's harried hosts being called "the Bairds" and infer that this was intended as a tongue-in-cheek reflection of modern Scotland, bared for all to see. The guest list included middle-class neighbours obsessed with designer labels, a young returning soldier and a Scandinavian couple who looked a lot more attractive than everyone else, but were also a lot duller. In truth, any search for political subtext was overshadowed by the combination of Royle Family-style domestic comedy and rapidly escalating farce. Weir's brilliantly sustained accent, one of the best Kirsty Wark impressions I've ever heard, was just the maraschino cherry on top.

The younger generation of Scottish acting talent was well represented by My Mad Fat Diary's Sharon Rooney and Greg McHugh, the hardest-working man in sitcom-land. It was also good to see Jonathan Watson smoothly integrate himself into an ensemble, even if his malt-obsessed golf club bore veered into caricature. The showiest role, though, went to Daniela Nardini as the predatory Aunt Caroline back up from "that London". A blowsy vision in LBD and heels, Caroline's single-minded pursuit of hunky Thor-alike Henning culminated in a memorable gazebo disaster. For fans of This Life, Caroline felt like an alternate-universe version of Anna after almost two decades of questionable life choices.

Two Doors Down (BBC One) brings New Year to Scotland. Hogmanay then. The Bairds, Eric and Beth, are having a few people over: son Ian, Ian's partner Tony, not-gay darling soldier son Angus (though he hasn't arrived yet), Beth's man-eating sister Caroline. Plus a few people from the neighbourhood - a dull aspirational (snobby) couple, a pair of Norwegians, a few teenagers.

There's something of the feel of a Radio 4 play transferred to television about it. And at times it follows a path too obvious. So gay Tony asks for pear cider, which obviously Eric doesn't have. And the Norwegian woman is earnest and worthy and has a moan to Beth that she's not doing her recycling right. And all the Scots drink a lot and don't really know anything about Norway, like where it is or how it's different from Sweden.

But there are some cracking performances - from Arabella Weir, Alex Norton, Daniela Nardini (Caroline, of course) and more. And some lovely observations. Anyone with a family, or neighbours, will recognise just about everyone here. I especially like Colin (Jonathan Watson), the tedious know-it-all who knows it all about cars and malt whisky and everything else as well as the best way to get from A to B on the A this or the B that or whatever. There's a Colin in everyone's lives, and most people's Christmases or New Years, no?

As the evening goes on, and the booze goes down, guards fall away, old prejudices and secrets, truths and bitternesses start to creep out. Tomorrow's steak pie is eaten today, and the gazebo is trashed. By the time the bells go, and Angus eventually shows up, it's a glorious hell. At least as ghastly as it was 500 years ago. Happy new year.

Staying in on New Year's Eve when you'd rather be out? Comfort comes in the form of Simon Carlyle's one-off comedy, which demonstrates that Hogmanay parties aren't all prawn rings, soft light and witty banter. Alex Norton and Arabella Weir star as hosts Eric and Beth, who are hoping that their son Angus, serving in Iraq, will be home in time for a slice of Beth's legendary steak pie.

Their guests are friends and neighbours who wouldn't be an obvious social fit: Beth's sister Caroline (Daniela Nardini) is unpredictable, and teenager Sophie (Sharon Rooney) has been left at home by her parents. There's also a pair each of snobs and Norwegians, ill-suited in their own ways to traditional Scottish revelry. Will they all make it through to the bells?

Arabella Weir: I dread the countdown to midnight

The star of BBC's Two Doors Down wonders why so much fuss is made about New Year's Eve.

All hail The Female Inbetweeners. There's lots to like here: sharp one-liners, the right level of smut and warm female friendships, centred on getting drunk and mocking each other. Episode one sets it up: chief drifter Meg (Jessica Knappett) returns from India and plans to live at home with her parents (Bob Mortimer and Arabella Weir) until she gets "a cool, arty, media-y job". In the second episode, the girls gatecrash a wake and rename the walk of shame the "stride of pride". Lovely and funny.

Hitching a ride on the coat-tails of the seventh series of The Big Bang Theory, this new British sitcom might not have a snowball's chance in hell of matching that for clever gags.

But give it a chance. It's written by and stars Jessica Knappett as Meg alongside Lydia Rose Bewley and Lauren O'Rourke, who were all in The Inbetweeners Movie.

But as these girls are in their mid-20s, it's closer in age (if not in cleverness) to Lena Dunham's Girls than a female Inbetweeners, mining that period after university when your dream career fails to drop into your lap and you end up drifting between dead-end jobs and even more dead-end relationships.

Arabella Weir and Bob Mortimer play Meg's parents.

Best bit of the second episode of tonight's double bill shows why you should never order oysters on a first date. Set in Leeds, its crassness is part of its charm.

Richard Wilson, actor, director and possibly the nation's favourite fictional grouse, got so fed up with being greeted with his One Foot in the Grave TV catchline "I don't believe it!" that he's now been persuaded to launch his "radiography". It's a heady mix of the actual with the fictional, written by Jon Canter, starring Wilson and a starry roster of support which includes John Sessions, David Tennant and Arabella Weir. Unpick the facts (Wilson is unmarried, private, passionate about theatre, politics and Manchester United) from the mischievous fantasies.