Arthur Mathews

The Oral History of Alan Partridge

Alan Partridge is Middle England incarnate. From hapless sports presenter, to hapless TV presenter, to hapless podcaster, Norwich's favourite son is as maddening as he is endearing. He's also managed to do what very few characters in the comedy world successfully manage to do: endure.

Armstrong & Miller 'stand in solidarity' with Rowling

Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller, previously a comedy double-act, were among more than 50 public figures and anti-trans campaigners who signed the letter published in The Sunday Times, which condemns the "insidious, authoritarian and misogynistic" opposition to JK Rowling on social media. Other people in the world of comedy who signed the letter include Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews, Griff Rhys Jones, Craig Brown, Francis Wheen, Jimmy Mulville, Frances Barber and James Dreyfus.

Actor Matt Berry's voice-overs for odd bits of ancient news footage are becoming a long-running comedy mainstay, too. The problem is, as proved by his new 15-minute series Squeamish About... (BBC2), the joke is running out of steam.

When he first tried the idea, in 2015, with a couple of shorts about the Boat Race and Father's Day, it was a surreal delight. Berry's knack for mangling words and unravelling vowels was matched to blissfully silly scripts by Bob Mortimer.

But in order to work, the gag has to be constantly hilarious. And despite the best efforts of writer Arthur Mathews (co-creator of Father Ted), it's not possible to maintain side-splitters for a full quarter of an hour.

There were some good lines though. Gracie Fields, enjoying a knees-up, was described as 'the famous drag act from Rochdale -- you have to say that's a pretty convincing woman'' Well, quite.

Squeamish About... preview

In one of the few TV programmes that can be made in isolation, Matt Berry provides his peculiarly stressed voiceover to a patchwork of unrelated archive clips.

Review - Squeamish About...Entertainment

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Berry and Mathews have invented a whole new genre of comedy, but these shows do have a strong, unusual flavour.

Squeamish About... review

Using archive footage, the actor takes us on a whistle-stop tour through Britain's past - think Vic Reeves meets Philomena Cunk, in ye olden days.

Squeamish About..., episode 1

A 15-minute comedy that felt about 10 minutes too long.

Squeamish's top 10 entertainment shows from the past

Matt Berry returns to BBC Two tomorrow as rogue historian Michael Squeamish, about with four more surreal mockumentaries, starting with the history of British entertainment. By way of preview, the show's co-writer Arthur Mathews, below, offers this run-down of ten great entertainment shows from the past, done - of course - with the rigorous adherence to accuracy that the show is known for...

Faber acquires spoof Cummings diary by Arthur Mathews

Faber and Faber is to publish The Cummings Files: Confidential-Thoughts, Ideas, Actions by Dominic Cummings, written by Arthur Mathews.

Great episodes: Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse

This year marks twenty-five years of Father Ted, so what better way to commemorate this milestone than to take a look back at arguably the most iconic episode of the series? It's time for another 'Undeniably Great Episode of British Comedy' and this time we're looking at the episode - Kicking Bishop Brennan Up the Arse!