Ben Lawrence

That Puppet Game Show, BBC One review

All the things that made The Muppet Show so great have been half-heartedly copied in a cheapskate fashion and paraded like a bad tribute act. That Puppet Game Show's awfulness is epitomised by the presenter, a bland, chinless wonder called Dougie Colon (pronounced "Cologne" and voiced by Vernon Kay). Somewhere, a little green frog is burying his head in despair.

Since 2005, darkly comic series The Pickerskill Reports has been an important part of Radio 4's schedule. Set just after the Second World War at Haunchurst College, an English public school, it follows the reminiscences of retired English teacher Dr Pickerskill (played by Ian McDiarmid). On Monday 27 May, the series comes to an end with Haunchurst facing the threat of a takeover by cult leader and former pupil Faye Hornette (played by Elaine Cassidy). Daily Telegraph radio critic Gillian Reynolds has praised the series, saying: "The Pickerskill Reports invites you into a very interesting, tightly controlled world. It's very subversive and anarchic but you never feel uncomfortable."

Paul Abbott interview

As Channel 4's Shameless starts its final series, creator Paul Abbott talks to Ben Lawrence about his own family history, his bipolar disorder and writing something that 'smelled like it smelled on the inside'.

Brian Cox, interview for Bob Servant

BBC Four's new comedy Bob Servant Independent sees Scots actor Brian Cox return to his roots, says Ben Lawrence.

The return of Yes, Prime Minister

As Yes, Prime Minister returns to our TV screens, Ben Lawrence talks to writer Jonathan Lynn about whether the Eighties classic can appeal to a modern audience.

Blandings: episode one review

The lively chat could not save what was ultimately an arch and rather empty effort. Never were you drawn into the world of Blandings and never did you get a sense of the precise and comic world which Wodehouse created.

Victoria Wood interview: 'It's a very English story'

Celebrated comedian Victora Wood talks to Ben Lawrence about BBC One's forthcoming Loving Miss Hatto, in which she has dramatised a true tale of musical deception and enduring love.

Last Tango in Halifax (BBC One) was very simply plotted, although, in contrast to a drama like The Town, writer Sally Wainwright's dialogue tended towards the emotionally incontinent.

"Why can't you accept that I want to be with Kate, that I am old enough to make my own decisions, and to accept it and be civilised about it?" wailed Sarah Lancashire's lesbian headmistress Caroline as she tried to drag her mother Celia (Anne Reid) into the 21st century.

A few scenes later and Celia had had a change of heart, declaring that she had "played hardball long enough" (perhaps the only 75 year-old in Britain to have ever used that term) and was ready to accept her daughter "for who she was" having been "on the road to Damascus".

Last Tango in Halifax was sometimes silly and two episodes too long. But it was that difficult beast, a comedy drama, and for all its faults could sometimes be both funny (any scene involving Tony Gardner as John, Caroline's feckless, needy ex-husband) and dramatic (any scene involving Derek Jacobi's Alan).

Pensioner Alan's late-blossoming courtship of Celia, his first love, was touching and the power came from Jacobi's understated performance. This theatrical knight has played many fascinating, complex men (Richard II, Francis Bacon, Alan Turing) but I have never seen him play ordinary. Often, great actors fail when they try to be the everyman; thwarted by their own heavyweight presence. But Jacobi as Alan achieved much by doing very little. Just by sitting in front of the Aga and sipping his tea thoughtfully, he vividly portrayed a kind, unremarkable man who had looked at life from atop his West Yorkshire farmhouse, and after three quarters of a century, had worked out its deepest mysteries. Amid the drama's silly theatrics of cheating spouses, concupiscent toyboys and alcoholic screw-ups, Jacobi added some much-needed depth.

The series has been a ratings success and will return next year when the grand and sometimes unlikeable Celia will prepare to walk down the aisle to The Entrance of the Queen of Sheba. Let's hope no pesky TV producer introduces an unfathomable story arc that will prevent her from getting her wish.

Preview: Five Go to Rehab

Robbie Coltrane, a Comic Strip regular who appears in Five Go to Rehab in none-too-convincing drag, once described the series as "halfway between a Carry On film and Joe Orton". In its mixture of fantasy, outrageousness, black farce and parody, there's been nothing like it before or since.

Best Possible Taste: the Kenny Everett Story, review

Ben Lawrence finds warmth and humour in Best Possible Taste: the Kenny Everett Story, a biopic on the DJ.