Bill Dare

Brian Gulliver's Travels is a new comedy, written by Bill Dare, produced by Steven Canny and starring Neil Pearson. He plays a maker of travel programmes, in hospital, claiming to have had strange encounters in an unknown continent. He's been away six years. His estranged daughter Rachel (Mariah Gale) visits him, hears his story, the first of (you've guessed it) six adventures. He was flying over the Amazon when his plane crashed, he landed in water (to his surprise, it was warm) and was picked up by a ship.

This ship was crewed by friendly people without any hair, speaking English. He is taken to the ship's doctor, given a welcome pill, a scan. Soon he discovers he is meeting people who live in a Medocracy. Not only do doctors rule, their deity is medical too. In this country, Gelbetia, people are not unfit. They have symptoms which are treated. The captain of the ship suffers from Incompetence Syndrome. Laziness is Effort Deficit Syndrome. Diet is prescribed, exercise is compulsory. Naturally there is a rebel movement. They raid gyms, destroy the running machines, burn leotards, throw the lentil smoothies down the drain, eat chocolate gateau. Brian takes up with them. When they're caught and jailed the worst punishment is six months' hard yoga. At the very end, Rachel is given reason to believe that Brian may not, after all, just be fabricating again. She says she'll be back for next week's adventure, in Harbentha. So will I. A nimbler reflection on achieving a national state of health is hard to imagine.

Following Ed Reardon into this programme slot is a big challenge. But Brian Gulliver (played by Neil Pearson) is another marvellous character. The creation of Bill Dare, Brian is a man who finds himself in hospital, telling his daughter about the strange adventures that have landed him there. He's been to a land, Gelbetia, where no one has "bad" behaviour because everything can be diagnosed as a symptom or syndrome by the ruling medical industry. It's allusive, relevant, full of surprises, satirical in the true spirit of Swift. And very funny.

Comedian Ava Vidal looks at how devolution has changed the way we laugh at our politicians. Now that power has moved from Westminster to Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, she explores whether comedy has followed it and whether politicians are viewed in any way differently in each place. And as Westminster adapts to a new government, is the content of political comedy there due for a change too? Is there such a thing as national political satire anymore? Including contributions from political comedian Jeremy Hardy, producer Bill Dare and comedy club manager Tommy Sheppard.

You'll recognise the name of Bill Dare as creator/producer of such programmes as Dead Ringers, The Now Show and I've Never Seen Star Wars. Here's a new series of a more recent invention, intertwining fantasy with the familiar. Lionel Blair, for instance, is mistaken for Tony Blair and has to go to the Middle East to get the leaders "dancing to the same tune", Al Pacino stalks John Humphrys. William Hague talks to the Ambassador of Kyrkistan having been mistakenly briefed on Uzbekistan. Jon Culshaw and Lewis MacLeod are among the skilled vocal parodists.

Bill Dare wins with I've Never Seen Star Wars

Marcus Brigstocke's new show was proof of the richness of the English language, particularly in euphemism.

For the past few weeks Radio 4 has been running a series of late Monday night one-off comedy shows in pursuit of a series. "Patchy" would be the best way to describe them - until this week, when The Secret World came along to show that not only can an old dog learn new tricks, some of them are better.

It reunites the Dead Ringers pair of Bill Dare (producer, writer) and Jon Culshaw, man of a thousand voices, some of which were getting a bit tired. Now Culshaw and a team of impressionists sure to become more famous than they are at the moment have come up with some new ones. Cunningly, some of them are of people whose real voices are unfamiliar.

Mike Leigh is famous, but not for his voice, so we have to take it on trust that it's him running a thriving business providing Method actors as cheap labour while they research parts. And as for Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waking up in bed together after a crazy UN party, all we got was generic Middle Eastern accents.

This meant that the writers had to come up with things that were funny in their own right and, let's face it, the leaders of Israel and Iran in a gay love tryst was not that much of a thigh-slapper. But Peaches Geldof being shocked to discover that her father was involved in that gathering of "dad bands", Live Aid, was. As was Jools Holland trying to escape from a Misery-style stalker. And Amy Winehouse auditioning for the role of Maria in The Sound of Music.