Charles Dance

Given the success of Sky1's Little Crackers and the broadcaster's reputation for giving its talent a free creative hand, this new series of short comedies comes as no surprise. Both Floyd and Patricia demonstrate the pros and cons of this approach, as good ideas are allowed to drift without a firm editorial hand.

Floyd (Charles Dance) is a retired tour manager living with his son's family and stuck in a weed-induced loop of nostalgia and misplaced rebellion. Dance has a ball in an unfamiliar guise and there are a few chuckles, but also an over-reliance on the classic rock soundtrack to segue between scenes that seldom last longer than 30 seconds.

Later, Jessica Hynes casts herself in a spectacularly unflattering get-up in Patricia, the story of a local Tory councillor with fingers in pies, head in clouds and feet in mouth. When a snafu envelops a new housing project, a traffic accident and her uppity new press officer, she's singularly ill-equipped to cope. Again, the laughs are gentle but the series potential is such that we may yet see Floyd and Patricia again.

Radio Times review

Sky's Little Crackers are something to look forward to each Christmas, and this series of shorts, all supposedly set in the same part of south London, has a similar feel. First, Charles Dance plays Floyd, an ageing rocker living with his uptight daughter. From a promising beginning - Floyd describing the death of Mama Cass to a class of primary school-children - it descends into cliché. Much better is Jessica Hynes's offbeat tale of quirky Tory councillor Patricia David. With a shock of wild, blonde hair, Hynes is virtually unrecognisable - though you may detect a touch of Boris Johnson about her portrayal.

A new series of comedy shorts launches tonight, written by (and starring) notable types such as Johnny Vegas, Katy Brand and Rufus Jones. In Floyd, the first part of a double bill, Charles Dance plays an ageing roadie; he's followed by Jessica Hynes as a befuddled Tory councillor in Patricia. Both central performances are superb, but the 10-minute format is tricky with so much exposition and character to pack in. They work as thumbnail portraits, but feel as though they don't go anywhere.

A new series of comedy shorts - all set in the same location - opens with the entertaining Floyd, which stars Charles Dance as a retired rock band manager now living in suburbia with his uptight daughter (Amelia Bullmore) and son-in-law (Hugo Speer). Written by Mark Warren and Fraser Steele (Never Mind the Buzzcocks), it captures the rebelliousness of the ageing rocker and Dance is wonderfully grizzled in the role. Less successful is Jessica Hynes's Patricia, in which she stars as an issue-averse local councillor. After causing an accident on her way to work, Patricia is greeted by a demonstration against her plans to build luxury flats in place of a nursery school.

Charles Dance interview

Charles Dance kicks off Sky Atlantic's new series of short plays.

Charles Dance interview

Charles Dance talks about his role in Common Ground.

Sky comedy is hitting its stride, but this vehicle for Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo's bickering Jewish matriarchs feels like a sideways step. The comic chat-show is fast resembling a dead-end format, it's a schlep at an hour and the so-so line-up for this opener doesn't help. That said, there are a few belly laughs, and kudos to the hosts for making an old pro like Frank Skinner look truly uncomfortable at the sex-obsessed, scatalogical line of questioning. Dirty old cove Charles Dance, meanwhile, positively revels in the prurience, and Alfie Boe looks shellshocked when he isn't hooting with bewilderment. The ad libs are delivered with more conviction than the scripted stuff (and enough with the 'outrageous' Holocaust gags), but there's certainly something to work with here; the prospect of Will Arnett next week is delicious.

Jewish Brooklyn housewives Ronna and Beverley (comic actors Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo) bring their relentless maternal banter to UK shores. Something about that "Excuuuuse me. Terrific. Thenk you" accent makes almost every joke land, no matter how daft. Beverley shoulder-dances nervously throughout while kvetching about her labia. Ronna cuts through celebrity egos with her verbal exocets. They're terrifying and great fun once you get used to the kinetic speech patterns. Frank Skinner, Charles Dance and Alfie Boe are their first victims.

You can tell Ronna and Beverly's new chat show has been honed by their stage act, so easily do they spark off each other. Ronna and Bev are thirtysomething writer/actors Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo, who play two bickering fiftysomething Jewish mothers who give relationship advice based on their book, You'll Do a Little Better Next Time. Described as Dr Ruth meets Mrs Merton with, perhaps, a touch of Ab Fab, they grill their guests about the more personal sides of their lives. In the chair tonight, undergoing Ronna and Beverley's often inappropriate "cross-examination", are Frank Skinner, Charles Dance and Alfie Boe.

PG Wodehouse's rollicking Summer Lightning arrived with a cast to die for, including Matt Lucas' turn as a portentous PI and Charles Dance as a wayward aristo, mouth stuffed as full of cake as his lordship's prize-winning pigs.