Chris Langham

There's an element of chutzpah in Black Pond, the opening scenes of which feature disgraced actor Chris Langham reflecting on a scandal that has resulted in his character being splashed across the tabloids. Cutting close to the bone, it's the sort of thing that could easily have backfired had the ensuing film not been such an accomplished, well-observed and refreshingly oddball work. Put that down to the performances and to first-time directors Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe, whose ability to mix the comedy of extreme discomfort with astute insights into contemporary middle-class mores takes the film in surprising directions. That's important, because the film reveals at the outset the nature of the scandal that has tainted the brilliantly named Tom Thomson (Langham) and his family. What follows is a sort of mock-doc reconstruction of the events preceding it, with after-the-fact reflections and surreal dream sequences deepening our understanding of the characters in strange and poignant ways. A very promising debut.

Chortle review

Whatever Black Pond's minor flaws, Kingsley and Sharpe have certainly created an impressive calling card, sure to bring them more work in the future. Whether the same can be said of Chris Langham, despite his impressive performance, will remain in the hands of others.

Chris Langham: 'Everyone wants to see me working again'

The Thick of It star Chris Langham hasn't worked since he was arrested on child pornography charges in 2005. Now he's back with a terrific performance in a new low-budget British film, and he says he just wants to get past the lies that have been told about him and do more acting.

It is only a minority of fans of popular Sheffield-based beat combo Pulp who believe that their late period, commercial flop album This Is Hardcore is actually their best work. They may be a minority, but they are correct.

There's probably a similarly sized minority who believe that Paul Whitehouse has done his best work since his biggest hit, The Fast Show. He was brilliant as the voiceover artist in Happiness, and Help was excellent until it fell victim to Chris Langham. He then worked on Radio 4's award-winning Down The Line with Charlie Higson, which saw hapless DJ Gary Bellamy deal with idiotic phone-in callers. It was so popular that it was bound to end up on TV. And here we are.

Given that the idiotic phone-in was their main target for satire, the transfer works surprisingly well. They've shifted aim from Radio Five (Live) to regional news and The One Show.

There's plenty to enjoy. In the improvised scenes, Rhys Thomas (Gary) retains a nice sense of glazed wonderment as he's confronted by characters. Yes, they're all a bit Little Britain - a big fat man, a crusty old pair of sisters and a market entrepreneur speaking deep patois. But some of them do have an edge - Mr Khan the community leader, who no one knows, in particular. And no one blacks up.

It's solid comedy. Not special, but comfortingly good. Comedy that you can sit on. And it's miles better than The Fast Show.

Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson have reunited for a new comedy about life in modern Britain - and this is one TV comeback I'm delighted to see.

Self-regarding Gary Bellamy (Star Stories' Rhys Thomas) is an award-winning journalist with an award-winning radio show. Now he's been released from his cosy studio and given a TV series in which he'll travel across the country to meet his listeners and find out what makes them tick.

Although headed by stalwarts of The Fast Show, the humour is more in the vein of People Like Us, that genius series featuring the now disgraced Chris Langham. It spoofs genuine "celebrity meets the public" shows brilliantly, using ridiculous links such as: "Cirencester in Gloucestershire couldn't be more different from Harlesden".

The characters Gary meets are wonderfully eccentric, with some lovely performances by the likes of Simon Day, Lucy Montgomery and Felix Dexter. And, of course Charlie and Paul - although I can't help but watch Paul's performances and be reminded of his recent spate of insurance ads.

Characters range from a 23-stone man who lives in his bed to a deluded community leader who can't quite tell Gary what a community leader does. There's the screechy Trisha Webb, who runs Gary's 'Bellamy's Babes' fan club, and lovely old boy Humphrey Milner, a self-confessed silver surfer. But my favourites are a pair of posh old biddies, who made me laugh so suddenly and hard I almost snorted tea out of my nose.

Comic release: Is it time to forgive Chris Langham?

Like everyone else, James Hanning was shocked when the star of television's The Thick of It was convicted of downloading images of child abuse. Despite the actor's protestations of innocence, Hanning, like many, thought that where there was smoke there must be fire. But the more he researched the story, the less certain he became: was Langham a 'paedophile'? Or had he been found guilty by the tabloid media and consigned to oblivion for a moment of madness?

Funniest film of 2009? This hilariously biting political satire has already got my vote. Think Yes, Minister with more swearing. A lot more swearing. OK, ballistic levels of swearing. Swearing so sublime and breathtakingly vicious, it makes you wince with pleasure.

As discerning comedy fans will already know, this is the movie adaptation of The Thick Of It, Armando Iannucci's massively acclaimed TV sitcom, which means that by the rules of such transitions, it should be pants.

Yet there are no compromises to be found here, certainly not in the teeth department. With original star Chris Langham unavailable due to his conviction for downloading child porn - a chain of events beyond even the show's scurrilous imagination - it's up to the ever-marvellous Tom Hollander to play hapless secretary of state Simon Foster, who bleats out lines such as: 'To walk the road of peace, sometimes we need to be prepared to climb the mountain of conflict.' Only to be savaged by the PM's rabid Alastair Campbell-alike communications officer, Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi). 'Climb the mountain of conflict?' he scoffs. 'You sound like some Nazi Julie Andrews.'

Bounced along at every turn by brilliant aphorisms and comic turns, including The Sopranos's James Gandolfini bulking out the transatlantic audience appeal as a warmongering general, there's admittedly not much in the way of actual narrative. But, frankly, who cares when you're laughing this hard?

Think Yes Minister on speed - and that includes the cameraman. But lurching around with hand-held cameras is all part of the modern mockumentary, a reminder that this is on-the-fly comedy rather than a contrived sitcom. The result here is brilliant, if you can live with a slight headache.

Jim Hacker lives in the form of hapless Minister for Social Affairs Hugh Abbot (Chris Langham) but with more sweary bits. And while Sir Humphrey Appleby was all oily charm, Abbot's advisers (James Smith and Chris Addison) are more bumbling and insecure.

But nowhere in Yes Minister was there anyone like splenetic chief political adviser Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), clearly modelled on Tony Blair's spinmeister, Alastair Campbell.