Christopher Lee (II)

More Burke & Hare Cast Announced

Details of the full cast have been announced for John Landis' Burke And Hare, and if you thought you were excited by the casting of Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis, prepare to do geeky cartwheels at the news that Jessica Hynes, Bill Bailey, Reece Shearsmith and Sir Christopher Lee are all on board.

A star-studded adaptation of a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, first shown last year, elaborates on the author's belief that fantasy is not only about wizards but also about "seeing the world from a different perspective". With some impressive special effects, the story tells of Rincewind (David Jason), a failed wizard, who acts as a guide to Discworld's first ever tourist, the naïve Twoflower (Sean Astin). It's a journey that has the pair battling druid mercenaries, bad wizards and trolls as Rincewind tries to get the better of his nemesis, Trymon (Tim Curry). Christopher Lee, Brian Cox and David Bradley also feature in the cast.

A comedy so gentle that it wafts through the airwaves like a will-o'-the-wisp, never touching the sides of your brain.

Christopher Lee's Carmelite friars are back doing what they do best, making inoffensive little puns about requests from rich men to bless their asses and braying for all creatures great and small. At pains to point out that they are not monks who shut themselves away from the world, these Friars like to see themselves as the 'original carers in the community'. It's a community that apparently is bothered with nothing more pressing than an organ suffering from a baggy swell box. A common complaint, you will agree.

Effortlessly performed by Roy Dotrice, the unmistakeable Martin Jarvis and Alfred Molina, it is perfect light summer fare, not too taxing and not too... well, anything much really.

A return to Christopher Lee's monastic comedy Kicking The Habit did not disappoint. Martin Jarvis' gently acerbic Prior and Roy Dotrice's somewhat deranged Brother Martin allied comedy to philosophical commentary. That tells us, if nothing else, that producing successful comedy is a complex affair.