Clair Titley

Britain's Oldest Stand Up (More4) was a slight, sweet film by Clair Titley, in the new First Cut series, about her uncle Jack Woodward. He is a 90-year-old Chelsea Pensioner who harbours a dream of resurrecting the comedy act he used to perform in the 50s and 60s and - one of his favourite pastimes being to watch the new bloods plying their trade on the television show Live at the Apollo every Friday night - playing the Hammersmith venue himself. "I've took a fancy to it!" he exclaimed, in a burry, rural West Country accent that must itself be disappearing as fast as any pasture land down there. "I can't explain it - it's just there!"

Thanks to comedy writer Les Keen, who wrote him some new material to get him up to the mark, comedian Ed Byrne, who agreed to let Jack be his warm-up man (and gently warmed up the audience himself for Jack before he came on stage) and some giant prompt cards, he did it. There wasn't much else to the story but the rare sight of a nonagenarian, thrice-married, triple-bypassed (last year) incurable optimist had a charm all of its own.

First Cut's newbie documentary-makers understandably tend to address subjects close to them. The pros and cons of this approach are laid bare by this warm-bordering-on-sentimental film by Clair Titley about her uncle, a 90-year-old Chelsea Pensioner who wants to revive a comedy career dormant since the '60s. Unfortunately, Jack Woodward's Max Miller-style gags have been declared too decrepit for even the luncheon club circuit, so a pro is drafted in to help him realise his dream of a slot at the Hammersmith Apollo. Will he make it? Emotional distance isn't an option (especially with a soundtrack this cloying), but it's a sweet tale that wouldn't otherwise have been told, and Jack is a game old chap who's overcome considerable emotional and physical hurdles to make it this far.