Clive James

Large is a gifted impersonator, but Little's lack of inspiration is scarcely ameliorated by making a point of it. Little is not pretending to be just standing there. He is just standing there. Meanwhile Large knocks himself out. There is a certain terrible fascination to it, like watching two men share one parachute.

Frayn has the mature humorist's horror of gags to no purpose. It is not a case of the clown wanting to play Hamlet, since Frayn was never a clown. The desire is to carry the comic vision through to its consequences, following E. M. Forster's dictum that art must be pursued to extremes.

Not that his [Arthur Lowe's] performance is eclectic - it is a subtle unity like everything he attempts. He is also at his peak in the current series of Dad's Army (BBC1), which shows few signs of flagging inspiration.

After two dull episodes, Monty Python (BBC2) was suddenly funny again, thereby ameliorating the viewing week no end. The pressure on the now Cleeseless team to be as good as ever has perhaps been a little fierce, but that's showbiz.

A rock solid script, by Clement and La Frenais. Good comic writing depends on a regular supply of real-life speech patterns - the main reason why success tends to interfere with talent, since it separates the writer from his sources.

But it's the writing that stars: Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais are plainly having a wonderful time raiding their own memories. Rilke once said that no true poet minds going to jail, since it leaves him alone to plunder his treasure-house. Writing this series must be the next best thing to being slung in the chokey.

But Seriously - It's Sheila Hancock (BBC2) featured Germaine Greer being funny, which is something I'm always keen to watch.