David McGillivray

Radio Times review

Isy Suttie made her mark as devoted girlfriend Dobby in Peep Show on Channel 4. Now radio is helping to establish her as the latest in a long line of female monologuists stretching back to Ruth Draper and Joyce Grenfell.

Her good-natured observational comedy dissects romantic relationships - her own and other people's - and in the first episode of her new series she recalls her time as a classroom assistant, when a dinner lady and a teacher, both married to other people, were drawn to each other.

It comes as no surprise to read that Suttie is an admirer of Victoria Wood. Now that Wood's comic performances are rare, Suttie, like her idol a comedian and a singer/songwriter, could fill the gap.

Radio Times review

Architects can be every bit as laughable as politicians, lawyers and the rest. But, surprisingly, there's been no architectural sitcom until now.

The scene is set mainly in Sir Lucien's struggling practice, where junior partner Matt is refusing to compromise his vision for a dream house in Carshalton Beeches. As Sir Lucien, the juicily-voiced Geoffrey Whitehead performs with relish.

The humour is quick-fire and caustic. But it revolves not so much around planning regulations and what annoys us about modern higher-and-higher thinking as confusion over words and names and, in this opening episode, Sir Lucien's trip to Baden-Baden for colonic irrigation. It's somewhat surreal unless writers Jim Poyser and Neil Griffiths have insider info.

Whether it's funnier than Jonathan Meades's recent celebration of brutalism on BBC Four is debatable.

Radio Times review

The first series of Tony Bagley's Political Animals (a cleverly apt title) saw life through the eyes of Downing Street's cats. Now we take four dog's-eye views of White House intrigues. Tonight we hear from Bo, President Obama's Portuguese water dog, a breed of whom few previously had heard. (It doesn't shed its coat: important, because Obama's daughter Malia is allergic).

Bo, voiced by Chris Pavlo, surprisingly with a Mexican accent, holds forth on everything from "crossbreed" Obama to his rival Mitt Romney's unwise decision to take a long car journey with his own dog on the roof rack. Bagley's humour is an odd mix of biting satire and crude jokes (America's fourth TV channel is "the channel for foxes") but it hits the mark more often than not.

David McGillivray discusses British sex comedies

In the field of British sex film scholarship, one name is heard above all others: David McGillivray. Having worked as a film critic, screenwriter, actor, and producer during the golden age of British sex comedies, he is the natural authority to turn to when discussing Network Distributing's releases of the genre in their 'The British Film' collection.