Eric Morecambe

Middlemen (BBC1) was more an imitation Morecambe and Wise. Francis Matthews's pace and grimaces were Morecambeish; Frank Windsor's easily led lamb, Wise-ish. Both seemed eager to prove they could do a lot of funny accents.

Ernie's plans and pretensions are constantly interrupted, denigrated, and sabotaged by Eric - and yet, of course, they depend upon each other. Like the Steptoes, and Hancock and James, this means that most of the humour is in straight dialogue and makes excellent radio.

Parkinson Takes a Christmas Look at Morecambe and Wise (BBC1) did something to restore the spirits, even though we'd seen most of the stuff before. Sketches like the Cleopatra number are now on the limit of how much exposure they can take, but Parky fronted the compilation pretty well. It's nice to be able to toss him a bun, after his recent abominations.

Morecambe and Wise, The Royals of Northern humour, have also started a new series on BBC1. People point with pride to the stage knights and dames who are now delighted to be guests on the show. Never the last to point the finger I must mention that Tony Snowden does the sets. You will see a specimen of his work in this week's Radio Times.

Morecambe and Wise give freshness to very venerable material indeed. They got a lot of mileage last night out of knickers, bloomers, and, incredibly, drawers. If a joke doesn't work. they work at it until it does.

This peripatetic pair ("Do what?" asks the idiotic one in horn-rimmed glasses) have perfected the moth-eaten to a real art. Generations of grease-painted clowns could only nod their approval.