Morecambe & Wise

And I'm afraid I wasn't too impressed with another new sitcom, The Job Lot, which came on straight after Vicious. It had the air of The Office about it, following the lives of those working at a job centre in the West Midlands. But it was nowhere near as good as Ricky Gervais' classic series.

The show was about work - or the lack of it - and the characters in the office and their relationships - or lack of them - and, though it started with the Morecambe & Wise song Bring Me Sunshine, it did anything but. It left me as disillusioned as the employers.

In fairness, the performers were likeable enough, such as Miranda's Sarah Hadland's turn as neurotic Trish, and Russell Tovey as Karl, the frazzled manager.

The one shining light in an otherwise average sitcom was Jo Enright, brilliantly irritating as Angela, an unsmiling jobsworth and borderline psychopath.

Sadly, two vital ingredients were missing from the half hour show - laughs and the plots, both of which are pretty important when it comes to making good TV. Add to that the annoying background music and I've got another reason not to tune in again.

This is the first in an occasional series that sees celebs champion the people who inspired them. And I can imagine that there must have been quite the bunfight among stars all clamouring to claim Eric Morecambe as their hero.

After all, as the patronising voice-over tells us: "Morecambe and Wise were regarded by many as the greatest comedy double act ever." Gosh, really? It's amazing what you can learn from these documentaries, isn't it?

Miranda's quest to get closer to her hero starts, inevitably, at Eric's statue on Morecambe promenade. She also visits the house where he was born and the now dilapidated Winter Gardens where he would have watched his first shows. Sadly, she somehow neglects to visit the local Wetherspoons, the Eric Bartholomew, which bears his real name.

Elsewhere, we're treated to home movie clips of Miranda's early performances. They are universally terrible. "We all wondered 'how long is she going to keep this up?'" admits her sister Alice.

The best bits are Miranda's meetings with actress Ann Hamilton, who appeared in almost 100 of Morecambe & Wise's TV shows, and with long-time scriptwriter Eddie Braben, who wrote all their Christmas specials. His role in transforming them from an average music hall act into comedy legends really cannot be underestimated, making him the real unsung hero of this piece.

Morecambe & Wise could bring a smile to the face of a coma patient. Their much-imitated, never-bettered brand of music-hall surrealism has aged remarkably well - it's no real surprise that we're still celebrating this inventive, inclusive and incredibly good-natured double act. This five-part series is an unabashed wallow in their finest moments and also digs a few unfamiliar morsels out of the vaults. For example, the deathless 'André Preview' routine was first performed almost a decade earlier, before being refined into the tour-de-force of Christmas TV-defining tomfoolery that we know and love. One minor caveat; the celebrity reaction shots are truly superfluous - we know Eric and Ern are funny and we don't need to watch David Baddiel or Tamsin Greig laughing at them to have that confirmed. Still, overall, sunshine can consider itself well and truly brought.

This fond look at the early struggles of Morecambe & Wise as the very definition of 'affectionate' and full of lovely detail, but Daniel Rigby's Eric wasn't just an impersonation - it was a stunning performance, full stop.

Gag writer Eddie Braben on helping Morecambe & Wise

As Morecambe and Wise's early years are dramatised, their gag writer Eddie Braben reveals: "How I made Britain love Eric and Ernie."

Eric and Ernie: Victoria Wood's Morecambe & Wise biopic

Eric Morecambe kept one review in his wallet for decades to remind him of where the duo had come from. It suggested the definition of TV as "the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise". The clipping was still in his wallet when he died.

Morecambe & Wise to Office: 10 best Christmas specials

The BBC Christmas Special has become a stalwart of the festive television schedule - from institutions such as Morecambe and Wise to the newer comedy talents of The Office and Gavin and Stacey.

Filming begins on Morecambe & Wise drama

Bryan Dick and Daniel Rigby - who are playing the two stars for a BBC2 drama - donned dinner jackets during a city centre location shooting.