Harry Enfield

We see so little of The Comic Strip ensemble these days that it's easy to forget how long they've been in the trenches of British spoof, tossing out a grenade every now and then, as if cursed to spend the rest of their days striving to match the perfection of their hilarious first episode, "Five Go Mad in Dorset", which introduced high jinks to Channel 4's inaugural broadcast in 1982 and the term "lashings of ginger beer" to the cultural memory.

"The Hunt for Tony Blair" - a parodic splicing of noughties politics and 1950s British film noir (though what Herman's Hermits were doing on the soundtrack I don't know) - wasn't uproariously funny but it was handsomely made, with melodramatic shadows and enough money for fog, flat-footed policemen and steam trains. The plot, such as it was - a madcap chase across country, with the PM on the run for murder - threw up knockabout humour and vignettes from Blair's WMD fiasco, featuring a cast of the usual suspects: a languid Nigel Planer as Mandelson; Harry Enfield in East End shout mode as "Alastair"; the excellent Jennifer Saunders as Thatcher in her dotage (and full Barbara Cartland drag), watching footage of her Falklands triumphs from a chaise longue.

Director Peter Richardson, whose comic talents aren't seen enough on screen, played George Bush as a rasping B-movie Italian mobster ("I'm gonna get straight to the crotch of the matter here"). With the exception of impressionist Ronni Ancona (whose 10 seconds as Barbara Windsor seemed puzzlingly extraneous), no one went for a direct impersonation. Stephen Mangan didn't make a bad Blair, though he could have worked on the grin, and he couldn't quite make his mind up between feckless and reckless as he capered from one mishap to the next leaving a trail of bodies. Did Blair's moral insouciance ("Yet another unavoidable death, but, hey, shit happens") call for a look of idiocy or slipperiness?

The comedy had mischief at its heart in mooting that Blair had bumped off his predecessor, John Smith, and accidentally pushed Robin Cook off a Scottish mountain, while Robbie Coltrane's Inspector Hutton (aha!) tacitly invoked the spectre of Dr David Kelly (we never found out who Blair was charged with murdering). But it was hard to squeeze fresh satire from the overfamiliar stodge of the politics ("Tell Gordon to run the country and trust the bankers"). Mangan was at his funniest hiding among sheep in the back of a truck or kicking Ross Noble (playing an old socialist) off a speeding train, though there was amusement elsewhere. I had to laugh at variety theatre act Professor Predictor, shoehorned into the story to enable Rik Mayall in a bald wig and boffin glasses to answer questions from the audience. Would the Beatles still be at No 1 in 50 years' time?

"No. The Beatles will no longer exist. But Paul McCartney will marry a woman with one leg."

How the audience roared. "Pull the other one," someone shouted. Arf, arf.

Nearly 30 years after their debut, the famous alternative comic troupe returns to Channel 4. Here, new boy Stephen Mangan plays Tony Blair as a film noir-style fugitive from justice, on the run after he's been accused of murder, in a piece that's like Hitchcock's 39 Steps crossed with Kind Hearts and Coronets-style black humour. Alongside him are the old regulars from The Comic Strip's previous films: Nigel Planer as Peter Mandelson, Robbie Coltrane as the detective on Blair's case, with appearances by Harry Enfield and Rik Mayall. Jennifer Saunders almost steals the show by playing Margaret Thatcher as a sexually predatory version of Miss Havisham. At the edge of acceptable taste - is it too early to make humour out of the death of Robin Cook? - "The Hunt for Tony Blair" puts a smile on your face even if there are not many laugh-out-loud moments. This is largely thanks to Mangan's turn as a smooth killer always ready with a voice-over justification about the "tough choices" he has to make, even when murdering an Old Labour homeless man. But despite its satirical digs at our old PM, Mangan's charming performance serves as a reminder of how likeable Blair once was.

Comic Strip Presents: The Hunt for Tony Blair, preview

Ed West previews Channel 4's The Hunt for Tony Blair, a new one-off comedy by The Comic Strip team, starring Stephen Mangan, Jennifer Saunders and Harry Enfield.

Just what's needed after endless images of kids rampaging through the streets: a portrayal of a south London geezer from a housing estate that's nicely non-threatening (though he does diss the community support officer in the opening credits for a touch of street cred and a cheap laugh). Such is the comic construction of Simon Brodkin, anyway, who is back as Lee Nelson for a second series of studio tomfoolery and sketches. It's all pretty daft and probably funnier after a night in the pub, but it also feels terribly dated and wouldn't look out of place on an early Harry Enfield show.

The most surprising gong of the night at this year's Bafta TV awards was the comedy programme prize which went to BBC2 sketch show Harry & Paul. This is the show, you will remember which was not entirely warmly welcomed by critics. The win will also have come as a surprise to the programme's two stars, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, who were otherwise engaged and unable to make the ceremony, and to BBC2 controller Janice Hadlow, who has not yet commissioned another series of the now Bafta-winning show. Busy diaries to blame, apparently. "It's early days," says a BBC insider. "Should know more in the next couple of weeks hopefully." Ruddy hell indeed.

Another laughable (in a good way) telethon from Richard Curtis and friends hosted by Fearne Cotton, Jonathan Ross et al, and featuring sketches and silliness from James Corden, the cast of Outnumbered, Miranda Hart, Harry Hill, Steve Coogan and Armstrong & Miller to name but some. Most exciting-sounding is a Downton Abbey spoof featuring Ade Edmondson, Victoria Wood, Kim Cattrall, Harry Enfield and Joanna Lumley. And the special Red Nose Day edition of MasterChef, which will, if there's any justice, feature Gregg and John trying to perform simple tasks while contestants tut smugly.

Audio: Enfield in Downton Abbey spoof for Comic Relief

It's Red Nose Day on Friday and the TV show begins tonight on BBC1.

BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast spoke to Harry Enfield who told Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogarty about the special spoof Uptown Downstairs Abbey he's starring in alongside Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and Kim Cattrall.

Saunders, Enfield parody Downton Abbey for Comic Relief

It's Abbey-Solutely Fabulous - as Jennifer Saunders and Harry Enfield star in a spoof of hit period drama Downton Abbey.

The legendary lost Men Behaving Badly pilot

Whilst working on this week's Britain In A Box, I had a rare treat when we managed to obtain a copy of the original, never-broadcast pilot of Men Behaving Badly. The pilot was made for Thames TV, directed by their then Head of Comedy, John Howard Davies and starred the eventual cast of the first series, Harry Enfield, Martin Clunes, Caroline Quentin and Lesley Ash.