Hugh Dennis

Hugh Dennis on being an idiot around Hugh Laurie

He'd have a puppet play him in a movie and get Alastair McGowan to do his voice - if only he could stay cool in front of the other Hugh...

Eager to know why Manuel from Fawlty Towers had a moustache? The worst thing about being in Blackadder? Or maybe which actors had to bring their own clothes to film a hit pilot? The answers to these hot-button issues in Jo Brand's poorly disguised old-timey clip-show are perfectly pitched, provoking - if anything - the kind of weary, non-committal, slightly surly shrug that's engendered by watching the actual programme itself.

Brand presides over a genial half-hour of sitcom quizzery that sees team leaders Rebecca Front and Barry 'Mine's a Large One!' Cryer joined by Hugh Dennis and Tony Robinson for a trawl through some well-thumbed snippets from the BBC archives. Andrew Sachs and Ian Lavender deliver creaky old war stories and Cryer delves into his endless fund of Willie Rushton anecdotes, before a round where the guests all try on a variety of wigs puts the show out of its misery.

Brand and guests are very easy people to like, but this is the worst kind of filler; to damn it with even fainter praise, it's the sort of programme that Alan Partridge would consider 'classic broadcasting'.

To start with, this felt too much like a great big luvvie love-in, with the voice-over eulogising one comedian (Hugh Dennis) so he could eulogise another (Ronnie Barker). My heart also sank a little when Dennis, more at home deadpanning through Mock the Week, set off to visit the semi where Barker grew up, noting that little was known about his home life. I was braced for the revelation that Barker, a jovial comic giant who made the world seem a happier place with one glance over the top of his spectacles, was an anguished soul who collected broken dolls.
Happily nothing of the kind emerged, and the programme moved on to surer footing with a highly enjoyable trawl through Barker's work, from The Frost Report to The Two Ronnies, Porridge and beyond. Behind-the-scenes glimpses of Barker's creative mind included his meticulous diagrams choreographing a Morris dancing sketch, and a mock press release which chastised David Frost for hogging the credit for the Golden Rose of Montreux award by accusing him of stealing it with the help of unnamed and mysterious accomplices.

It was hard not to get misty-eyed at the footage of Barker accepting his lifetime achievement Bafta in 2004 with typical warmth and wit. The programme captured the end of an era, when Barker's innocent blend of postcard innuendo, verbal tomfoolery and physical hi-jinks personified British comedy - long before the days of Mock the Week.

When he was at Cambridge University, bookish Hugh Dennis was nicknamed "Desk Dennis" by his fellows because he was so serious about his studies. To this day Dennis is a quietly thoughtful rather than raucous comedian. So it's unsurprising that his comedy hero is the resolutely unshowbizzy Ronnie Barker.

In parallel with events in his own career, Dennis looks at Barker's life. He meets actress Dame Eileen Atkins, who got to know Barker during his days in rep, and there's a nice chat with Christopher Biggins about Porridge, which "almost made me want to go to prison," says Dennis.

Hugh Dennis writing Britty Britty Bang Bang book

Hugh Dennis is writing Britty Britty Bang Bang. Subtitled "One Man's Attempt to Understand His Country", the book is described by the publisher as a "humorous and insightful exploration of the changing image of Britain and Britishness".

Mel Giedroyc takes a break from cake to reveal her personal nightmares - including pretentious types who pronounce spaghetti with the full Italian accent - in the hope that Frank Skinner will consign them to the oblivion of Room 101. But there's tough competition from her fellow guests: actor Hugh Dennis is lobbying for Las Vegas to be wiped from the face of the earth, while Cilla Black has a lorra lorra laffs trying to trash modern technology. And knickers.

There often comes an awkward moment when the guests outline their pet hates and you wonder if the audience will applaud at the end of the pitch. Sometimes they don't, and it leaves the celeb stranded, because the line between righteous yes-we-all-hate-that anger and ranting about minutiae is a hazy one.

Luckily, host Frank Skinner usually rides to the rescue with a well-observed quip. Tonight, he tops Mel Giedroyc's gripe about people who overpronounce Italian words in restaurants ("spag-HAY-tee") by observing that if you tried the same in a Chinese restaurant, it would be dreadful. Meanwhile, Hugh Dennis hates leaving cards, and Cilla Black believes there's a conspiracy surrounding knickers.

All the obvious targets were shunted off into the vault of shame a long time ago, so the attraction of Room 101 these days is the window that it gives into the bizarre minds of celebrities.

Without a script, and without anything to plug, what are they really thinking? This week it's showbiz legend Cilla Black who provides some of the most unexpected moments, as ­comedian Frank Skinner invites his guests to nominate their pet hates concerning people and modern life, plus their wild card entry.

"When I used to watch you on TV I used to wonder what we'd talk about if we ever met," Frank admits. "I never expected this." His other guests, Outnumbered star Hugh Dennis and Great British Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc, can only stare in wonder as Cilla explains her gripe with one particular gadget.

But Frank has also got an old clip of Cilla that's odder than the rest of the show put together.

Frank Skinner seems uncharacteristically star-struck at having Cilla Black on the show, perhaps because so many of his guests have been distinctly underwhelming (even boring) so far this series. Cilla's professional sparkle certainly jollies along some fairly morose contributions from comedian Hugh Dennis and TV presenter Mel Giedroyc as they discuss their competitive dislikes of, among other things, pompous celebrities, office leaving cards, Las Vegas and knickers.