Ian McKellen

Returning for one last hurrah, Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi reprise their roles as sniping septuagenarians Freddie and Stuart in a special that traces a year in the couple's lives. Sadly, while there are plenty of gags in the Great British Joke Book that bear revisiting,Vicious yet again too often ignores these in favour of gratuitous swearing and one-liners that should have been left in the 1970s. Alternatively, postmodern campery of the very highest order.

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Stuart and Freddie's nuptials loom. By default, the best man duties fall to Ash (Iwan Rheon), their gormless neighbour who bears an uncanny resemblance to Game Of Thrones sadist-in-chief Ramsay Bolton. Can Ash pull off a decent stag? (Probably best not to let him arrange the wedding.) While the critical reaction to ITV's broad sitcom has been cattier than any of the sniping between acid queens Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, the second season has seen a subtle improvement in quality without abandoning the constant venom.

Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi star as cohabiting actors Freddie and Stewart in this otherwise traditional comedy. Really, though, the thespian pair are straight men to Frances de la Tour, who owns the show as the endearing Vi, and gets most of the best lines. That's all particularly true in tonight's episode, as the pair participate in a ruse to help Vi deceive her sister Lillian, who believes Vi lives a glamorous life. With Stewart playing the role of Vi's husband and Freddie as the butler, what could conceivably go wrong?

Radio Times review

Loathe it or love it (and I'm in the latter camp), Vicious is back for a second run. It's been a long time coming - it isn't easy coordinating the diaries of this stellar cast. Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen are back chewing the scenery as bickering couple Stuart and Freddie, with Game of Thrones' Iwan Rheon as their doe-eyed neighbour Ash and Marcia Warren upstaging all as the forgetful Penelope.

Tonight, their voracious best pal Violet (Frances de la Tour) panics when her long-absent sister Lillian pays a visit. Violet pleads with Stuart to butch up - it's a struggle - and pretend to be her husband. Mirth ensues, not least because Lillian is played by goddess of camp, Celia Imrie.

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Radio Times review

There's a trio of mutant superheroes in the studio as the stars of X-Men: Days of Future Past (Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender) take their place on Graham's sofa.

They've all been on the show before but, judging by an online Q&A with them, when they're together there's a lot of laughter, back-slapping and fooling around. Plus the occasional send-up of their rather theatrical co-stars, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.

Bringing a little femininity to proceedings is Eurovision hopeful Molly, who performs Children of the Universe.

Few new shows split opinion as neatly as Vicious did this year. Some thrilled to the waspish bitching and wilful campery of live-in lovers Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, best chums Frances de la Tour and Marcia Warren, and strapping neighbour Iwan Rheon; others derided it as dated, offensive and tacky.

This Christmas special won't change anyone's minds. The stars deliver gags as creaky as their limbs but with irresistible relish; there's some half-arsed slapstick; Rheon is underused; and the action never leaves the confines of the flat. In truth, it's a little underpowered this time round. De La Tour and Warren waltz off with the best lines and the wholly familiar narrative - a botched Christmas get-together - doesn't add much to the occasion. But the indulgent and sofabound may enjoy a few chuckles here and there.