Ian Wolf

There are several problems with this show, chief amongst them being what on Earth I can say which hasn't been said already in the past week.

For those who have not seen this show, the series revolves around a British-Pakistani family from Sparkhill, Birmingham. The head of the family, Mr Khan (Adil Ray, who also co-writes the series), a pompous community leader trying to control his family in his own way as well as the local Muslim population. Part of his problems comes from the new Mosque manager, a British-born convert called Dave (Kris Marshall).

Following the broadcast of this first episode, it seems that just about no-one likes it. There are reports of at least 700 people complaining to the BBC claiming the show is guilty of racist stereotyping. Meanwhile the critics have been attacking the series for being old fashioned.

Speaking as someone who knows very little about the Muslim community (I even learnt a little bit about Islam during this opening episode) I am not in position to say if it's racist or not. However, I can give an opinion on how funny or unfunny it is. Given that it's a studio sitcom with a live audience it's no surprise the critics don't like it. Having watched it, the thing that sprung to mind was trying to compare it with similar shows. With his pompous, domineering nature to me Mr Khan shares similar traits to Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping up Appearances, which was one of my favourite comedies as a child.

However, some of the gags were just so predictable. When you saw him in the Mosque with a microphone who just knew he was going to say (on indeed sing) something stupid into it, unaware that he was broadcasting from a minaret.

In the end it'll come down to the public vote, so to speak, and Citizen Khan will probably be axed. It's for the best, really...

The Revolution Will Be Televised is quite possibly the most intellectual show BBC Three has ever broadcast, which is odd seeing as this is a hidden camera show, a genre not know for its challenging material.

Created by Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein, the series revolves around various satirical pranks and stunts. In this first episode the duo attempted to clamp ambassadors' cars for not paying the congestion charge (they try to claim they don't have to because of diplomatic immunity); try to enter the London 2012 Olympic stadium wearing shirts with protest slogans on them; and pretend to be sadomasochists asking MI6 to send someone somewhere for some "fun".

BBC Three has had much success with satire in the past. After all, arguably its most successful comedy is Russell Howard's Good News. However, these two shows are the different ends of two funny extremes. Good News mocks all the weird and odd stories that somehow filter into our papers and news channels. It's admittedly not that satirical, but it is fun. TRWBT however is much more vicious and subversive. It tells you things you need to know. It has a huge nerve to go and do the things it does. And I'm surprised that Prowse and Rubinstein haven't been arrested yet.

Another show in Channel 4's Funny Fortnight, Lucky Sexy Winners appears to be an attempt by both the channel and surreal double-act Reeves and Mortimer to replicate the success of Shooting Stars.

In this show the contestants, stand-up Eddie Izzard, This is England actor Thomas Turgoose and Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey, have to answer a series of "questions" based on a series of Vic's bizarre drawings. There is no "Dove from Above Round", or indeed rounds at all. It is just answering questions before the time runs out. The time and "The Kingdom of Prize" are guarded by the scorer, another character created by Dan Renton Skinner, who came to fame as Angelos Epithemiou. This time he's John Meringue, a proud yet somewhat mundane Viking warrior.

There were several moments of mirth, such as one of prizes being Katie Price's memory foam mattress and the duo performing martial arts on a kid. However, when I watched the show all I could think of is, "I've seen it all before." The panel show mocking has become stale now. There were also moments that I recognise from earlier Vic and Bob vehicles. At one point Bob falls over pathetically, which goes way all the way back to Big Night Out.

Overall, a bit of a disappointment. It's probably time for Vic and Bob to try something new.

Following on from the surprise that Jack Whitehall can actually act (Fresh Meat), we now get the chance to see if he can write in this new BBC Three sitcom, Bad Education. Judging by this opening episode, the jury's out.

Whitehall also stars in Bad Education, as a feckless secondary school teacher, surrounded by a mixture of odd staff and bosses, as well as somewhat cliché students. You can't help but think that Whitehall is trying to cram every minority and stereotypical student into his classroom, ranging from camp, bullies, unfit fat kids, wheelchair-bound, flirtatious, and intellectual oriental.

He seems to have fallen into the trap of making his own character the number one priority, while almost forgetting to flesh out all the others. The headmaster, played by Mathew Horne, comes across as an over-progressive idiot; Whitehall's love intereste (Sarah Solemani) is a bit too innocent; and the stern and frightening deputy head (Michelle Gomez) is like a less surreal - and less funny - version of Sue White from Green Wing.

There were odd moments of mirth, like Whitehall's Pearl Harbour history lesson, but I think the only reason this could possibly get a second series is because of the star name attached to it.

Gigglebox weekly #53 - Britain's Oldest Stand Up

This week there was documentary hidden away in the schedules on More4. Part of their "First Cut" strand, it covered the return to stand up comedy of Jack Woodward, the oldest stand up comedian in the country, at the age of 90.

On Radio 4, doctor-turned-comedian Paul Sinha presented a one-off show about the Olympics, which serves as a sequel to his 2011 cricket programme, The Sinha Test.

In this half-hour, Sinha talks about his own obsession with the games and how he has collated so much Olympic trivia over the years, perhaps the most interesting being about the 1956 water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary, which took place when the former country was invading the latter country...

Then there's the story of the world's least known Olympic gold medallist from Team GB, Andy Archibald, a reserve member of the 1976 pentathlon team, who also just happened to by Sinha's House Master at school.

There's quite a bit of interesting material to this one, but I can't help but feel that this could've been a bit longer. If it was a full hour, like a normal live stand-up show, it might have been able to get through some of Sinha's funnier material. Still, it was decent half-hour show from the comedy doctor.

One of the longest running comedies on Radio 2 has made its return for the Olympics, as David Quantick presented a guide to the games for people who may not know that much about it...

The Blagger's Guide to the Games is full of information and rapid fire gags, cut in with sound effects and music left, right and centre. This is a four-part series, so it's longer and more informative that The Sinha Games, and covers certain aspects of the games further in depth. For example, there's an entire section about the austerity games in 1948 (when London last held the event), as well as a gymnastics guide.

The main aspect of this programme, for those who haven't listened to previous editions of The Blagger's Guide, is that it's so full of gags and material that often you miss some bits and have to listen to it again. My highlight of the show was a sequence about the austerity games, which featured impressions of Ben Elton, Kenneth Williams and Michael McIntyre all rolling into one. Excellent.

However, in the same section I was less keen on the rationing routine which featured a Dad's Army skit between Lance Corporal Jones and Mrs. Fox after the end of the war. It wasn't so much the lack of humour that was the problem, but my own pedantry. I'm a huge Dad's Army fan, and I know that in the final episode Mrs. Fox becomes Mrs. Jones. But that's just me...

There's much to enjoy from The Blagger's Guide..., though it's one of those shows that needs your full attention.

One of the oldest sitcoms on the radio returned for two specials this past fortnight, covering the Olympics in all its hellish glory...

Andy Hamilton returns as the underworld-weary Satan in Old Harry's Game, giving his professional opinion of the Olympics while trying to persuade those around him, especially the kindly historian Edith (Annette Crosbie), that the Olympics are not as great as everyone makes out to be. (It's not that difficult, is it?)

In the first special last week, Satan takes Edith to the original Greeks who founded the Games, who mainly wanted to just look at naked men. The show also explored what happened to the original marathon runner Pheidippides after he discovered his run was a waste of time. At the end of this episode, though, we learn that Edith's daughter is taking part in the hurdles, so Satan agrees to take her up London; but in exchange she will eventually finish writing Satan's official biography.

Although this sitcom's been running since 1995, I think it's still one of the best around, because of both the images it creates and the ideas that appear in the show. For example, in Old Harry's Game all twelve Apostles are in Hell and Judas claims he was killed by Mossad. Then there are Satan's various "guises". In this episode he pretends to be Kate Middleton...

It's amazing that this show can still produce laughs after being so long on the air; proof, if needed, that this sitcom is simply top notch. Let's hope there will be a few more episodes made yet, as it can clearly stand the test of time...

Tom Binns is perhaps most famous for his hospital radio DJ character Ivan Brackenbury, however this Radio 2 pilot focuses on his other comic creation: Ian D. Montfort, the Sunderland Psychic ("not to be confused with the Sunderland Psycho").

Binns' character is a parody of just about every TV psychic you've ever come across, complete with lame explanations of how his powers come about. Take Montfort's explanation of how angel cards work: "They're angel cards, that's how they work."

Due to the nature of the character, most of the laughs comes from interaction with his audience, and in this pilot his special guest, Melanie Sykes. Look out for the scenes in which he tries to embarrass the crowd...

Binns' characters are impressive, but can one, or even two, of his personas carry a whole radio series? Given the positive feedback to this pilot we might just find out...

Gigglebox Weekly #51

This week Ian Wolf welcomes back an old friend and listens to Jerry Sadowitz not swearing.