Ian Wolf

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...

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...

Gigglebox Weekly #51

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

An offering from Sky Atlantic which is tempting Sky1 viewers is this new sitcom starring and co-written by Kathy Burke.

Set in 1979, Walking and Talking is an autobiographic sitcom in which Kath, played by Ami Metcalf, walks from school with her best friend Mary (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and talk about their worries and everyday goings on.

Personally speaking, I found the actual walking and talking to be the least appealing bit. In fact I found it mostly dull and uninteresting, but maybe that's because I wasn't around in 1979 to experience what 'life was like back then.'

However things started to get interesting when the senior performers come to the forefront. These segments include conversations between two nuns that work at the school, played by Burke herself and Sean Gallagher in drag, and the worrying encounters the two girls have with local nutter Jimmy the Jew (Jerry Sadowitz).

It was a strange role for Sadowitz, but he was absolutely amazing. You don't tend to see him act that often, which he clearly can do by what I've seen. But the profanities were absent here too, which is certainly odd to those who've seen his stand-up. But despite this, he is still as intimidating and menacing. He plays the character perfectly.

Walking and Talking isn't perfect, but it certainly has its moments. No doubt it can be tightened up in various ways to iron out some of the minor issues...

Alan Partridge has been around for over 20 years, since he first began life as On the Hour's sports reporter. Watching his latest TV outing, he is still going as strongly (or rather tactlessly) as ever.

This is the first in a series of programmes featuring Steve Coogan's most famous character being broadcast on Sky Atlantic. Luckily, for those of us who don't have Sky Atlantic, this particular programme was repeated on Sky1, mostly in an annoying attempt to promote a channel lots of people can't afford to pay for.

Watching this, it's nice to see that some of the Partridge magic is still there. It's amazing that after so long there are still laughs that you can get out of it. In this mockumentary, he gives viewers a quick tour of Norwich, also known as "The Wales of the East".

Partridge is still as ignorant as ever. For example, he somehow managed to persuade his local leisure centre to get rid of a disabled parking space so he could park closer to the building. Then there is his rather disturbing description of the plague as "Flying AIDS."

My favourite moment, though, was when Partridge was in a swimming pool, talking about the sort of people who use it. Well, when I say favourite, I mean harrowing, because it was at this point I realised that I do actually think a bit like Partridge when I go swimming...

Welcome To The Places Of My Life was a great show. I just hope it and the others eventually get released on DVD, because I'm still not planning to buy Sky Atlantic.

Yes, it's yet another panel game, although given that this series is only four episodes long rather than the conventional six, you can't help but think Channel 4 don't have much faith in it.

Hosted by Griff Rhys Jones and featuring team captains Marcus Brigstocke and Charlie Baker, A Short History of Everything Else uses old film footage to ask questions about recent history, from the famous to the obscure.

Watching this show, I can't help but think that it's just too much like Have I Got News for You. The key difference, though, is that the questions are too old to be satirical enough and the set is a bit more high-tech. This one actually features TV monitors rather than just turning boards!

Most of the humour in the show come not from the footage, but the panel insulting each other and trying to mock Rhys Jones (mostly over an old beer advert he did). That's all well and good, but it'd be much better if they could get more funny still from their video archives.

If I were a betting man, I'd say before long this show will be history...

Sharon Horgan returns to the always slightly dodgy world of the BBC Three sitcom with this new series about a woman wrongly sent to prison for murdering her boss.

In Dead Boss, innocent convict Helen Stephens is trying her best to overturn her conviction, which is not easy, as seemingly everyone around her is keen on her staying banged up. Her unhinged, arsonist cellmate Christine (Bryony Hannah) doesn't want her new friend to leave her; Governor Margaret (Jennifer Saunders) can't be bothered with the paperwork; the prison's reclusive "boss" Top Dog (Lizzie Roper) once was Stephens' bullied substitute teacher whose taunts leader her to murder her own husband; and former co-worker Henry (Edward Hogg) may seem keen on getting Stephens out, but he is a obsessive stalker who wants her to relay only on him.

The show began with a double-bill, which seemed like a good move, given that the second was clearly the stronger of the two. Both had their moments, but the first seemed to be concerned with setting up the situation more than the actual comedy - which is to be expected, really. The second episode, in which the prison runs a quiz where the top prize was five years off winner's sentence, had the better plot and, on the whole, was lots of fun.

I know some critics have been likened it, unfavourably, to Porridge, which was inevitable I suppose. However, both shows have major differences in terms of content, casting, and studio audiences (Porridge had one). It might even be better to think of Dead Boss as a comedy drama rather than a straight sitcom. Oh, and stop comparing the two.

Then again everyone else will probably be saying the same thing: "Why did they cancel Pulling?"

A mainstay of Friday nights (whenever The News Quiz of the Edinburgh Fringe isn't on), Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis's satirical comedy returns for its 37th series.

Along with other regulars Mitch Benn and Jon Holmes, this week's guests were Pippa Evans and John Finnemore. While all had their strengths, my favourite moment was Finnemore's routine about the Eurozone crisis using what was described as, "the longest, most torturous and yet simultaneously the most over-simplistic analogy in Now Show history."

One of the other things I found enjoyable was the show's coverage of the Diamond Jubilee, mainly due to the fact I got just about all of my jubilee coverage from satirical shows. It's less tedious and more spiritually up-lifting than watching the news. I'm not a monarchist - I couldn't care less about some posh lady in a rather fancy hat - so for me this was a nice way of getting all the news while cutting out all the rubbish filling-in that TV channels feel they need to do.

The Now Show proves once again that it's a highly competent satirical comedy that could well continue for another 37 series...

BBC Radio 4 has just started a new season of comedy pilots, and Stop/Start is the first on offer.

It's written by and stars Jack Docherty, who is perhaps most famous for being part of the team behind the 1980s-90s Channel 4 sketch show Absolutely (referred to by some as the Celtic Monty Python). Stop/Start revolves around three couples, of which Docherty forms one half as Barney Ferguson, with Kerry Godliman playing his wife Cathy.

The main characteristic of Stop/Start is that the entire cast keep stopping the flow of the show in order to explain their point-of-view to the audience, so we get to know what they're really thinking.

Some readers will probably be thinking that they've come across this sort of thing before, namely in Peep Show, in which you're able to hear a character's internal monologue. However, this is different. Here, the characters know that you can hear them and therefore try to persuade you to side with their argument.

The show's quite comparable to some of Docherty's early sketches on Absolutely, which featured him talking to someone he wanted to avoid, then talking to the camera to explain his true feelings. A tried and tested formula, then. The audience reaction is great, too, especially when they boo some of the asides, like when one character admits to reading someone's diary.

There's no doubt that Stop/Start could go on to produce a full series, and I hope Radio 4 does so.

When Harry Hill's TV Burp aired for the final time I mentioned that I hoped that ITV1 would cancel the show rather than find someone else to take over as host because it simply would not be the same. It seems ITV1 agreed. That said, instead of ressurecting TV Burp with a new host they're just ripped the entire format for this new sports satire starring Alistair McGowan.

Obviously, You Cannot Be Serious! covers different topics and has a different host, but the format is almost identical. The show begins with a Have I Got News for You style weekly round up featuring funny clips - most of the comedy comes from looking at recent TV footage (along with voice-over impressions), special guests making cameos and the show ends in a song. However, given that Harry Hill is credited as an executive producer, perhaps these similarities are not surprising. At least there's no fight in the middle, otherwise the show might have breached copyright law.

There are some unique touches, however, that make this show differ from its predecessor.

For starters, due to McGowan's impressionist abilities, he can do the voice of Adrian Chiles while interviewing himself playing Roy Hodgson on a pre-recorded segement (complete with a large false nose).

For me, though, the similarities outweigh the originality. I can understand why ITV1 wants to replicate the success of TV Burp, but I wished they could do something a bit more inspiring. The show's also fundamentally flawed. Namely, everyone who owns a TV set would have a slight interest in watching TV Burp, but not all TV viewers are keen on sport, so I would presume that audience figures may be hampered...

And finally, I've got another complaint: you know the sketch featuring Far Eastern athletes knocking into hurdles? I don't mind seeing the footage, but did they really have to call one of the athletes Lu Sing Now?

I'm not the only one a little uncomfortable, right?