Jane Anderson (I)

Radio Times review

Comedy writer Jon Canter's last radio hit was the engagingly barmy Believe It!, which invented a fantasy life for Richard Wilson of all people. In Canter's new series Dr Johnson's biographer Boswell (Miles Jupp) interviews historical figures (Sigmund Freud last week, Maria Callas today, Harold Pinter coming up).

It's reminiscent of the Sky Arts 1 series Psychobitches in which Rebecca Front did the same sort of thing. I preferred it because its sketch format didn't outstay its welcome. Here the material is stretched thinly over half an hour. But radio editor Jane Anderson thinks it's "a work of genius". You decide.

Radio Times review

What an absolute delight for the brain and the ears. This new series was created by Jon Canter (the freelance comedy writer who has worked with everyone from Fry and Laurie to Smith and Jones), stars the ludicrously vocally talented Miles Jupp, and tantalises the listeners with three impossible interviews.

Each week, James Boswell, the famous biographer of Dr Samuel Johnson, travels through time to interview a historical figure he could never have met. This week it's Sigmund Freud, next up is Maria Callas and the series closes with Harold Pinter (played by Harry Enfield).

One cannot help feel pity for Boswell as every question, every response, every word he utters is immediately pounced upon and psychoanalysed by Freud (played to neurotic perfection by Henry Goodman). So much so that Boswell ends the interview believing he may well want to kill his father and sleep with his mother.

A work of genius.

Radio Times review

Bob Mortimer may well be in trouble with his wife after this broadcast. He has told her that he works from 9.30am to 4pm with his comedy cohort Jim Moir (Vic Reeves). He now confesses to Reece Shearsmith that they stop feeling funny around 2pm and he has a nap in a car park.

Such endearing revelations are all part of this show's appeal -- it gets great stories because the interviewees feel comfortable enough to share.

Radio Times review

It's impossible to predict how well any new sitcom will do from just one listen. I still wince when I recall my damning judgement on Little Britain after its first airing. We have to get to know the characters before we can empathise with them and, indeed, make a commitment to follow their fates.

So it is with joy in my heart that I announce I will be staying with Cleaning Up. Set in a Manchester office, it's an all-female team of cleaners, headed up by Julie (Julie Hesmondhalgh) and Dave, the security guard (John Thompson), who draw us so entirely into their world. And then their apple cart is upset when the unheard of happens: a male cleaner joins them. Nobby, played by Paul Barber, would rather be signing on than spraying bleach -- and even more so when he realises his new boss Julie is his ex-fiancée.

I think this is a grower -- but then my track record (see Little Britain) is not that great!

Radio Times review

This series never disappoints. The writing and acting is consistently top-notch and it balances dark comedy with human sorrow as expertly as a finely tuned racing car. In this episode we finally get to hear Andy's story.

The self-appointed head of the Alcoholics Anonymous weekly meetings has studiously kept his private life away from the rest of the group, but when he turns up in a suit -- or two suits as sarcastic Scot Simon keeps pointing out (the jacket and trousers don't match) -- their suspicions are aroused.

It is soon revealed that Andy (Eddie Marsan) is going on a date, his first ever date, after the meeting. And it is down to Simon (John Hannah), of all people, to persuade him not to wimp out.

Radio Times review

"If there's one thing recovering alcoholics aren't short of it's stories," says writer Pete Jackson. And he should know, as this inspired and inspiring sitcom comes from his own experience of being thrown into AA meetings with a truly disparate group of people and then finding that it's more than a problem with drink that binds them together. The fact that Jackson is working with one of the finest comedy casts on radio for years helps as well.

The previous story centred on the aggressive snob Fiona, played by Rebecca Front (be sure to listen on iPlayer if you missed it). This story belongs to Julie (played by Sue Johnston), a woman who did not start drinking, or really living, until she hit 60. Paul Kaye, John Hannah, Eddie Marsan and Julia Deakin are the rest of the players and the series is set to become a classic.

I hope that Radio 4 makes much more use of Jackson over the coming months. He's a comedy writer with talent and a heart.

Radio Times review

Comedian Bridget Christie has done two Edinburgh shows and now two Radio 4 series on the state of feminism in Great Britain today. Her tone is vituperative as she acknowledges the shtick she takes for not changing the subject matter of her shows -- has the lot of women now so improved that sexism does not need questioning any more, she demands?

Her material ranges from new takes on the classic comedy sketch format to borderline rants. But her points are well made and what's not to like about her own, personal rape fantasy -- apparently all we women have them -- "more prosecutions and longer sentences"?

Radio Times review

This is part of a neat little series where Radio 4 "faces" -- characters from sitcoms -- invite us into their homes to share their Christmas. I have selected Ed Reardon, devastated as I am that he does not have his own festive special this year, but hopeful that his natural gloom may be lifted by at least one pleasant surprise.

Radio Times review

A masterpiece in pitch-black comedy from the pairing of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is Good Omens (Mon 22 Dec-Fri 26 Dec, 11pm R4 and Sat 27 Dec, 2.30pm), where two angels - one working with God, the other with Satan - form an unholy alliance. Unfortunately, there has been a bit of a mix-up with the birth of the Antichrist, and the American ambassador's son (Warlock) might not be the child to bring on Armageddon after all. The fate of our planet will be decided after Any Questions on Saturday 27 Dec, Radio 4. Thus was it written...

Radio Times review

Hal Cruttenden is unashamedly middle-class, which makes his humour a perfect match for Radio 4. There's even a telling reference to this in his new sitcom about a stay-at-home dad, where he advises his children that while being middle-class is definitely "the best", they should not tell their school chums because it will make them sound vulgar.

It's tough to make an impact in the first episode of a new sitcom, but I laughed out loud, several times, and the supporting cast, including Ed Byrne and Ronni Ancona, is top-notch.