Jane Horrocks

Those masters of the dark arts, the former League Of Gentlemen co-stars Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, return with a second instalment of their deliciously macabre shorts, the first series of which won best comedy performance at the Royal Television Society awards last week.
Like a Tales Of The Unexpected for the 21st century, each perfectly formed 30 minutes offers a masterclass in storytelling: witty, imaginative, inventive and suspenseful - with a clever twist at the end for good measure.
The six tales are linked by the number nine and in the opening episode, La Couchette, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Mark Benton, Jessica Gunning and Jack Whitehall join Pemberton and Shearsmith on board the sleeper train from Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice. They're a motley collection trying to get a quiet night's sleep as the train makes its way across France, but as the sleeping compartment fills up, the chances of that begin to look highly unlikely...
The setting for future episodes include a séance in the grand Victorian villa, a modern-day family get-together, a 17th-century village witch trial and a volunteer call centre, with Alison Steadman, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks, Paul Kaye and Tom Riley among the cast. Special mention must go to Sheridan Smith, however, for her performance in next week's offering, The 12 Days Of Christine, a powerful, moving story of one woman's rocky journey through life. It is an absolute gem, one of the best things I have seen on television this year.

This bizarre but brilliant one-hour special showcases the talents of acclaimed actress Jane Horrocks as a mimic and comedy performer, in a series of sketches written by, among others, Victoria Wood and Andy Hamilton.

Radio Times review

Christmas needn't be all doom and gloom, you know: try to see the funny side of it with this collection of amusing clips and comedians' anecdotes. The age-old staples of festive observational comedy are thoroughly dealt with, from office parties and last-minute shopping to cooking the turkey and feeling sick on Boxing Day.

Jane Horrocks narrates, with Christmas bonuses also heading into the bank accounts of Al Murray, Linda Robson, Adil Ray, Eamonn Holmes and, offering some hope of frosty freshness, Dame Edna Everage.

Sky1's big attempt at a mainstream sitcom is now in its fourth series. This is partly down to solid writing, but it's mainly because Trollied has an ensemble large enough to absorb cast changes. Jane Horrocks and Mark Addy have gone, and in their place come Stephen Tompkinson and Miriam Margoyles. It's hard to fight the sensation that Trollied is basically Waterloo Road with a deli counter, but it's likely to deliver regardless.

Radio Times review

Unlike the opening two episodes in this third series, The Cruise isn't interested in being clever, satirical or postmodern (not that there's anything wrong in that); instead it aims for straightforward, old-fashioned laughs - and gets them fairly efficiently.

Jane Horrocks plays Jacky, a suburban hairdresser with bedroom decor so twee that her face dissolves chameleon-like against the peachy wallpaper. Jacky wants husband Andy to join her on a cruise. Andy is, at best, lukewarm about the idea. Is his reluctance hiding something? Will Jacky get her cruise? Frankly, you won't much care, but this is still a likeable, if predictable, little Britcom.

What I see in the mirror: Jane Horrocks

'I turned 50 this year and I don't feel brilliant about it. I don't have many people telling me I look good at the moment'.

One sitcom that really didn't surprise me at all was Sky One's Trollied, which delivered its second annual Christmas Special.

Whilst the Gavin and Julie story was definitely there to appeal to long time fans of the show, I've always felt Trollied is at its best when focusing on the funnier supporting characters. For example foul-mouthed Colin (Carl Rice) led a band of the male store-workers against a group of young cub scouts who had attacked them several times. Equally funny was when the hopeless Neville (Dominic Coleman) ended up doing the Christmas shopping for his ex-wife's new husband and later put a bet on it being a white Christmas.

The latter half of the episode, which saw the employees being snowed in, showcased the strength of the programme namely the focus on a group of disparate characters who formed a very strong family unit. After a dodgy third series, which saw the show lose some of its big name cast members, it was refreshing to see the show back to its best.

Though I wasn't a fan of the story that focused on security guard Ian (Victor McGuire) badgering the store's Santa, the majority of the plots were strong.

I have to say I laughed all the way through and found the material between Gavin and Julie to be rather touching. Whether the show can survive without Jane Horrocks remains to be seen, but I did feel she got a fitting and respectful send-off in this rather good Christmas Special.

Laughs were provided by Sky One's Trollied, which returns for its third series. The joy of Trollied is that it has so many characters that the majority of the scenes only last a couple of minutes.

The main plot of this series seems to be the introduction of Richard France (Chris Geere), a strategist who is aiming to modernise Valco using the Warrington branch as his tester store. Obviously Richard's bold ideas, including his clothing choices, will inevitably clash with the more traditional views of manager Gavin (Jason Watkins) and his assistant manager Julie (Jane Horrocks).

Elsewhere, we are treated more to the tedious love story between butcher Kieran (Nick Blood) and checkout girl Katie (Chanel Creswell). It seems that the now divorced Kieran is in a depressive state while Katie has finally realised that he's the perfect man for her. Luckily this romantic story isn't dwelt upon too long and we get plenty from our favourite comic characters including head butcher Andy (Mark Addy) and senior citizen deli assistant Margaret (Rita May).

It is these established characters that get the best gags including the now romantically linked Colin (Carl Rice) and Lisa (Beverly Rudd) whose sexual exploits provide some of the funniest moments in the episode.

I'm still not quite sure what to make of weird fishmonger Ray (Adeel Akhtar) and his new apprentice Dave (Danny Kirrane) as I didn't find their characters to be fully-formed.

Ultimately not much has changed in the world of Trollied and I think I like it that way. The jokes are still as funny as ever while the performances from Watkins and Horrocks are great especially when we saw how proud Gavin and Julie were of their summertime display.

Though I don't think this will quite reach the heights of Season 2, due to the fact that Stephanie Beacham has now left the show, Trollied continues to be a funny sketch-like sitcom with plenty of well-rounded characters.

DVD review: Trollied is not so much 'every little helps'; but a little tends to go a long way. Supermarket sitcom Trollied had a mixed reception for its first series: the script was undeniably appalling but a few critics were clearly charmed by characters and scenarios that were bold, obvious and easy on the brain. If you agree with the latter camp, you'll be pleased with the addition of Stephanie Beacham. As the ballsy new boss of Valco, she channels Dragons' Den's Hilary Devey as she launches the 'No Nonsense' discount range, deputy Julie (Jane Horrocks, in her first role since those Tesco voice-overs) simpering around her all the while. They say 'every little helps' - but with Trollied, a little tends to go a long way.

Leighton's new-found drive to save the planet puts him in the mire when he switches off the freezers at the supermarket (he thinks he's just turning off the lights) and defrosts all the frozen goods. Julie (Jane Horrocks) wants to give him another chance, Lorraine (Stephanie Beacham) wants to give him the sack. "Never let your emotions get the better of you," she tells her deputy. The only time Lorraine ever welled up was when her dog got put down. And that was only because she had to do it herself. With a mallet.

As for poor Leighton, you might just start crying yourself when he's given the bad news. Surely, this can't be the end of his story? Valco just wouldn't be the same without him.