John Boland

Like Rowan Atkinson's annoying creation, Matt Lucas's down-at-heel aristocrat is a man of no words other than yelps and grunts. Maybe that's why he's called Pompidou because, apparently, the French simply adored the Atkinson twaddle and might go for this, too - but then, have you ever seen French TV comedy?

The pratfalls and shameless mugging here are painful to behold and Lucas chews the scenery throughout, perhaps thinking all the while about how his former partner, David Walliams, is making zillions from writing children's books. But then I always thought this duo overrated, just as I never got Reeves and Mortimer or most other recent British comedy pairings.