Jools Holland

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Not going out and reluctant to have a hootenanny chez Jools Holland? Never fear: Alan Carr is here to usher in the new year with you! They're at Channel 4 headquarters, so expect a good number of stars from the channel's stable as well as others (Jonathan Ross, Alesha Dixon and James Corden among them) to pop by for a series of party games and sketches. Live music comes from Tulisa and Professor Green, and the studio audience will be doing their best to provide a party atmosphere.

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Harry and Paul's Story of the 2s was an irreverent look back at the history of BBC Two as a whole. The programme was set out as a mockumentary with Harry Enfield taking the role of Simon Schama as he took us back to 1964 where Auntie Beeb gave birth to her second child. Enfield and Paul Whitehouse appear to have been given free rein to mock every programme that the channel have ever produced.

I was personally surprised that programmes such as Fawlty Towers, which are often held in high regard, were picked apart in a matter of minutes by the mischievous duo. Highlights for me included Paul's perfect impressions of both Mary Berry and Jools Holland with the latter presenting an ill-fated breakfast show 'Earlier with Jools'. I also thought the extended pastiche of the channel's recent reliance on panel shows were expertly done with Paul Merton's input on Have I Got News for You being perfectly lampooned.

At the same time I found a lot of the programme to make fairly obvious jokes including the fact that the majority of the BBC Two executives went to Oxbridge universities. In addition I felt the programme took its time getting started and that the early focus on long-running war documentaries weren't really that funny. At just under an hour in length, it felt at times as if Harry and Paul were struggling to find programmes to mock and even included a sketch from an unaired episode of Blackadder, a programme that never featured on BBC Two. But ultimately I do feel the programme was a success which featured more comedy hits than misses and just enough laughs to justify the length of the programme. Enfield and Whitehouse proved why they're still the go-to comics of choice for the BBC and the Story of the 2s was a perfect inclusion in the Bank Holiday comedy marathon. I did also find it admirable that Enfield took time to even mock himself as one sketch focused on his jealousy over the fact that Whitehouse's Fast Show had one multiple BAFTAs while his own show had never been recognised.

Radio Times review

As part of the 50th birthday celebrations, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse have a laugh at the expense of pretty much everything that has ever been on BBC Two. From a Likely Lads parody to a re-imagining of The Killing (featuring Pingu), it's a catalogue of derision that barely stops for breath.

Sacred cows get the bolt gun along with everything else: Enfield does a wheezing John Cleese impression that is spot-on and makes a lovely Alan-Bennett-as-Stalin in Talking Heads of State. The show is full of these kind of involved spoofs, not all of which come off, but enough do.

My favourite was Whitehouse doing Later... with Jools Holland re-imagined as a breakfast show ("And what a treat - Jeff Beck! Jeff, perhaps, if I could prod you awake...?"), but there will be something here for everyone.

Comedy of the week has to be the spoof documentary series The Life of Rock with Brian Pern. Simon Day plays the eponymous narrator - a self-regarding, pretentious prog rock legend, whose career bears more than a passing resemblance to Peter Gabriel's - eliciting contributions from genuine rock stars including Rick Wakeman, Roger Taylor and Jools Holland.

Rock music's indulgences are an easy target for parody, with the mockumentary format a far from original approach, but The Life of Rock's combination of affectionate derision, pure silliness and a non-stop array of gags is very hard to resist.

BBC Four frequently wheels out ageing tunesmiths for rock retrospectives, but nothing on as grand a scale as this. Brian Pern of prog pioneers Thotch, more commonly known as The Fast Show's Simon Day, takes us through a three-part history of all things rock in this spoof series, featuring contributions from Jools Holland and Roger Taylor, as well as Vic and Bob's folk monsters Mulligan and O'Hare. Day and director Rhys Thomas have created an absolute treat for musos and comedy fans alike.

Radio Times review

When an impressionist has such a distinct face, sketches can fall flat on television, no matter how uncanny the voice. The same could be said of Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson, so a return to radio should bode well.

I have to say, however, it's a mixed bag. The John Craven skit was by far the funniest, where he's challenged to sex up Countryfile à la cult US show Breaking Bad. "Have you ever cooked crystal meth?" asks a terribly posh female TV exec. Ironically, the impersonation of Craven is probably the least accomplished in the programme.

Not so the ones of Alan Bennett, Jools Holland and William Hague, whose vocal quirks are caught to a T, though the scripts could have been tighter. In all, the show leaves a satisfactory, if not great, impression.

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