Kenny Everett

Kenny Everett was brilliantly funny

Best Possible Taste: the Kenny Everett Story (BBC Four, Wednesday) dramatises the DJ's colourful life, writes Ben Lawrence.

The best possible way to remember a true pioneer

A biopic of Kenny Everett should be compelling TV, says James Rampton.

I recommend Best Possible Taste, a warm, witty and respectful tribute to the ground-breaking DJ and comedian Kenny Everett that, while never shying away from the more troubled aspects of his character, actually goes out of its way to celebrate his genius.

Closer in spirit to the delightful Eric & Ernie and Tony Roche's winningly irreverent Holy Flying Circus - Ev's comic alter-egos, from Sid Snot to Cupid Stunt, act as a Greek chorus throughout - it's clearly a labour of love from screenwriter Tim Whitnall, whose ability to write about comedians with affectionate insight was previously established by his award-winning stage-play Morecambe.

With Ev's ex-wife and soul-mate Lee and his key collaborator Barry Cryer both acting as consultants, Whitnall's film abounds with a sense of anecdotal charm and detail that so many of these biopics lack. Sure, it begins with our hero recovering from a suicide attempt, and pivots around his struggle to come to terms with his homosexuality, but it never treats him crassly. Instead he's portrayed as an inveterate rebel with a self-destructive streak, whose total mastery of his craft clashed with his private anxieties. That's artists for you.

Framed as an unorthodox love story between Ev and Lee, it's a touching portrait of a sensitive, brilliant, loveable, maddening man trying to find his place in the world, before tragically passing away years before his time. Newcomer Oliver Lansley is simply outstanding in the lead role, inhabiting Ev's various personae - including his softly-spoken actual self - with uncanny accuracy and depth. If this magnificent performance isn't rewarded with a BAFTA next year, then I'll shake my fist at the sun in anger. That'll show them.

Ex-Coronation Street actress Katherine Kelly provides excellent support as the strong-willed Lee, and there are even a few colourful cameos from Freddie Mercury, Michael Winner and Dickie Attenborough (the latter essayed by Simon Callow in Full-Callow mode).

While many of these biopics often look as though they were made for the price of a packet of Swan Vestas, director James Strong does wonders with his resources here, producing a beautiful, inventive piece that its late subject may well have approved of. Alas, the budget cuts at BBC Four suggest that this will be their last drama for quite some time. But at least they've gone out on a high.

Video: Katherine Kelly on playing Mrs Kenny Everett

The actress played Becky MacDonald in Coronation Street and her latest TV role sees her playing the wife of Kenny Everett.

Katherine says Kenny and his wife Lee were very much in love even though Kenny was gay.

Katherine also says that Lee was very emotional when she saw Oliver Lansley, the actor who plays Kenny because his portrayal was so good.

Katherine Kelly interview

She made her name as Weatherfield's mouthy Becky, but there's been no rest for Katherine Kelly since she quit Coronation Street's cobbles. She pops up in a touching biopic about the late Kenny Everett, in which she plays the quirky star's ex-wife, Lee.

Katherine Kelly: Playing Kenny Everett's wife was wild

Actress Katherine Kelly was well prepared to play Kenny Everett's wild-child wife Lee Middleton in her latest TV role - after meeting her during the filming.

"Television needs a madman," says Noel Fielding, and he delivers lunacy in spades in a new sketch show which is even more madcap than The Mighty Boosh. In the spirit of Kenny Everett but stranger still, the skits revolve around a crayon drawing of Pelé and a talking knife wound.

If the names Captain Kremmen, Marcel Wave, Sid Snot and Cupid Stunt mean anything to you, then it's a safe bet that you're familiar with the work of the late Kenny Everett. Jeremy Beadle, Barry Cryer, Barry Took, and Steve Wright celebrate the work of a comedian who was always in the best possible taste.

While my howls of pain at the continuing run of Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights - aka a televised version of the Nirvana b-side I Hate Myself And I Want To Die - were unnoticed, The Morgana Show gets stronger and stronger.

The show by a relative newcomer is full of great characters and solid sketch comedy. Comparisons with Kenny Everett's show with its grotesque gallery of characters and childish desire to shock have been made and they're on the money.

I loved Kenny Everett's schtick as a kid and Morgana carries on that tradition. Her takedowns of Cheryl Cole, Danni Minogue and Fearne Cotton are particularly brilliant. Skip Frankie Boyle's boorish balderdash and watch the Morgana Show instead.