Kerry Howard

This can't fail: Roy Clarke's prequel to his own Keeping Up Appearances adds Heartbeat-ish period charm to the formula of social ambition undone by pride and pratfalls. Hyacinth is a 19-year-old in the 1950s, desperate to drag her family out of their humble existence. Of course it's weak beer but Kerry Howard is brilliant in the lead, nailing her character's wobbly attempt to put on an RP accent and expertly hinting at Patricia Routledges manic intonation.

Young Hyacinth preview

Routledge herself has been scathing about the project, saying: 'Why are they doing this sort of thing? They must be desperate.' Though with Keeping Up Appearances being the BBC's top export, you can understand the 'why' very easily, even if there's unlikely to be little clamour for this prequel.

TV preview: Young Hyacinth, BBC1

In some ways this is the most interesting of the current Landmark Sitcom Season reboots, in some ways it is the least interesting.

28 real life situations dealt by Hyacinth Bucket

As Kerry Howard prepares to take on the role of a young Hyacinth, we take a look at how Mrs Bucket's "executive" way of living could teach us all a thing or two, with 28 real life situations she could deal with perfectly.

Meet the new inhabitants of Successville

To celebrate, the good folk at Tiger Aspect have let us in on a little more about this year's murder victims and the suspects, who is playing who, and exactly when you'll be able to see them... plus a set of exclusive images across this post of most of our regulars in action. You'll probably notice there's a distinct lack of Paul Kaye in this images, but more on that one soon... until then, here's a run-down of each episode!

Russell Howard wants to do more Gert Lush

Russell Howard is keen to bring us a follow up to his one-off BBC comedy A Gert Lush Christmas, but jokes he may struggle to book his increasingly popular sister Kerry Howard.

Kerry Howard talks about Keeping Up Appearances prequel

Having finished shooting the comedy last week, Kerry Howard admitted that she was aware that many fans of the original might be critical of the idea, but hopes that the public will enjoy it.

Kerry Howard interview

Kerry Howard has said that the BBC has been anything but witless​ over the scheduling of her brand new sitcom.

Witless is BBC Three's first brand new comedy since they made the move online. Just like BBC Three's other big comedy Cuckoo, Witless has a surprisingly old-fashioned premise for a show that's supposedly trying to attract the under-thirty crowd. The story sees mismatched flatmates straight-laced Rhona (Zoe Boyle) and the outrageous Leanne (Kerry Howard) forced into witness protection after seeing a gangland shooting first hand. The majority of the comedy is derived from the fact that Rhona was just about to move out from the flat that she and Leanne shared due to her not being able to stand her any more. So now she's forced to spend a lot more time with Leanne, doesn't sit well with Rhona neither does the fact that the flat they're given by the Witness Protection scheme is even more down market than the one they shared before. Whilst the Witness Protection situation couldn't have come at a worse time for Rhona, Leanne sees it as an opportunity to reinvent herself. Going off script almost instantly, she introduces herself with several different pseudonyms throughout the course of the episode and also tries to find romance with the mysterious Patrick (Samuel Anderson). Writers Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf make sure to the audience realise that there is a real threat on the girls' lives by introducing two young gangster characters who have been tasked with wiping them out. The final part of the opening episode sees Leanne save Rhona from being killed in a strip club and in the process the two finally realise that they can rely on each other. In my opinion Witless does have a lot going for it from an intriguing premise to the energy and enthusiasm of the two lead actresses. At the same time it is a little rough around the edges and I found that the two young hoodlums who are on Rhona and Leanne's tails have been written in quite a clichéd manner. On the upside Boyle and especially Howard seem to be having fun with the show and the pair share an awkward chemistry which lends itself well to the relationships their characters have. My personal highlights of the first episode were the Witness Protection self-help videos hosted by John Inverdale as they were perfectly pitched. If BBC Three are smart they'll post extra videos featuring Inverdale on their website as I do feel these may draw people to watch full episodes of Witless. Though it's far from perfect, Witless at least shows promise and even during the script's weaker moments I thought that Boyle and Howard's winning chemistry and enthusiasm was enough to see me through.