Mark Wright (I)

Ladies of Letters Get It Wrong

Oh dear. I really wanted to like last night's first episode of the TV adaptation of Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman's popular Ladies of Letters series. I really did. But this transfer to television mis-fired on just about every level.

I remain to be convinced about this television transfer for a perennial Radio 4 comedy drama that still stars to this day Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge. Here Maureen Lipman and Anne Reid take on the roles of fractious ladies of a certain age, Irene and Vera, who strike up an often minty correspondence after meeting at a wedding. I just can't see how the concept (running on Radio 4 as part of Woman's Hour since 1997) can work on TV. I also object to the recasting (although if you absolutely have to, Maureen Lipman and Anne Reid are clearly going to be top notch), and the pedigree behind the production is about the best - this served as one of Geoffrey Perkins final projects before his sad death last year. I am willing to be talked round on this one...

Some sitcoms just won't go away, and so it is with Not Going Out, starring Lee Mack as Lee, who just never found the time to grow up on take on any adult responsibilities. Thing is, you can't help but like Not Going Out, for all its down at heel, old fashioned, studio-bound feel. It's certainly a cut above the now-defunct After You've Gone and woeful Life of Riley, and Mack, who serves as scriptwriter, is well versed in constructing intricate gags with a good payoff. Go on, give it a look. You might like it.

Any new sitcom by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, the sharp brains behind the excellent Peep Show is going to be worth a look, and this could have the makings of a classic. Roger-Lloyd Pack and Clive Swift star as the mismatched Tom and Roy, one a baby boomer who never left the 60s behind, the other an OAP with intellectual delusions of grandeur. Throw into the mix glamourous neighbour Sally (the still sexy as hell Jane Asher), who the boys have the hots for, and you have the makings of a classic sitcom. Fingers crossed...

Back in the Red - Do We Care?

After much scuttlebutt and gossip over the last few months, the details of the Red Dwarf one-off reunion special have been released... But honestly - and search deep for this - does anybody really care?

I'm still unconvinced about QI coming to BBC1, it seems like one channel transfer too far. Still, it's a great show and let's hope that doesn't change.

Arguably the best-loved comedy duo of all time are given due reverence in this celebration hosted by fan Paul Merton. All the usual clips will be present and correct, but there's also some early material thrown in, alongside fond recollections of the mighty pair's comedy mastery from fans and colleagues. Morecambe and Wise: always a pleasure, never a chore.

Some people say this sketch show is massively underrated, some say it's just rubbish, which probably means it falls somewhere in the middle, like the vast majority of sketch comedy. Slightly kooky, Serafinowicz's brand of humour is vulnerable to falling flat on its face for being slightly too out there, but in a world where somebody commissioned the dire The Kevin Bishop Show, I'll take this any day.

I've said before that this is not the greatest sitcom in the world, but it's better than a lot of the rubbish that's been slarted out in the name of the comedy over the last year. Parents of the Band, anybody? Shudder. Tonight, Matt Berry steals the show once again as Douglas, the sleazy boss of the company as he's interviewed by a journalist. Those three in the basement do some stuff too.

There are still moments of brilliance from TV Burp, but this extended run does seem to have watered the show down a touch. Very often, less is more. There's only one way to find out...