Martin Freeman

Radio Times review

It's business as usual for the final episode, which is to say moments of brilliance and stretches that go a bit tepid. But that's the deal with Toast: you put up with the iffy bits for the occasional dash of comic glory you wouldn't find anywhere else.

Our luckless curmudgeon gets a job at the Globe in a production of Twelfth Night by radical director Daz Klondyke. It's to be performed by a cast of dogs as "a metaphor for what's happening in Syria". Yes, it's daft, but if you want an idea of the series' celebrity fans, look out for cameos from Jude Law, Martin Freeman, Sheila Hancock and others. They're all basically agreeing that Toast is, as Sam Mendes puts it, "a colossal t**t".

Which The Office stars won't be in Life On The Road?

Ricky Gervais's film Life On The Road, which is scheduled for release in August 2016, focuses on the music career of deluded office manager David Brent from his maiden TV series The Office (2001 - 2003). But it will not feature the original actors from the series Martin Freeman and Mackenzie Crook, it has been confirmed.

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Martin Freeman has praised his Office co-star and creator Ricky Gervais, saying that the writer made him laugh more than anyone else while they were filming the hit BBC comedy.

Brian Pern: A Life in Rock was very funny indeed, and featured great cameos from, among others, Martin Freeman, Kathy Burke and Tim Rice. It's splenetic, hilarious and just wrong. Can there be yet another urgent need to send up the pomp of the prog-rock years when it has already been spoofed so sublimely by Spinal Tap, and The Comic Strip's Bad News Tour?

Simon Day is behind this, and very good he is too, and you should watch it if you haven't watched any other satire on 70s musical vainglory. But if you have, you'll simply be asking yourself: why?

Anybody who saw the faux documentary presented by Brian Pern (Simon Day) on BBC4 knows that the frontman of Genesis-esque prog rock band Thotch is a great comedy creation.

Director Rhys Thomas, who co-wrote the series along with Day, brilliantly portrays the life of an ageing rocker as he tries to keep himself relevant with a modern audience. The stories of Pern refusing to be in a room with his former bandmates (played brilliantly by Paul Whitehouse and Nigel Havers) were perfectly pitched. The creation of a Thotch jukebox musical was an equally enjoyable subplot especially when the show's director Kathy Burke decided to cut all of the overly long Thotch songs from the show.

I personally enjoyed the final few moments of the comedy as Pern was dragged into the police station in a manner that would suggest he was part of a Yewtree-type investigation. But the punchline itself was brilliantly delivered as was the reaction from Pern's manager John Farrow (Michael Kitchen).

Part of the charm of Brian Pern is the fact that everyone is willing to go that extra mile and, in the case of those playing themselves, send up certain elements of their characters. Martin Freeman is a prime example of this as he tries to capture Pern's mannerisms in order to correctly portray him in the musical.

Meanwhile, a cameoing Tim Rice perfectly sums up his feelings about the Jukebox musical and how they've taken away from his type of musical theatre.

Although some of the jokes don't hit the mark, Brian Pern: A Life in Rock is a perfectly constructed mockumentary that owes a massive debt to the work of Christopher Guest. The fact that the sitcom is only three parts means that it won't outstay it's welcome and at the same time will leave the audience craving for more from Day's egotistical prog rocker.

Brian Pern: a Life in Rock, BBC2 - TV review

Brian Pern: a Life in Rock (BBC Two) also had the feel of a reunion, or perhaps the office Christmas party for British comedy's hardest workers - Martin Freeman, Jack Whitehall, Kathy Burke, Paul Whitehouse and Phil Cornwell all popped up in various roles.

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Martin Freeman says he's glad he's not doing The Office anymore, because he thinks more series would have ruined it for fans.

Although BBC2 produced many landmark comedy series, The Office was notable for establishing a new genre - the mockumentary. Fictional, but filmed as if it were a fly-on-the-wall reality TV show, it was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and gave us the grotesque (but inst­antly recognisable) character of David Brent, the socially awkward, yet self-important boss from hell presiding over a workplace in Slough which sucks the soul out of its employees. The Office reinvigorated the flagging British sitcom format. A touching blend of egotism, self-delusion and desperation, Brent is an incredible comic creation, but the show's other characters: Tim (Martin Freeman), who is all-too aware of the pointlessness of his work; Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), the self-inflated assistant regi­onal manager and the butt of Tim's jokes; and Dawn - the secretary with the fit but selfish boyfriend - were all beautifully drawn. It was the first British comedy to win a Golden Globe.

World's End fails to beat Hot Fuzz at the box office

The sci-fi thriller starring Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman and Nick Frost suffers in the summer heat during opening weekend, taking just £2.1m compared to its predecessor's £5.9m.