Mathew Horne

A successful season of short farces by Anton Chekhov draws to a close with a double bill. The Dangers of Tobacco is a monologue in which the hen-pecked Nyukhin (Steve Coogan) is forced to deliver a lecture on the dangers of smoking by his domineering wife. Instead, Nyukhin digresses to bemoan his lot and complain about his "petty, evil miser" of a wife. Better is The Proposal, a witty take on marriage. It finds wimpy hypochondriac Lomov (Mathew Horne) seeking the hand of his neighbour Natasha (Sheridan Smith) from her father (Philip Jackson), until it all disintegrates into a bout of one-upmanship.

Johnny Vegas is perhaps someone you would not automatically associate with Anton Chekhov. Likewise Mackenzie Crook. But here they are in Chekhov: Comedy Shorts (Sky Arts 2). In this first one, A Reluctant Tragic Hero, Vegas plays Tolkachov, a man at the very end of his tether, fed up with running tedious shopping errands for his family. Crook is Murashkin, Tolkachov's mate, who should be - tries to be - sympathetic, but then gets it all wrong and adds to poor Tolkachov's problems.

And hey, it works. Vegas gets to do what he's designed to do - make a lot of noise and be miserable (he has tragedy built into his features). Crook gets to say not very much, be a bit gormless, and have a long, hollow face. Which suits him fine, too. Nineteeth-century Russia could easily be 21st-century anywhere; I guess that - the continuing relevance - is what makes Chekhov a dude. Hey, who said this column can't do serious literary criticism?

Anyway, they're quite good fun, and there are more to come, with other unlikely Chekhovian actors including Steve Coogan, Julia Davies and Mathew Horne. Bring 'em on.

This is how sketch comedy should be done, James Corden and Mathew Horne please please please take note. Actually forget that, just please stick to Gavin & Stacey.

Like every show of this kind, Harry and Paul has it's hits and misses, but you won't get a better ratio than with these old collaborators. There are a few original pieces in the second helping of their latest series, including an opening take-down of bed-hopping Silvio Berlusconi, but much of this material is similar to other stuff we have seen before in one form or another. The two old aristocrats denouncing the entire TV community (even David Attenborough?!) as 'quares', remind us of the perpetually pickled Rowley Birkin QC and the whole potato skit reminds us the hilarious Mr Cholmondley-Warner, but the Enfield and Whitehouse have a sense of timing and a panaché that makes that seem irrelevant.

For me, watching Enfield as the reserved English gent encouraging his son's potato hobby is just as rewarding as listening to the faux-Public Information programmes which lampooned the early days of television. Parking Patewayo, the traffic warden whose prolific exploits are potrayed as children's educational programming is another sure-fire hit, as are the pair's stick-in-the-mud ex footballers. "Go an' get the bloke love.."

Horne & Corden - Beyond A Joke

In the words of Ricky Gervais's spoof sitcom When The Whistle Blows, are you having a laugh? In the words of Victor Meldrew I don't believe it. In my own words, has the world turned upside down? In a new poll conducted by seesaw.com, James Corden and Mathew Horne have been voted the best double act ever.

Mathew Horne interview

Actor Mathew Horne, 31, is best known for playing Gavin in Gavin & Stacey and for his other work with co-star James Corden including the film Lesbian Vampire Killers.

Mathew Horne: 'Sketch was not homophobic'

Comedian and actor Mathew Horne has denied that a sketch on his comedy show, Horne & Corden, was homophobic.

Mathew Horne: 'Culture Club show was exciting'

Mathew Horne has admitted that he was thrilled to land a role in a new drama about Culture Club.

A Cinema Near You, Radio 4, review

Gillian Reynolds reviews Radio 4's comedy pilot A Cinema Near You, starring Mathew Horne and Caroline Quentin, plus the rest of the week's radio.

Mathew Horne (of Gavin & Stacey TV fame) plays Alex, a struggling young cinema manager in this new comedy by Simon (Men Behaving Badly) Nye. Here's the situation: Alex has to promote a forthcoming attraction, an arty Swedish film. But no one's interested, not even Mrs Duke (Caroline Quentin), the cinema's rambly, elderly owner, or neighbouring café boss Jane (Mel Hudson), who fancies him. Here's a tip: look at the cast. Consider author's other work (translations of Molière and Dario Fo, films, TV, scholarly studies of painters, awards). This one (produced by Jane Berthoud and Simon Mayhew-Archer) may go far.

Anyone who knows Justin Lee Collins and the horror of his Bring Back... programmes will be relieved to know that this new mixture of chat and variety show is nowhere near as bad as it might have been. Filmed in front of a young audience of 300-odd people at the plush Rivoli Ballroom in south London, it is full of good humour and high spirits. "I wanted the show to feel like a circus," he says, "with me as the ringmaster." During the run of the series, he will play darts with Meat Loaf and Ewan McGregor, interview Gok Wan and Mathew Horne, compliment Sharon Osborne on her plastic surgery and organise an offbeat dance competition. The most pleasant surprise of all is that he doesn't scream and shout with artificial exuberance.