Matt Berry

This madcap sitcom centring on Steven Toast (The IT Crowd's Matt Berry), an eccentric middle-aged actor returns to Channel 4 on Friday. In preparation, the sublimely surreal first season is available on demand.

One project that has mixed humour with serious subject matter for the last thirty years is Comic Relief which aired it's bi-annual Red Nose Day last Friday. As well as the climax of both The Bake-Off and The People's Strictly; Red Nose Day saw the return of many comedy icons. The sketch that the team seemed to be most proud of was the Little Britain clip in which David Walliams' Lou was now the carer for Professor Steven Hawking. However I wasn't a particular fan and by the clip's third airing I'd grown tired of seeing Hawking become a transformer and finish off both Lou and Catherine Tate's Irish nun. The more successful returns came courtesy of Mr. Bean and The Vicar of Dibley with the latter presenting a cameo-laden sketch in which Geraldine meets her rivals for the position of the first female bishop. There were two sketches that I particularly enjoyed the first of which featured a host of famous faces vying to become Britain's newest national treasure. Featuring everyone from Salman Rushdie to The Chuckle Brothers; this sketch was amusing throughout and had a great pay-off. Similarly I felt that Comic Relief's take on Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen skit was inspired with a quartet of the organisation's famous fundraisers competing to see who had the most gruelling experience. There were other little moments that made me chuckle most notably when voiceover man Matt Berry came onto to stage to argue with host Claudia Winkleman. However, Comic Relief isn't really about the sketches or the laughter but rather the money that's raised at the end of the night. The final scene, in which Lenny Henry revealed that the organisation has raised more than a billion pounds over the past thirty years, was one of the most heartwarming TV moments I've seen all year. Henry's pride in what Comic Relief has done over the years was brilliant to see and it just proves what the British public can achieve when they put their minds to something.

Radio Times review

The hit-and-miss lunacy is all hit in this episode. What makes Vic and Bob's Young Ones-style madhouse so great is that we can never be sure what's coming next. Most comedies are more or less predictable: not this one.

Lothario Beef (Matt Berry) has to hide from an angry husband? Naturally he takes cover in the washing machine, and emerges a tiny shrunken version of himself. What is Vic drawing on Bosh's back with the tattoo gear they stole? Why, a picture of Jeremy Clarkson of course, which then forms the basis of a madly ingenious visual gag involving a lampshade and some bongo drums.

It's all violently daft and childish, and that's entirely the point.

Review: Funny Valentines - Matt Berry: Wild Love

I don't know if Matt Berry has ever done the voiceover for a real wildlife documentary but, boy would it liven them up if he was given free reign by the nature department's Clem Fandangos.

Vic and Bob return, with Bob's Nordic son Erik gearing up for a blind date. He's not keen but, after some cajoling from Vic, agrees. Meanwhile, Beef (Matt Berry) joins Vic and Bob in a band that will celebrate the opening week of Julie's bistro, brandishing a keytar. Sadly, considering the hoo-hah over whether it might or might not get a second series, things in the house don't seem anywhere near as sharp as series one - except for Morgana Robinson's bonkers Julie, of course, who is all swivel-eyed brilliance.

Comedy greats Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer may be getting on a bit now but they've definitely not lost their touch as their surreal sitcom House Of Fools returns for a second series .

They're older and wiser, but as funny as ever.

The show is set in the home of old friends 'Vic' and 'Bob' where the gags come fast and furious, as do the pratfalls.

"It's an old-fashioned sitcom with people falling over and word play," explains Vic, "but there are also good stories with peaks and troughs."

This season sees their sexy neighbour Julie (Morgana Robinson) opening a bistro, Bob's strange son Erik (Daniel Simonson) getting a girlfriend, and more hilarious visits from their lothario pal Beef (Matt Berry).

It's the brand of comedy that made Vic and Bob famous in the 90s with their anarchic panel show, Shooting Stars.

"We needed barriers to keep the fans back," recalls Vic, 56.

"But now we are the oldest comics working," Bob, 55, adds. "And there's less drink involved."

"I have a Snowball 10 minutes before filming ends. That's about as rock 'n' roll as it gets, but this is probably the most fun we've had. I'm really proud of it."

Matt Berry and Morgana Robinson on House of Fools

Today, we bring you our catch-up with Bob's regular house guests, Matt Berry and Morgana Robinson.

Radio Times review

With an imperious performance from Matt Berry, Toast of London series two continued to be a joyously surreal take on the life of an arrogant, sexually incontinent actor whom you couldn't help taking to your heart. Self-consciously old fashioned, Toast of London is set in the present day but presents a world where the next day's theatre "notices" still hold sway, business is done on landline telephones and a feud with a medallion-wearing, moustache-sporting fellow called Ray Purchase consumes our hero's energies. With some of the most wonderfully silly names in any comedy ever ("Yes, I can hear you, Clem Fandango!"), Toast of London was bold, brash and laugh-out-loud funny.

Radio Times review

There is nothing like House of Fools for clangingly mad farce. The Christmassy special does Vic and Bob's usual trick of stirring up a big blizzard of bonkers, but with added tinsel, and it's a joy to watch. To the extent that there's a plot it involves the gang trying to steal a bobble hat from Phil Collinss house, because the one Bob bought for his sinister son Erik caught fire.

But that's merely a string on which to hang their bursts of slapstick, fart gags, songs, snogs, silly props (including a massive horn), mad accents and, of course, mishaps involving Bob's toupee. Julie (Morgana Robinson), their refulgent neighbour, is on great form, as is Beef (Matt Berry in a sort of toga), who nearly scuppers the Collins raid because he "can't actually whisper".

Graham Linehan would love to do a IT Crowd spin-off

The creator of the cult comedy would like to give Matt Berry's vile boss Douglas Reynholm his own show.