Matt Berry

Matt Berry: 'I don't mind naff Christmas songs'

Matt Berry has said that he doesn't mind "naff" Christmas songs.

A Christmas Song by Matt Berry

Mighty Boosh star Matt Berry has released a Christmas single in aid of the homeless charity Shelter.

IT Crowd's Matt Berry and his new album

The IT Crowd crazyman Matt Berry talks about his war with Alan Sugar, why Kate Bush terrified him and how he went from zero to hero by bagging a Beatle for his new album.

'Boosh' star Matt Berry releasing debut album

Matt Berry has announced plans to release his first music album as well as heading out on a tour of the UK.

The fourth series of Graham Linehan's sitcom about the otherworldly technical support team at Reynholm Industries comes to an end with a divorce fight between sleazy Denholm Reynholm (Matt Berry) and the wife he hasn't seen since she disappeared while washing the car. The ensuing courtroom battle features an appearance in the witness box from former employee Richmond (Noel Fielding) - now the founder of the business training enterprise "Goth 2 Boss".

The last episode in the current series is one of the very best yet. And there's a starring role in it for the brilliant Matt Berry as Douglas Reynholm as he attempts to divorce his second wife in a hilarious episode entitled 'Reynholm v Reynholm'.

In lots of ways, you could describe this as a series of mad ideas, red herrings and reminiscences - stuff that wouldn't fit anywhere else in the series - all loosely held together by the common thread of Douglas's divorce hearing.

Jen (Katherine Parkinson) is representing Douglas in court (in her role as Relationship Manager) while Moss and Roy - reduced to mere bit parts this week - look very uncomfortable indeed in suits and ties.

And there are jokes here about Heston Blumenthal and Star Trek plus a very welcome re-appearance for Noel Fielding as the IT department's resident, but rarely glimpsed, goth ­Richmond Avenal.

It all adds up to an ingeniously constructed comedy patchwork, which is also a pretty good description of Douglas's suit. Roll on series five.

A delightfully juvenile episode in this Bafta-winning sitcom that's improved with time, and is now in its fourth series. Reynholm (Matt Berry) joins a cult, Jen (Katherine Parkinson) joins a band, and Roy (Chris O'Dowd) is unexpectedly kissed on the backside by a masseur. The remainder of the programme largely involves the characters - all corporate misfits - finding different ways to say "bum". It's cheap, puerile... and very funny.

A welcome return for the Bafta-winning sitcom set in a corporation's dingy computer department. This is the start of series four. Many would have wielded the axe after a patchy debut run. The show's stay of execution was largely down to affection for writer/director Graham Linehan - the man behind Father Ted and Black Books, Chris Morris collaborator and recipient of comedy's Ronnie Barker Award last year. His creation is now worthy of those credentials, going from strength to strength. Tonight's opening episode is entitled Jen the Fredo, after the weak Corleone brother in The Godfather, and is crammed with knowing nods to the revered Mafia movie. Desperate to escape IT, Jen (Katherine Parkinson) is made Entertainments Manager by unreconstructed boss Douglas (Matt Berry) - a man given to pronouncements such as, "I like my women how I like my toast. Hot and consumable with butter." Jen's new job means showing braying businessmen a good time - and a theatre trip to The Vagina Monologues isn't quite the ticket. Back in the bunker, geeky Moss (Richard Ayoade) is devising Dungeons & Dragons-style role-play games and heartbroken Roy (Chris O'Dowd) keeps weepily guzzling white wine at his desk. All these plot strands come together ingeniously. Most laughs come from Berry and Ayoade's more cartoonish characters, but Linehan isn't too proud to write in the odd pratfall and it's so well-acted, one scene is genuinely touching, despite its silliness.

By now The IT Crowd, beginning its fourth series, has a cosy familiarity. The three main actors - four if you include Matt Berry's deranged chauvinist boss - inhabit their roles so completely that there is no longer any need for them to strain for laughs. That much you would expect from a long-running series. But even so, tonight's episode is exceptionally funny. Jen (Katherine Parkinson) has decided to apply for the job of Entertainment Officer, which involves showing sexually frustrated out-of-town businessmen the sleazier side of the capital. Only on this occasion, these honking refugees from a 1970s sitcom are sucked into a game of fantasy role-play organised by the über-geek Moss (Richard Ayoade). The moral? It's OK to get in touch with your inner nerd.