Maureen Lipman

Comedy is losing its bite, says Maureen Lipman

Maureen Lipman has toned down her Edinburgh Fringe act over fears that she that would incur the wrath of the politically correct "thought police".

Fringe 2018: shows we think will sell out fast

From first timers to returning Fringe favourites, here's the shows from Gilded Balloon, Pleasance, Assembly and Underbelly to book ASAP.

10 TV faces to see at the Edinburgh Fringe 2018

BGT winner Lee Ridley, Humans' Katherine Parkinson and Julie Hesmondhalgh are performing this year.

Plebs is back: sharply written, funny & filthy as ever

Series three of the ITV2 comedy sees Marcus, Stylax and Grumio on the wrong end of a lion, while guest stars Maureen Lipman and Michelle Keegan shine.

The plebs are back for a well-deserved third series, and Marcus, Stylax and Grumio are hoping to get tickets for the hugely popular "beast games" at the Colosseum. Instead, they find themselves embroiled with a group of animal rights activists, led by a fiery Gaul called Delphine, whose main form of protest appears to be the use of tomatoes. Understandably, Marcus is soon infatuated. The dim-witted Grumio unwisely crosses Landlady, their new landlady, played by the magnificent Maureen Lipman.

Not content with hosting many an antique sitcom, Gold now plays home to an antiques sitcom. Leathery lothario Rupert Bull (Robert Lindsay) runs an antique shop alongside laconic chain-smoking sister Beverley (Maureen Lipman), his lofty ambitions counterweighted by his staggering ineptitude. Following confusion between eggs of the free-range and Fabergé variety, a plan must be hastily concocted in order to placate moneyed customer Mr Richards. A primo cast deserve better than what is an underbaked script.

Radio Times review

Nothing wrong with an old-fashioned sitcom, and set-ups don't come much comfier than a shop staffed by eccentrics. Bull is the surname of both lead characters: siblings, played by Robert Lindsay and Maureen Lipman, who sell antiques. He's extravagant and creosote-brown, like a certain wheeler-dealing TV presenter, while she chain-smokes and only pays attention when necessary. Their young assistants are stupid (Naz Osmanoglu) and nervous (Claudia Jessie).

What's not so traditional is the chaotic script, which aims for quirky but more often hits baffling. Matt Lucas lifts this opener with a guest turn as a neighbouring shopkeeper who's obsessed with bossa nova.

Robert Lindsay and Maureen Lipman interview

As Robert Lindsay and Maureen Lipman return to comedy for new series Bull, they take a look back over their storied careers.

Maureen Lipman interview

The star of new sitcom Bull tells Neil Armstrong about women's rights, working with Polanski, and why her daughter has forbidden her from using Facebook.