Nicholas Burns

Video: Nicholas Burns - what Nathan Barley would do now

Ten years after Nathan Barley first aired on Channel 4, digital agency DigitasLBi (yeh?) invited Nicholas Burns, the actor behind Barley, to discuss the character's legacy.

Episode two of the spectral sitcom that has more than a hint of Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) about it. Frazzled magistrate Sarah Alexander remains actively haunted by three recently deceased spirits: her slobbish husband John Hannah, uptight work colleague and lover Nicholas Burns, and daffy local vicar Jo Joyner. While she considers exorcism to retain her sanity, a break-in unexpectedly brings her haunters together. The high concept doesn't feel like it has quite bedded in, but the cast are game and there's a good Transporter 2 joke.

Marley's Ghosts which was of a number of original sitcoms that are to be produced by the repeat-heavy network GOLD. Unlike the Sky and NBC collaboration, Marley's Ghosts is an awfully traditional affair albeit one with a far-fetched plot line in which magistrate Marley (Sarah Alexander) finds herself plagued by a plethora of undead faces from her past. The craziness begins when Marley's drunken husband Adam (John Hannah) dies after choking on a chicken bone. When his ghost reappears at his own funeral, Marley starts conversing with him much to the chagrin of her colleague and lover Michael (Nicholas Burns). Michael's fury at Marley's situation leads him to be hit by the car of the inept local vicar (Jo Joyner) with both eventually dying and joining Adam as ghosts only Marley can see. It's clear to see that writer Daniel Peacock has primarily written for children's TV up to this point as Marley's Ghosts has a rather juvenile streak running throughout it. A lot of the jokes are quite obvious however I have to admit that I did chuckle quite a few times especially at a recurring gag involving a pair of randy pensioners. Despite a loopy premise and some corny gags, Marley's Ghosts was strangely watchable thanks primarily to its game cast. I particularly thought that John Hannah gave a better performance than the show deserved as Marley's depressed husband who realised the error of his ways after his death. Similarly impressive was Jo Joyner who gave one of her best post-Eastenders turns to date and she seemed to be having a whale of time as the kooky vicar. While Marley's Ghosts isn't going to win any points for originality it does give me hope that the people at GOLD know what they're doing when it comes to producing original content and I'm looking forward to what they have to offer in the future.

Even though I don't believe in ghosts whatsoever, I've placed this to one side for this new comedy, where Sarah Alexander is Marley, whose husband, lover, and vicar all kark it in varying degrees of amusingness, and then return to haunt her. John Hannah, Nicholas Burns, and Jo Joyner all torment Alexander in a really annoying and intrusive manner, a set of supernatural pests who exasperate Marley more than frighten her, their presence more like a summer ant infestation than the Amityville horror.

Spoof doc with the now washed-up telly fashion mavens, following them as they try to resuscitate their flagging career. Talking heads with Lulu, Jake Shears and Dr Fox add authenticity. Ditched by their agent ("When I first met them, they were Susannah and Trinny . . .") and out of TV offers, the pair start to peck at each other like irritable vultures. Their acting talent is genuinely surprising and they have superb support from Katy Wix as long-suffering assistant Gemma and Nicholas Burns as ex-agent Leonard. In terms of personality, this is how to look good figuratively naked.

Putting the boob-grabbing former queens of TV on Curb-style mockumentary seems as godawful an idea as Monkey Tennis or Robson Green's Extreme Fishing (which actually happened).

Yet this bizarre, sometimes hilarious show works unexpectedly well, with the pair squabbling and squawking, bemoaning Gok Wan's popularity and plumbing the depths of celebrity endorsement.

Once the high priestesses of makeover TV and initially watchable despite their 'tell-it-like-it-is' rudeness, we find Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine attempting to recapture former glories in From Boom to Bust (see what they did there with the title?)

In Thursday's opener, the fashionistas gunned for a return to the limelight in the shape of a Cillit Bang ad only for their decline on the celebrity stock market to torpedo the deal and lose the duo their longstanding agent.

Rent-a-celebs such as Lulu and Dr Fox popped up as talking heads and familiar comedians including Katy Wix (Not Going Out) and Nicholas Burns (Nathan Barley) portrayed Trinny and Susannah's long-suffering staff.

At an hour, it was a little too long to sustain the joke but with teetotal Trin and Chardonnay-quaffing Suze impressively game for self-parody, it might be the vehicle they need to knock Gok off the makeover perch.

Johnny Vegas axed from Benidorm

Johnny Vegas has been axed from ITV1 sitcom Benidorm - as bosses draft in sexy new characters for series four. Other characters leaving the show are Martin and Kate Weedon, played by Nicholas Burns and Abigail Cruttenden.

Popular though it may be, Benidorm, the sitcom starring Sheila Reid, can be distasteful. In tonight's penultimate episode of the third series, dishonesty pervades the Spanish seaside resort: Gavin (Hugh Sachs) learns that Troy (Paul Bazely) is apparently cheating on him, while the elaborate stories of the Oracle (Johnny Vegas) land him in a spot of bother with the local police. Elsewhere, Diana (Una Stubbs) arrives to help her recently conned son Martin (Nicholas Burns) get back on his feet.

It's brash, bold and, despite its poor innuendos and obvious crudeness, at times quite brilliant in its sending-up of the working-class stereotype of the popular Spanish tourist destination. In tonight's second episode of the third series, Mick (Steve Pemberton) and Janice (Siobhan Finneran) are having relationship troubles and Brandy (Sheridan Smith) plays a practical joke on the bumbling Martin (Nicholas Burns).

This popular, tasteless and occasionally funny drama following British people in a holiday resort returns. Tonight, Mel (Geoffrey Hutchings) enlists the help of Mick (Steve Pemberton) to open his new mobility shop, with disastrous results. Meanwhile Martin (Nicholas Burns) has a new girlfriend, Brandy (Sheridan Smith). The comedy is hit and miss, but the performances are good, and so Benidorm wins points for trying.