Nigel Havers

Three couples navigate the rocks and rapids of marriage in this new sitcom from Jack Docherty, transplanted from Radio 4. The USP is a fourth-wall smashing conceit, by which the cast directly address the viewer - and it works seamlessly, albeit overlaid on to a rather old-fashioned dated narrative: suspicious wives, henpecked husbands and all. As Nigel Havers frets about his young bride, Docherty confesses to us that he sometimes thinks about other women while having sex with his wife. "But, in my defence, so have you."

Stop / Start review

Jack Docherty's wedded radio sitcom makes a blissful (ish) leap onto the small screen.

A series that shows self-deprecating Britishness isn't solely the preserve of Grumpy Old Men repeats on Dave. VBP wheels out reliable talking heads (Vic Reeves, Nigel Havers, Stephen Mangan) to anatomise various points of British difficulty, and this week, it's social awkwardness. Air kissing. Hugs. Reflex apologies. All are fraught with difficulty and embarrassment. As for having a nice day, you shouldn't suggest that to Nigel Havers. "I'm having a very nasty day," he says. "But it's nothing to do with you."

Nigel Havers joins BBC One's Stop⁄Start

Nigel Havers has joined the cast of BBC One sitcom pilot Stop/Start.

Radio Times review

A second slice of the joyfully funny Simon Day-fronted spoof rockumentary sees our hero desperate to finally stage his Day of the Triffids rock opera. But will Pern be upstaged by the other members of his erstwhile prog-rock band Thotch (Paul Whitehouse's Pat Quid and Nigel Havers's Tony Pebble, pronounced "Pebblay")? Not likely.

He has a few problems ensuring the confectionery stand stocks vegetarian-only Jelly Babies, however, and a Twitter storm erupts when a stray mic catches him remarking how he "hates Blacks". Pern, of course, is referring to the outdoor clothing specialists. Roger Moore and Paul Young are among the guest stars.

Anybody who saw the faux documentary presented by Brian Pern (Simon Day) on BBC4 knows that the frontman of Genesis-esque prog rock band Thotch is a great comedy creation.

Director Rhys Thomas, who co-wrote the series along with Day, brilliantly portrays the life of an ageing rocker as he tries to keep himself relevant with a modern audience. The stories of Pern refusing to be in a room with his former bandmates (played brilliantly by Paul Whitehouse and Nigel Havers) were perfectly pitched. The creation of a Thotch jukebox musical was an equally enjoyable subplot especially when the show's director Kathy Burke decided to cut all of the overly long Thotch songs from the show.

I personally enjoyed the final few moments of the comedy as Pern was dragged into the police station in a manner that would suggest he was part of a Yewtree-type investigation. But the punchline itself was brilliantly delivered as was the reaction from Pern's manager John Farrow (Michael Kitchen).

Part of the charm of Brian Pern is the fact that everyone is willing to go that extra mile and, in the case of those playing themselves, send up certain elements of their characters. Martin Freeman is a prime example of this as he tries to capture Pern's mannerisms in order to correctly portray him in the musical.

Meanwhile, a cameoing Tim Rice perfectly sums up his feelings about the Jukebox musical and how they've taken away from his type of musical theatre.

Although some of the jokes don't hit the mark, Brian Pern: A Life in Rock is a perfectly constructed mockumentary that owes a massive debt to the work of Christopher Guest. The fact that the sitcom is only three parts means that it won't outstay it's welcome and at the same time will leave the audience craving for more from Day's egotistical prog rocker.

Follow-up to BBC Four's spoof rockumentary, starring Simon Day as Peter Gabriel. Sorry, as Brian Pern, the ex-frontman of progressive rock band Thotch. Brian has been persuaded by his manager (Michael Kitchen) that a bankable way forward for him and his former bandmates is a new "jukebox musical" of Thotch music, in the vein of We Will Rock You. Paul Whitehouse and Nigel Havers are great as Brian's colleagues, but it's surely Gabriel who comes out of this best, for not trying to sue.

It's the eighth series of this bantzier, nearer-the-knuckle alternative to A Question Of Sport, hosted by James Corden. For this opener, he's joined by Kevin Bridges, Jack Whitehall, Jamie Redknapp, Freddie Flintoff, Frank Lampard and Judy Murray ("Who's your favourite son?"). Among the items is a ribald take on footballers-turned-authors, while the chaps are put through their paces at a tennis training court to play John McEnroe, conducted in a suitable atmosphere of mutual mockery. Tim Henman and Nigel Havers also appear.

Radio Times review

This final episode, the weakest of the three, is ostensibly about the death of rock. And, of course, there were a lot of rock stars kicking the bucket during the 70s. "You'd be chatting to someone at a party, pop off to get some cheese and pineapple on a stick; by the time you got back they'd be dead," says Brian's manager.

The real focus, however, is the death of Brian's former band - public-school prog rockers Thotch. And this is a good thing, because it means we get more anecdotes from the band's silky guitarist Pat Quid (Paul Whitehouse) and ribald keyboard player Tony Pebble (Nigel Havers). The star turn, though, comes from Lucy Montgomery as Pepita, the klaxon-mouthed cactus player.

The Christmas Special was possibly my favourite episode of the series, most notably as it featured the legendary Baroness Trumpington who famously appeared opposite Whitehall on an episode of Have I Got News For You.

She appeared here alongside Lee Mack, Christine Bleakley and Nigel Havers who I was incredibly surprised to learn was Jack's godfather. In fact a large portion of this episode was devoted to the fact that Jack believes that Nigel could well be his real father. This led Michael to recount, in quite graphic detail, Jack's conception and in one scene proved why he has been the star of this entire series.

Obviously the Christmas setting allowed Jack to get some of his worst Christmas memories off his chest and confront his father, who really wasn't that bothered. The only low point of this festive special was the weekly bonding segment, which is the sole part of the show which always feels forced. Here, father and son went to a hugging workshop that Michael inevitably bad-mouthed before later hugging Havers when he came onto stage. Thankfully, the appearance of Kris Akabusi as Santa, or Santabusi, more than made up for the slower parts of the episode and by the time Jack's mum came round with the drinks I had a massive smile on my face.

I personally feel that Backchat has only got stronger throughout its first series and this Christmas special proves that this probably won't be the last time we'll here from the Whitehall clan.