Peter Ustinov

Radio Times review

The incomparable Miriam Margolyes has become a semi-regular on Graham's couch in recent years. It's easy to see why: charmingly eccentric and outrageous (the last time she was on she told a show-stealing story about "assisting" a sex-starved soldier up a tree in Edinburgh), she's one of those daffy English wits we thought we just didn't make any more.

Remember when the likes of Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Williams would frequently turn up on Parkinson and Wogan, not to plug anything in particular but just because they were always good value? Margolyes is one of the few remaining figures we have in that vein.

So, should fellow guests Lily Allen and Dominic Cooper fail to cut the mustard, Graham can always rely on his real star turn to pick up the slack.

Paul Whitelaw, Radio Times, 21st February 2014

The first episode was necessarily a tour of Clochemerle, introducing the inhabitants as they answered assorted calls of nature. The other, too, appeared to be wine and women. It is embarrassingly rich in talent. So much so that the cast list in the Radio Times doesn't bother to mention that the narrator is Peter Ustinov. Possibly the pissoir is by Picasso but they didn't bother to say so.

Nancy Banks-Smith, The Guardian, 19th February 1972