Peter Wyngarde

The point of Rab C Nesbitt, as played by Gregor Fisher, is that he doesn't get what his little heart craves; there's nothing down for him, ever. But in a radical departure, the Govan guttersnipe demanded the polis fetch him a double-cuffed silk shirt a la Jason King in Department S and not only did the garment arrive, but it was delivered by the closest and most bouffant approximation of Peter Wyngarde that BBC Scotland could find, having already spent most of the guest-appearance budget on Richard E Grant and John Sessions. Still, Rab wins - hurray!

An icon but more than that, a heid-the-ba' too, Nesbitt was last seen in series form 12 long years ago in the history of our pawky land. A Christmas special in 2008 hinted at a proper return but the time wasn't quite right. Rab is back now because the Tories are back. Once again, creator Ian Pattison has sharpened his pen for jokes about public service cuts and Mary Doll having to pawn her engagement ring, this time with a gloopy topping of "broken Britain" platitudes - and most of them are pretty funny.

In the opener, Grant played the Minister for Work, a posho called Chingford Steel kidnapped by the Nesbitts. This wasn't their intention, but they quickly got the hang of hostage-taking and "Jihad patter". "Is the minister chained to a radiator?" loud-hailered the polis. No, said Mary, and anyway they were white-meter. In return for Steel, could they get a "fanatical new boiler and a fanatical heated towel-rail as well?" Rab proposed an improved No 34 bus service between Govan and Castlemilk as the present one was "gantin'". What a hero, always thinking of others, while dressed in an outrageous blouse in what you'd almost have to call Thatcher Blue, although tragically we didn't actually see him slip it over his string vest.

The Scotsman, 9th October 2011