Simon Day

When this comedy series began it went out late. It still fooled gullible souls like me into thinking it really was a phone-in and not an exquisite parody of one. Host Gary Bellamy is played by Rhys Thomas, the voices of all those nutters, fanatics, drunks and po-faced poshies come from Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Amelia Bullmore, Simon Day, Lucy Montgomery and Felix Dexter. And very funny they are, probably because they are not a million miles away from the real people who call Radio 5 Live's real-life late-night hosts Tony Livesey and Stephen Nolan.

The more po-faced listener could take this new comedy series as a serious treatise on heeding the warnings of environmentalists. Its central concept is that any person is capable of accidentally causing the apocalypse by just one seemingly harmless act that snowballs to cataclysmic proportions. I would hate to call any RT readers po-faced and so heartily recommend that you just wallow in the hilarious moments as we are guided by narrator David Soul to follow ordinary bloke Ian - the ever-dependable Simon Day - as an incident with a lamb shank leads to the deaths of everyone on Earth. It's all wrapped up in a brilliant Shawshank Redemption parody featuring an off-the-wall Felix Dexter in the Morgan Freeman sage-old-timer role.

For a comedian, television can be both a blessing and a curse. Strike it lucky - land your own series, for example - and it can feel as though the sky's the limit. But stick around too long - or, worse, lose your cutting edge - and you can easily find yourself in the wilderness.

What's encouraging about the return of this sketch show, featuring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, is that it's brought the best out of two long-established comics who many may have felt were past their peak.

Not every sketch hits the mark - they never do - but by the end of the 30 minutes you'll certainly be forgiving Whitehouse for those appalling insurance ads. Well, almost. Look out for guest appearances from Charlie Higson, Simon Day and Timothy West.

BBC Comedy Online: It's Pernweek!

Brian Pern, the ageing rock musician created by Rhys Thomas and played by Simon Day (both of whom you may recognise from The Fast Show and Bellamy's People), is returning for a new series this Friday.

It's one of the tragedies of 1960s TV that so many episodes coveted by posterity were wiped at the time, either because it was assumed they'd be of no further interest or simply to reuse the tapes. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Not Only... But Also fell foul of this folly. However, sketches have survived in script form and here Jonathan Ross assembles a contemporary cast including Angus Deayton, Ade Edmondson and Simon Day to recreate them, while Stephen Fry and David Mitchell among others consider Pete and Dud's legacy.

Comedians seem rarely willing to share the limelight, much less any good gags. Not so Sarah Millican, who appears quite happy to front, but not dominate proceedings in her Thursday night Support Group series on Radio 4. Playing Sarah, a life counsellor and modern-day agony aunt, she tackles such thorny personal issues as, 'My mother is behaving like a teenager - she's 50 not 15!'. As good as she is in episode two, it's Simon Day who steals the show, perfect as Terry, a character who makes white van men sound like a highly erudite species. It's not laugh out loud, but plenty of titters were indeed had - and a note made about tuning in for next week's no doubt doleful dollop of personal woes.

Sarah Millican's Support Group is a warm and silly show, with comedian Millican broadening her routine into fictional characters and members of the audience also getting involved. The usual mish-mash you get when you try to put standup on the radio. Still, Millican is a welcoming host with a neat turn of phrase. Plus Simon Day's in it, and he always makes me laugh. "I picked her up in Aldi," he said, of an ex-girlfriend. "Literally. She was standing in front of the beans. I moved her away from the beans."

Just how many characters do Whitehouse, Higson and co have up their sleeves? Last week saw this BBC2 comedy really hit its groove, with a theme of what makes Britain "great" bringing shape to largely improvised comedy. Whitehouse channelled Jon Gaunt for his rent-a-gob DJ and Higson introduced his testy history professor, both playing brilliant off Rhys Thomas' straight man. But the underrated Felix Dexter and Simon Day are this show's unsung heroes - the latter's Alan Bennettpesque poet's verse on "ethnic" cuisine was both laugh-out-loud funny and oddly poignant.

This strange sketch show - featuring ex-Fast Show actors Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Simon Day being "interviewed" in a variety of different personas - continues. There is rather a lot of forgettable material with one or two edgily funny gems, such as a vociferous argument between a nationalistic British plasterer called Martin Hole (Whitehouse) and an African traffic warden (Felix Dexter) who wants him to move his van.

Bringing this Radio 4 comedy (it was then called Down the Line) to TV has cost it some of its mojo. That said, there are funny moments to savour. These include pub bore Chris Nibbs's (Charlie Higson) assertion that British greatness is epitomised by the ability to produce a fine custard cream. Also amusing is Simon Day's cockney villain threatening extreme violence if Gary Bellamy (Rhys Thomas) looks him in the eye.