Simon Day

Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson's spoof phone-in Down the Line is easily one of the funniest Radio 4 shows since On the Hour, and the former Fast Showees bring its inane host Gary Bellamy (Rhys Thomas) to life as he travels around the country meeting ordinary Britons. Rather than the satire of its Radio 4-bear, the set-up is essentially an excuse for Fast Show-like sketches as Bellamy meets assorted listeners/weirdos played by Paul, Charlie, Simon Day, Felix Dexter and co. It's almost very good, but not yet as sharp as the original show.

It's not The Fast Show and nor does it try to be, but this new series, a spin-off from Radio 4's award-winning spoof phone-in Down The Line, finds Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson back together on TV for the first time in a decade, with their old mucker Simon Day also popping up in some of the sketches.

The Bellamy of the title is radio host Gary (Rhys Thomas), who sets off on a trip around the UK, encountering all kinds of bizarre, eccentric characters - many of whom, of course, look naggingly familiar.

They include a celebrity criminal, a 23-stone bed-ridden man, and a pair of posh sisters with decidedly dubious political views. Other top comic talents putting in an appearance include Lucy Montgomery, Rosie Cavaliero and Felix Dexter.

Ten years after their last television outing together in The Last Ever Fast Show, Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Simon Day reunite for an ingenious and amiable new series of comedy character sketches. This time, they've added an extra comic dimension to their world of mouthy plasterers, former armed robbers and upper-class loons. All the characters here are avid listeners to a fictional radio programme hosted by an unworldly, feckless DJ, Gary Bellamy (Rhys Thomas).

With the kind of cringe-making narration that adorns many a celebrity-presented documentary ("Modern Britain is a sometimes bewildering mix of different cultures and too often we don't make the effort to find out what we really think about each other"), Bellamy travels the nation to meet his fans and paint a portrait of "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". There's 23-stone Graham Downes (Whitehouse) from Harlow, who surfs the net from bed: "Out there in cyberspace, you see, Gary, I can become weightless." Higson is excellent as a doddery Cirencester gent, Humphrey Milner, playing him with eerie realism. And Whitehouse is peerless both as a potty, Sloaney rock impresario called Ian Craig-Oldman, and as opinionated Martin Hole, a Page 3-loving decorator whose catchphrase is just waiting to worm its way into our daily parlance: "I done you there. I done you right up." It's an impressive new home for the comic brilliance of The Fast Show.

A few years ago, Radio 4 phone-in show Down The Line caused no end of controversy as the complaints flooded in, from listeners who hadn't quite cottoned on to the fact that it was a spoof. It's taken its time getting there but the character-based comedy show has finally arrived on TV, as Bellamy's People, in which the radio host Gary Bellamy (Rhys Thomas) tracks down some of his more eccentric listeners.

But the most notable thing about the show is the men behind it - Bellamy's People marks the first TV collaboration in ten years of The Fast Show creators Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson. This time around we're promised a slightly quieter, more reflective show, and one more concerned with gentle social satire. But with a cast that also includes the likes of Simon Day and Amelia Bulmore, there should hopefully be some laughs in there as well. Let's just hope, given the combination of Paul Whitehouse and comedy characters, that the prosthetic makeup isn't as terrifying as in the Aviva ad where it looks like his face is melting.

Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson have reunited for a new comedy about life in modern Britain - and this is one TV comeback I'm delighted to see.

Self-regarding Gary Bellamy (Star Stories' Rhys Thomas) is an award-winning journalist with an award-winning radio show. Now he's been released from his cosy studio and given a TV series in which he'll travel across the country to meet his listeners and find out what makes them tick.

Although headed by stalwarts of The Fast Show, the humour is more in the vein of People Like Us, that genius series featuring the now disgraced Chris Langham. It spoofs genuine "celebrity meets the public" shows brilliantly, using ridiculous links such as: "Cirencester in Gloucestershire couldn't be more different from Harlesden".

The characters Gary meets are wonderfully eccentric, with some lovely performances by the likes of Simon Day, Lucy Montgomery and Felix Dexter. And, of course Charlie and Paul - although I can't help but watch Paul's performances and be reminded of his recent spate of insurance ads.

Characters range from a 23-stone man who lives in his bed to a deluded community leader who can't quite tell Gary what a community leader does. There's the screechy Trisha Webb, who runs Gary's 'Bellamy's Babes' fan club, and lovely old boy Humphrey Milner, a self-confessed silver surfer. But my favourites are a pair of posh old biddies, who made me laugh so suddenly and hard I almost snorted tea out of my nose.

Preview Clip: Tony Beckton

A preview clip of Simon Day as criminal Tony Beckton in Bellamy's People.

Meanwhile, anyone who tunes in to Radio 5 Live will recognise the absurdity of many phone-in programmes, and regular listeners to Radio 4 will have heard Down The Line, the phone-in spoof masterminded by Fast Show-ers Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Simon Day, which starred Rhys Thomas as host Gary Bellamy. Listeners to both will know how close to reality Down The Line's absurdist take on the phone-in format and its listeners is. And also how funny it was - a Berkshire racist ringing in says after a reference to Ebony & Ivory, "we just call that Ivory in our house". Thankfully - for anyone who's ever had the displeasure of watching Jeremy Kyle et al - Gary is meeting the public face-to-face as he travels around the country to chat to his deranged callers.