Simon Farnaby

Not much sign of a sophomore slump for the Horrible Histories team, as they rekindle the endearing daftness of their crossover CBBC hit, only without having to adhere to stuff like, y'know, actual facts.

Exhausted working mum Debbie (Martha Howe-Douglas) discovers an elf in her kitchen cupboard and, with it, a portal into Yonderland and an escape from domestic drudgery. And lo, she enters a fantasy world peopled by dissolute wizards, dull-witted treemen and a bickering council of elders (HH regulars Mat Baynton, Simon Farnaby et al) who, handily, have a few quests that need completing.

Borrowing liberally from Jim Henson in both its tone and heavy use of puppets, Yonderland showcases a crack comic ensemble brimming with confidence. Indeed, the performances are generally stronger and more consistent than the writing, but there's no shortage of chuckles, and it gains momentum over the course of this opening double bill. And ultimately, such gleeful silliness is always to be encouraged.

When Horrible Histories beat the truly excellent third series of The Armstrong and Miller Show to the Best Sketch Show gong at the Comedy Awards last year, I was a bit miffed. Surely people were just being nice because it happened to be a bit better than your average kids' show? Nope. Turns out it's just really, really good.

This, actually, is Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry, a best-of collection with a plumb slot on BBC 1, 6pm on Sundays. All the cool cats have been watching it for years of course, but for johnny-come-latelies (that's the correct pluralisation, I believe) such as myself, this is a nice little catch-up.

The show has several things going for it, starting with the sublime source material. Author Terry Deary had the fine idea of getting kids into history by giving the facts a human face and a joke or two and - most importantly - not talking down to his readership. The producers of the CBBC show have perfectly transferred Deary's ethos to television, and added some genuinely excellent comic actors, including Simon Farnaby and Katy Wix. It's pretty wonderful.

This week, I was particularly tickled by a sketch in which the entire English Civil War was summed up at a frantic pace by a newsreader in front of a map of the UK - all very Peter Snow on election night, with ridiculous graphics and snarky asides. Plus, who doesn't want to learn about the Vikings through the medium of soft rock? Funny, silly and (whisper it) very informative.

The one we're really looking forward to is the Horrible Histories Christmas Special, featuring the likes of Simon Farnaby and Alice Lowe. Here be sketches about real-life oddities such as "Roland the Farter", a jester employed by King Henry II on Christmas day to maketh a noyse like a duck from his bottom parts.

Episode two of The Persuasionists (BBC2) did not reward the theory that this new sitcom needed time to bed in. It's set in an advertising agency and features a talented cast (Adam Buxton, Simon Farnaby, Daisy Haggard) you have probably seen being funny in other things, but if you laughed at this, I'd like to try a handful of whatever pills you're on. Actually, I did laugh once, when a character tried to encapsulate Australian culture with the words "Have you ever worn shorts to a funeral?" but, had I not been watching in a professional capacity, I would have switched over long before that point. It's hard to locate exactly what went wrong with this project, so I'm recording a verdict of death by misadventure.

Never let it be said I don't give things a chance. The second episode of The Persuasionists was marginally better than last week's yawn-fest, mainly because there was more going on, but "The Handsomeness" was still a laugh-free zone for the most part. Things perk up whenever Daisy Haggard or Simon Farnaby are around acting silly, but it's otherwise a waste of time and talent.

The plot this week involved a campaign for beauty cream "Night Gak", being modeled by bimbo popstar Victoria (Kelly Adams), who revealed to Greg (Adam Buxton) that she's looking for an "ordinary" boyfriend, prompting him to demonstrate his innate facileness in order to woo her. Meanwhile, Emma (Haggard) was given a position of power that led to her quarantining all the ugly employees in the agency's boiler room.

Look, there's definitely potential in an advertising agency sitcom with an episode focusing on beauty, but The Persuasionists is too daft to land any insightful blows, and its surrealism isn't clever enough to feel inspired. The IT Crowd does a far better job of skewering workplace/pop-culture targets via oddball, larger-than-life comedy. Here, you just have Iain Lee acting like he's still reading The 11 O'Clock Show's autocue, and Jarred Christmas bellowing.

Advertising sitcom The Persuasionists was so imbecilic, you had to see it to believe it. Episode one centred on the marketing campaign for "Cockney Cheese" and the slogan "Cockney Cheese. Leave it aaaaaat !"

"If he's a Cockney man, strolling along in Cockney London," pointed out their client, 'Cockney Jim'. "He wouldn't be surprised to find some Cockney cheese ? Would he ?"
Er... no.

The Persuasionists stars Adam Buxton, Jarred Christmas, Simon Farnaby, Iain Lee, Lee Ross, and is written by Jonathan Thake. Boys, your friends are embarrassed to know you.

Squandering a good cast that includes Adam Buxton, Daisy Haggard and Simon Farnaby, this is an unreconstructed office-based sitcom set in the world of advertising. Fearsome, insane boss, check; dimbulb secretary, check; comedy foreigner, check . . . This relentlessly ticks all the wrong boxes as the talented cast struggle bravely against a script containing almost no funny jokes. Until recently this was called The Scum Also Rises, but presumably that title was axed for containing some humour and wit, therefore making it an ill fit for what follows. False advertising.

Set in the world of advertising, this new sitcom has its own unique selling point: it's approximately one-third funny. The third succeeds because every time Simon Farnaby steps in as sex-crazed international fixer, Keaton, it's to do something hilarious with a big pencil. The rest fails because the other execs (Adam Buxton, Iain Lee, Jarred Christmas and Daisy Haggard) are something-and-nothing characters, and fail to add anything clever or convincing to the flabbier bits of the script. Nevertheless, there are some genuinely good ideas here, and the team's battle to put together a convincing campaign for a new product, cockney cheese, is leavened by the presence of guest star Lee Ross. He makes a marvellous cockney, possibly because until recently he played Denise's ex, Owen, in EastEnders.