Stephen Mangan

The panel show that's like a postprandial version of QI returns with Stephen Mangan, Jo Brand and Tim Vine doing the job of quiz-show researchers and coming up with the questions themselves. This time, Dave Lamb's role as fact-checker has been done away with, leaving Alexander Armstrong in sole charge. Everything else remains the same. There are laughs to be had, especially when the guests stray from the topic at hand - a discussion about Mangan's role in Postman Pat: the Movie being particularly rewarding.

It's hard to resist quoting from the press release announcing the return of this panel show, which described its host as "Pointless presenter, comedian and actor Alexander Armstrong". Unintended slurs aside, this series promises unscripted entertainment - tonight features Jo Brand, Tim Vine and Stephen Mangan.

I'm a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy comedy, but ElvenQuest has always come across as "good, not great". However, this new, fourth series started with an episode which could change my opinion...

For those unfamiliar with the series, it's a set in a Tolkien-esque fantasy world called Lower Earth, where a group of "Questers" are trying to find the all-powerful Sword of Asnagar. Two of the Questers are Sam Porter (Stephen Mangan), a fantasy writer from our world, and his dog Amis, who's transformed into a human (Dave Lamb). Both were sent to Lower Earth by the other Questers.

Elf leader Vidar (Darren Boyd), Dean the dwarf (Kevin Eldon), and warrior princess Penthiselea (Ingrid Oliver, though formally Sophie Winkleman) complete the cast.

In this opening episode, the Questers defeats some trolls in the kingdom of Premenstrua - ruled by unpredictable Queen Eleanor (Louise Delamere), who is celebrating her birthday and wants a present. The 'present' is the entire story of the Questers, which they must write up over the course of a single night on pain of death...

Probably the main reason this episode stood out was because of Sam, and how useless he is in comparison to the others. But by the same token, the characters are the main issue with the series.

Some of them are great - especially Lord Darkness (Alistair McGowan), whose cunning plans often get too cunning... and he's brought down by something simple like forgetting his keys. However, other characters aren't so well fleshed out. Penthiselea just seems like a typical fantasy, sci-fi heroine - somewhat violent and slightly sexual, but often just filling a gap because the writer thought they needed at least one woman in the story and they couldn't think of anything more imaginative.

If the writers manage to flesh out their creations more than this series could well be perfect. That's the only thing holding ElvenQuest back.

Tony Pitts and Kevin Eldon's elliptical comedy, about a group of "sheddists" who have set up a kind of shed shanty town on a beach, has had a couple of major cast changes since its acclaimed first series. For a start, Eldon's other work commitments precluded him from writing and acting, but Pitts has taken up the writing slack and Stephen Mangan has ably filled the role of Jimmy.

Suranne Jones also found herself too busy to recommit to the role of Diane, but Rosina Carbone is a great replacement. The absurdist humour is still top-notch and well complemented by lyrical narration from Maxine Peake.

Special mention must go to Emma Fryer, whose deranged turn as Deborah, the Gypsy who breaks into song at the drop of a hat is a hoot.

If you think of radio in colour this comedy comes in shades of sepia and charcoal with the occasional bright patch of green. It's also pretty addictive, a floaty tale of people looking for new starts, picking themselves up from failed ones, seeking change and consolation. The writer is Tony Pitts, the cast is superb (it includes Stephen Mangan and Ronnie Ancona), the narrator is Maxine Peake and this is a second series. If you're listening in bed be careful not to drop off as it will slot neatly into a dream.

Series two provided little respite for downtrodden British writers Sean and Beverly as they fought to keep their sitcom - and marriage - alive whilst all around them in La La Land were losing their heads. It didn't help that Beverley (Tamsin Greig) had slept with the show's star Matt LeBlanc (Matt LeBlanc), or that Sean (Stephen Mangan) was now sleeping with the female lead. The second season of Episodes continued to offer a smart, funny, hyper-real story of 'normal' people trying to make it in Hollywood.

Two important reasons for the public's infatuation with Eric and Ern are nailed in the last of this lovely series. First, as fan Stephen Mangan identifies: "You always felt you were inside the joke with them." And second, their show was a great leveller. Penelope Keith, a guest in 1977, recalls Eric telling her, "You're known for being dignified. We're going to get rid of all that." And so they did, making the elegant actress clamber off an unfinished staircase in a Fred-and-Ginger spoof. But Keith's street cred soared after that.

'Now we're on the dole channel,' chuckles Peter Richardson at the end of this Comic Strip retrospective-cum-lap of honour. Even so, such reduced circumstances can't detract from a 30-year career which has been patchy but periodically inspired. As an appetiser for the gang's forthcoming new film Five Go Mad in Rehab on Wednesday, this lengthy doc ambles, sometimes at glacial pace, down memory lane with the help of fans and collaborators including Simon Pegg, Stephen Mangan and Ross Noble. The duration might be a stretch for casual fans, but as fans of 'the dole channel' will know, there's always plenty of space to be filled. Still, the Strip's best moments (The Strike, GLC) still look gleefully, recklessly brilliant - it's hard to imagine frontline politicians being satirised so scabrously in today's more timid TV climate.

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