Stephen Mangan

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.

Video: Stephen Mangan on the Comic Strip comeback

Stephen Mangan has spoken fondly of his role in the upcoming Comic Strip Presents... special, saying he wishes he could 'do eight of them a year'.

Stephen Mangan: Dirk Gently victim of Cameron & Osborne

The actor says the acclaimed BBC4 drama "had huge potential" before a decision to freeze the licence fee forced the corporation to make cuts.

Stephen Mangan - "I'd love to play Doctor Who"

The Episodes star is a particular fan of David Tennant's Doctor and once spent Christmas Eve with no less than two former Time Lords.

Tamsin Greig mulls over life's mysteries

Why does everyone want to know what it's like to kiss Matt LeBlanc but not Stephen Mangan? Why do people only want to know about her marriage if it's wracked by jealousy? Why is laughing likely to tip over into crying?

Video: Stephen Mangan on emotions and giving birth

Actor Stephen Mangan, who has portrayed Tony Blair and currently plays a pregnant man on the London stage, spoke of emotions in the week when David Cameron's temper and the the "feisty form" of Conservative MP Ann Marie Morris were in the news.

Michael Portillo recalled losing his seat at Westminster - and also claimed there were "extensive similarities" between Andy Murray and Gordon Brown - as he debated political image and emotions with Andrew Neil and Alan Johnson.

The interview ends with the actor talking of his hopes for a new series of Episodes - in which he stars with Matt LeBlanc and Tamsin Greig.

After the unmitigated failure that was Friends spin-off Joey, this British-US comedy threw Matt LeBlanc a potentially dubious lifeline.

In it, British screenwriting couple Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig) are tasked with adapting their subtle sitcom for a US audience but it is rendered almost unrecognisable thanks to ratings-crazed network execs who insist on casting one Matt LeBlanc in the lead role.

LeBlanc plays the floundering fall guy with glee, creating a fictionalised version of himself as the epitome of LA douche baggery.

The success of Episodes' humour lies in its assassination of throwaway US sitcoms, coupled with the ever-so-English pair's squeamishness towards Hollywood life.

It is a risky comeback role for LeBlanc but the risk paid off - just one season in and he bobbed up clutching a Golden Globe.

Episodes: series two, DVD review

Sophie Haslett reviews series two of Episodes, the soft Hollywood satire starring Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig and Matt LeBlanc.