Steve Delaney

Count Arthur Strong: Condiments of the Seasoning

Steve Delaney's comic creation Count Arthur Strong drops a Christmas bombshell about Santa.

Who makes you laugh? You may find yourself asking that more than once tonight as the annual Comedy Awards are dished out. Humour is a subjective business and what makes one person chortle can leave another totally nonplussed. Jonathan Ross will be trying to keep best order for tonight's gag fest and it's good to see fresh-ish names such as Steve Delaney, Jonny Sweet and Tom Basden cropping up among a clutch of usual suspects. The night climaxes with the crowning of the King or Queen of Comedy - can Jack Whitehall hang on to his title? Given he's up against exactly the same opposition as last year - a bit unimaginative, that - then why not?

He split opinion down the middle but, to our minds, Count Arthur Strong was the comedy hero of the year. So it's good to see the BBC Two sitcom and its star, Steve Delaney, up for three awards in the Comedy Awards. One of those is best new comedy programme, the winner of which is announced live in tonight's programme, ahead of next week's awards proper. Count Arthur is up against Plebs, Psychobitches and Cuckoo. Jonathan Ross is on hand for gong duties and to give a rundown of the other 14 prizes on offer. Familiar names abound, including Ant & Dec, Graham Norton, Miranda Hart and David Mitchell, plus there's welcome recognition for the genius of Getting On.

The challenge for much-loved radio institutions transferring to TV is introducing themselves to a new audience while keeping the loyal fanbase onside. On the basis of this series opener, Steve Delaney's doddery, malapropistic and memory-challenged 'showbiz legend' manages some funny moments, but this still feels almost aggressively old school in its format and furthermore, very much like a show that might as well still be on the wireless.

The story arc involves Rory Kinnear's author Michael Barker attempting to write his father's biography. His father Max, was Count Arthur's comedy partner. And so it begins. Oddly, this show may be redeemed by its promising minor characters: Kinnear is amusingly prissy and pedantic, and we like the look of Chris Ryman as café owner Bulent, too. We weren't alone in feeling equivocal about the series, but that hasn't stopped the BBC from a quickfire repeat and early recommission.

'I think I would know how to liquid eyebrows a pizza!' Who else but the majestic Count Arthur Strong (BBC2) could turn such absurd mangling of the English language into comedy gold?

Or maybe it leaves you stone cold: it's pretty clear this comedy, an oddball blend of the banal and the surreal, is the definition of Marmite TV.

Not having heard the radio version, I came in as an Arthur virgin, without the baggage of preconceptions. And I'm thankful for that, because on its own terms, here was a sitcom that worked its way under the skin so that, as last night's final episode faded into the night, it packed an emotional punch far stronger than you might expect from a show which delighted in gags about false legs and big-boned spiritualists: as in 'my mother was an extra-large medium.'

There were some decidedly old-school set-ups, not least the fledgling romance between Michael, Arthur's biographer, and café waitress Sinem, but somehow that only added to the charm.

And Steve Delaney's turn in the title role, just the odd hint of vulnerability beneath a shell of eccentricity, was a joy to behold. Awards must surely follow, because this is a classic in the making - just catch last night's demented seance ('I smell bricks!') if you don't believe me.

It's the series finale, and Arthur is struggling to deal with the death of Katya ("She was my biggest fan, Michael ... She was my only fan!"), while Michael, book completed, prepares to return home to York. It's a bittersweet end, primarily because, Steve Delaney's Arthur has gone from feeling like a character parachuted in from a 70s sketch show to someone who's multi-dimensional and heartbreakingly self-aware, making this a sitcom that it's almost impossible not to emotionally invest in.

Katya's sudden death has rocked Arthur (Steve Delaney) and he's no longer in his familiar seat at Bulent's cafe. So his friends rally round to see if they can lift his spirits. What follows is the kind of surreal silliness mixed with a touch of tragi-comedy that has won this comedy a devoted following. There are groan-worthy jokes, word-mangling madness and a clutch of characters who have moved over the weeks from bit parts to credible personalities. At the centre of it all is Delaney's irascible yet oddly lovable Arthur and this first series closes with a surprising lump in its throat. Hurry back, Arthur.

The television version of Steve Delaney's Radio 4 series has jaggedly divided both audiences and critics. But I will heretically declare that I think it's been a hugely successful transfer and I love the Count (Delaney) on television even more than I do on radio. So there.

There's been a subtle poignancy to the TV series and the feel of a proper ensemble comedy as Delaney and co-writer/director Graham Linehan surrounded Arthur with a clutch of endearing misfit friends. And one sensible friend, Michael, biographer and son of Arthur's one-time music hall collaborator, played by the peerless Rory Kinnear. As the series ends Arthur is still mourning the loss of his friend Katya and decides to hold a seance. It's sad and funny.

Inept human being Count Arthur Strong (Steve Delaney) has become a dog walker and decides to enlist one of the pooches in a bid for stardom when he auditions for a Britain's Got Talent-type show. It's all as hopeless as you would expect - and by you, I mean the two or three other people who are watching Count Arthur Strong. I knew it would be a niche delight, but there you are, it's still a delight, albeit one withering in obscurity.

The brilliant Rory Kinnear is brilliant again as hapless biographer Michael, this time under anaesthetic after a dog bite, minutes after he's tried to describe his assailant to the world's worst police sketch artist. A surreal treasure.

Populated by doddering characters and stylistically channelling the old-school British sitcom, Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan's comedy isn't the most exciting prospect. That's a shame, because it's very funny. This penultimate episode, in which Arthur inadvertently infiltrates the staff of a hospital where Michael (Rory Kinnear) is being treated, climaxes in an incredibly artful punchline pile-up. In great sitcom tradition, there's emotional resonance here that goes beyond farce, with nods to loss and loneliness scattered throughout.