Steve Edge (I)

The latest result of Sky's renewed commitment to original content - not that they ever had much of a record to renew - Starlings is a determinedly gentle and cloying comedy drama written by and starring Steve Edge (Phoenix Nights) and Matt King (Super Hans from Peep Show)

Centred around a close-knit extended family cooped up under the same roof in rural Derbyshire, it arrives with the writer's avowed intent of being unencumbered by bleakness or cynicism. That's a theoretically legitimate ambition, but the problem with Starlings is that, in its eagerness to warm the cockles, it achieves a dawdling consistency of utter blandness. It feels like an interminable home insurance ad, replete with winsome acoustic guitar backing. Still, nice scenery.

When it comes to warm, affirmative, slightly twee dramas, Sky1 has got our backs. But if you're after something a little more adventurous, it's the last place you'd look. Written by Steve Edge and Matt 'Super Hans' King, Starlings is a living, breathing family homily. On the basis of this opening episode, we suspect it will trade in muted domestic dramas with broadly uplifting conclusions - a new baby prompts some upheaval; Dad has health problems and a little debt; a son struggles for direction in life. If you enjoyed The Café - a similarly minor Sky1 pleasure - this may be up your street. And the cast, which includes Lesley Sharp, Brendan Coyle and King himself, are solid, likeable troupers. But there's a thin line between sweet and sickly, and Starlings wanders dangerously close to it.

If you're on the lookout for a heart-warming family drama, then Starlings could be just the thing for you. A strong cast of familiar faces - Downton Abbey's Brendan Coyle, Scott & Bailey's Lesley Sharp and more - breathe life into the Starlings, a loveable working-class clan. Believe it or not, this gentle series was created by none other than Matt King - Peep Show's Super Hans - along with writing partner Steve Edge, and Steve Coogan is also on board as a producer, so there's a strong pedigree behind the show. Starlings is perfect viewing for a sleepy Sunday evening.

Doing for rambling what Rev did for inner-city religion, The Great Outdoors debuted on BBC4 last autumn and now BBC2 is repeating the three episodes. Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil's charming sitcom meets a group of walkers led by Mark Heap just as they're joined by pushy new member Ruth Jones, who tries to make the gang go her way. Often literally. Also rambling are Katherine Parkinson, Steve Edge and Stephen "Skoose from Whites" Wight.

Guantanamo Phil Review

Guantanamo Phil was pretty weak in terms of storytelling, but Steve Edge was pretty good as the gormless Phil, I have a soft spot for Rebekah Staton and her clenched smiles, and the comedy arguably kept you chuckling more regularly than many of this year's Comedy Showcase pieces.

Part of the problem with the Comedy Showcase format depends on how you watch them: as a one-off or as a pilot for a potential series. This one works just fine as a one-off. Steve Edge plays a bird watcher wrongfully detained in "Gitmo" for six years. Now free, he returns to Stoke and a changed world, wanting to resume his relationship with his girlfriend (Pulling's Rebekah Staton) and, rather more optimistically, get on with his job at Woolworths. Funny enough.

Guantanamo Phil encapsulates the variability of Comedy Showcase: it starts with a bang that has you roaring with laughter and ends with a whimper that makes you wonder what it was all about. Phil Mills (Steve Edge) returns to Stoke after being held for six years in Guantanamo (thanks to the mistaken idea that he was Fayal Milluz from Stoke Poges) only to find his flat demolished, his job at Woolworths gone and 12,470 messages on his mobile.

Twitcher Phil Mill (Star Stories' Steve Edge) was birdwatching near the Afghan border when he was detained by US marines, branded an al-Qaeda terrorist and dumped in the land of orange jumpsuits.

Six years on he's released with all charges dropped. But he's not bitter. "We all make mistakes," he shrugs, admitting that while water boarding wasn't pleasant, it was better "than the one where they spanked your knackers with a flip-flop".

Now back in the arms of girlfriend Carly, he's eager to return to his old life, his old flat and his old job.

Sadly, his flat is a pile of rubble and his job... Well, he worked at Woolworths. He has the kind of misfortune plaguing Ben Miller's character in The Worst Week Of My Life - no surprise as both shows are created by the same people.

So imagine the BBC series with a little Jimmy Carr-style insensitivity. You'll feel guilty laughing. But you will laugh.

This new series sets comic voice-overs to wildlife footage. Critics may claim it's another example of lowest-common-denominator humour, in the manner of ITV1's Animals Do the Funniest Things, yet it's hard not to smile at the sight of a weight-obsessed panda and a hip hop-loving badger. The filming is provided by the BBC's Natural History Unit; the voices are those of comedians including Jason Manford (8 Out of 10 Cats) and Steve Edge (Phoenix Nights). Throughout the series various well-known people, including Stephen Fry, Richard E. Grant, Barbara Windsor and Sir Tom Jones, also lend their larynxes to the creatures featured.

Heather Mills gets the Star Stories treatment this week - and boy is she going to be peeved with the show.

In Mills And McCartney Presents: Why Paul Is A Total B*stard, 'Heather' (comedienne Dolly Wells) the woman who gives most of her money to charity (yeah, right) gives her side of the story. For the first time.

Did you know, for example, that as a child she spent 20 hours a day down the mines? Or that her dodgy porn shot was done to help children with their maths? Or that the ghost of Princess Diana asked her to work for landmine charities? Or that her dad looked like an older version of Ant McPartlin? That's not a subject raised, by the way, just my observation.

The show takes several of Mucca's own claims - plus a few they made up - and rips the mick out of them. Paul's frugal behaviour (played by Steve Edge) comes in for a bashing, too.

'Why should I have to pay for two when she's only going to wear one,' he asks in a posh shoe shop. But not before giving her Cinderella-style rags to clean the house in. And no programme dedicated to Heather would be complete without her bonkers appearance on GMTV.

After last week's disappointing homage to Sir Elton John, it's nice to see the show's back with a vengeance (although their version of Heather losing her leg is possibly a step too far, even for Star Stories).