Steve Pemberton

Coulrophobics beware: this episode features an exceptionally weird clown sequence in which Mr Jelly (Reece Shearsmith) is tried in "clown court" for bringing his profession into disrepute. His punishment appears, initially, to throw some light on what's happening in this increasingly bizarre (Christopher Biggins in a gold lamé codpiece is the least of it) black comedy but, true to form, the clue proves unreliable.

If you treat comedies as if they were skewed dramas, it doesn't matter too much whether or not they are funny. I'm not sure I wanted to laugh once during tonight's episode, but that didn't prevent it from being totally absorbing. As always, Psychoville consists of a succession of strange and disturbing scenes, each one more sinister than the last, linked together by a narrative that prevents it from degenerating into a sick sketch show. Tonight, the dwarf exacts his revenge on Cinderella. The disturbed midwife insists on force-feeding her unresponsive doll, and we discover how poor Mr Jelly lost his hand.

It is possible to have too much macabre weirdness in one programme. Created, written and largely performed by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton from The League Of Gentlemen, Psychoville is an exercise in just how far you can push dark comedy.

To this end the pair have assembled a rogues gallery of grotesques, scattered them the length and breadth of the country, and set a mysterious blackmailer on their trail. "I know what you did," ran his first anonymous correspondence to the seemingly unconnected group and, without even knowing what they're accused of, you wouldn't put it past them.

Psychoville is definitely an acquired taste, and I'm afraid my appetite was sated halfway through the second episode, with the introduction of ghoulish conjoined twins with symmetrical facial blemishes. For me it was a case of two freaks too far.

It is very well done, atmospheric and beautifully performed, but the misanthropic tone of the humour is relentless and, after a while, a bit tedious. The introduction of a little shade would have been welcome, even different shades of black.

The macabre comedy gets funnier by the week, as we come to know more about the individual characters. Tonight, for example, we get Mr Jelly's backstory: how he wound up as an embittered, one-handed clown. Also, unhinged midwife Joy's husband George (Steve Pemberton) lets slip that his wife was once "put away". The most hilarious scenario of all, though, is when David Sowerbutts (Steve Pemberton) and his mum Maureen (Reece Shearsmith) dispatch their next victim disguised as beauticians. A must.

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's eerie comedy just keeps getting better. That's largely because the plot, in the grotesque manner of a cockroach scuttling for safety across a kitchen floor after the light has been turned on, is accelerating. Tonight, that means a murder most horrid, backstory to explain the tension between Mr Jelly and Mr Jolly, a bidding war between Lomax and the Crabtree sisters, and the appearance of a video in the post. Worth watching just for the soft play pursuit scene.

I am having to watch Psychoville (BBC2) from behind the sofa, lest the equivalent of The League of Gentlemen's Papa Lazarou (the mere thought of whom is enough to have me weeping with fear) emerges. But it is corking stuff. Robert the dwarf has turned out to be telekinetic. Joy is feeding her baby on blood and punching anyone who dares to suggest that the infant strapped to her chest is in fact a doll, while the serial killer-obsessed David "I like strangles" Sowerbutts and his mother Maureen are about to fulfil what one can only assume is a lifelong dream by murdering someone. That's if they can agree on a method. "I like drills." "You're not doing that, I've got a thumping headache."

So far, I am managing to cope with both the one-handed, embittered clown Mr Jelly and the eyeless (not just blind, but eyeless, very, very eyeless) toy collector Mr Lomax, who has taken on Tea Leaf as an employee (contractual terms: "No girls, no smoking and no meat pies") to help him track down on eBay the one Beanie missing from his collection. I am rapidly approaching the limits of my endurance, yet fear we are nowhere near exhausting writers Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's appalling imaginations. I suspect that when the mysterious blackmailer who is stalking them is finally revealed, none of us will ever sleep soundly again.

Charge of the dark brigade

So. The plot thickens. I really didn't devote enough time to Psychoville last week. It's rapidly becoming clear that this might be the new Best Thing on Television, or at least the Best Thing on Thursday.

TV Review: Psychoville

Psychoville is one of the best looking shows on television at the moment.

Psychoville episode 2 review

Another great episode. Truly gripping stuff. The plots for all of the key characters are developing nicely. I'm particularly enjoying Lomax, who I'd say is up there with Shearsmith and Pemberton's finest creations.

This macabre comedy thriller from two of the creators of the acclaimed League of Gentleman continues tonight, and Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's vision gets curiouser and curiouser. The plot centres around a weird blackmail plot, and Mr Lomax (Pemberton) is still trying to complete his unusual collection of miscellaneous "commodities". That means - this is the internet age, after all - an eBay bidding war. Meanwhile, there are the unfortunate events that took place at the Murder Mystery evening to cover up, and a mysterious black-gloved figure contacts Joy (Dawn French) with another chilling message from her past.