Vic Reeves

Preview: This is Jinsy (Sky Atlantic)

If Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer made The League Of Gentlemen, it may have resulted in something similar to Sky's latest homespun comedy, the peculiar This Is Jinsy. Or perhaps if Terry Pratchett was asked to write a lighthearted version of The Wicker Man?

The third pilot in the Comedy Showcase series, The Fun Police is a studio based sitcom (featuring live laughter, to the shock and mortification of professional TV critics) about an inept health and safety department.

It's a more traditional sitcom in the style of shows like The IT Crowd, albeit with more unusually daft humour. The pilot sees Leslie (Rhys Derby) taking over as head of health and safety in the town of Brightsea after one of his work colleges, Neil (Jack Doolan), put their boss in a coma after accidentally falling on top of her.

The best way to describe The Fun Police is that it's 'enjoyably silly'. Leslie, for example, instead of coming up with a press statement about the accident spends his time ordering new furniture and designing a new mascot to make health and safety more fun. Another character, Toni (Katy Wix - who seems to be in at least one Channel 4 pilot per week at the moment) is an over-zealous officer with a robotic hand, paranoid about the dangers of the sea and helium balloons. This pilot also featured a cameo from Vic Reeves (credited under his real name Jim Moir) as an egotistical town planner driven mad by the power to name streets.

The Fun Police is full of ideas and is certainly a fun show. Not every joke is a cracker, but it certainly made me laugh and I for one would think it would make a good series if given the chance.

Fans of Flight of the Conchords will be very pleased to see the band's inept manager Murray (Rhys Darby[/o]) starring in this new pilot that could have been written especially for him.

He plays Leslie, head of a team of health and safety inspectors, and his blend of naive enthusiasm and shocking ideas are pure Murray.

The Fun Police was written by Matt Morgan, who was Russell Brand's straight-man sidekick on his BBC Radio 2 and there are a lot of very funny ideas in this.

I especially like Katy Wix as an inspector obsessed with shutting down the sea on safety grounds. She does have a point.

Vic Reeves is in it, too, as a town planner, although for some reason he looks like he's come as Keith Lemon and he's credited by his real name of Jim Moir.

Commission a series of this one please, Channel 4 people. I'd like to see more.

Vic and Bob plan to revive On the Buses

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are planning to revive much-loved 1970s show On The Buses.

Edinburgh comedy award 2011 shortlist: who's who?

From a comedian with experience of UK Uncut to an Australian Vic Reeves, here's the lowdown on this year's nominees.

Shooting Stars: 10 best moments

As Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's panel show returns for an eight series we look at our favourite bits. Have we missed any?

Vic & Bob: 'Our nearest competition is Ant & Dec!'

As Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are back for an eighth series of their off-the-wall panel show Shooting Stars. We caught up with the zany duo to chew the fat...

Vic & Bob's Afternoon Delights: a self-indulgent joy

As Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's new sketch show launches online, it's a delight to see them messing about together again.

Vic & Bob's Afternoon Delights: is the future online?

As Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's new sketch series launches online, The Telegraph reports on a revolution that could spell the end of traditional TV...