Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!

We should count our blessings for Delaney's creation

Count Arthur Strong, Steve Delaney's self-styled "showbusiness legend", is coming to BBC Two, writes Laura Thompson.

Count Arthur Strong: 'Just a bonkers old bloke'

Count Arthur Strong has been attacked for being politically incorrect and unfunny. His creator Steve Delaney defends him.

Feedback: Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show

Some comedies still divide the country, none more so than Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! On Feedback last week we broadcast emails from highly critical listeners who couldn't understand how the Count was ever commissioned in the first place and who called for his immediate decommissioning - "Rubbish", "drivel," and "a waste of space" were among the politer descriptions of the show.

As fans of Count Arthur Strong already know, he is just as able to get along with the bottom feeders of society (his friends) as he is the upper escalopes (the rich and famous). Back from a typically disastrous sojourn in Spain and a plane journey marred by an unpleasant toilet incident, Arthur is delighted to find an invitation awaiting him at home to see if he is suitable for membership of the Round Table. The Round Table! That's only one step away from the Perry Masons or Morons. "You could be talking to the future Chief Moron," declares the Count. A fittingly befuddled end to this sublime series.

Those familiar with the work of living vaudeville legend Count Arthur Strong (Steve Delaney) will need no introduction to his work. Old-school entertainer, after-dinner speaker, raconteur, ventriloquist, mind-reader and celebrity chef do not do his illustrious career justice. For those unaware of his work, he is also the master of malapropisms. Never has the English language taken so much of a lashing as when the Count gets his gums around it.

Here he finds himself railing against the hopelessness of public transport and decides his only option is to get his minx out. That's a Hillman Minx, which he's not driven for 30 years. A chain of events is set in motion by this dangerous decision that sees my hero sending an innocent insurance clerk into an abyss of despair: "Is there something wrong with you?" asks the Count as he tries to get a quotation. "Have you been off work and come back too soon?"

This altercation ends with a pricey quote because Count Arthur Strong works in the entertainment industry and "might have someone like Terry Wogan" in the back of his car.

Why should he pay for Terry Wogan to travel in his Minx? Does the clerk think he should take him shopping and pay for his food bills as well? There's only one thing for it: the Count must confront Terry Wogan himself...

I shall leave the marvellous malapropisms to him. Just be sure not to mess thus.

Radio 4 Extra - Strong: Count Arthur speaks

We do get the chance to flex our creative muscles as well as our analytical ones. Namely, the dedicated three hour specials you may have heard on Saturdays. This particular opportunity I'd seized with both hands. The chance to work with radio legends Count Arthur Strong and Mark Radcliffe?

It was even unfunnier than Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! which returned to Radio 4 on Wednesday morning. This show has its devotees. They are people who find the idea of a person who makes mistakes with words and is less grand than he thinks both hilarious and original.

In the Christmas spirit, I refer them to Sheridan's Mrs Malaprop (b 1775, still going strong), Mrs Feather (on the old Light Programme circa 1946) and the hovering spirit of the late, great Jimmy James.