Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!

While both the show and its main character are immensely irritating, I do find myself giggling, despite my best efforts not to.

It is a humour based on mixed-up words, an easily confused old has-been, and his arrogant self-importance which leads to his growing frustration when no-one recognises him or appreciates what he considers to be his considerable abilities.

He is rude, annoying and a general nightmare to be with. Yet I can't quite turn it off, nor can I hold back the odd snigger. I hate myself.

Steve Delaney's comic creation just isn't very Strong.

There's nothing uplifting about Count Arthur Strong. Aping Alan Partridge's flailing grasps at fame and painfully humdrum home life, Arthur is a classic tragic-comic figure. Unfortunately, he's just not funny.

The first episode of the second series sees Arthur preparing a motivational seminar. Pedestrian at best, the gags centre on Strong muddling his words, or - shockingly - his less than crystal clear understanding of technology. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff.

There are flashes of insight into this (potentially) complex character, but in the end the show is as miserable as its underwhelming hero.

A good actor is a bore, but a bad actor is hilarious, and Count Arthur Strong is the most useless luvvie in the land. A petty snob with an inflated sense of his own importance, he can't work out why he isn't far more famous: Why do you people always have to go through this pathetic ritual of pretending not to know who I am?

Ross Noble reckons he's the funniest comic character around, and now you can buy his first radio series on CD. Hear him audition for the role of James Bond (narrowly losing out to a muscular milkman from Edinburgh) and holding a shambolic book signing in his local butchers. The brilliant creation of actor Steve Delaney, it must be just a matter of time before this master of malapropism transfers to TV.

Unless you're a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe you've probably never heard of Count Arthur Strong. But you will soon, for he is a brilliant comedy creation. Strong is a self-deluded, exceptionally rude and linguistically challenged old luvvie who sounds a bit like Alan Bennett might if he was morphed with Alexei Sayle. In real life, Strong is the comedian Steve Delaney, but reality is thankfully overlooked in this warped day-in-the-life of 'a doyen of light entertainment'. I laughed until I hurt.