Danny Robins Music Therapy

Danny Robins Music Therapy is a new Radio 4 series in which our host combines music and jokes to help solve people's difficulties; 'Like Top of the Pops meets Trisha,' trilled the jingle. Last week, Danny came to the aid of those most loathed of citizens, traffic wardens. Though some gags were lame - having James Blunt as your punch line is like having your mother-in-law as a set-up - I enjoyed his interviews with real wardens. 'My music taste is pretty eclectic,' said one. 'Duran Duran, Gary Numan...'

So, Danny and his friends constructed a rap that included a sample of Numan's 'Cars'. Oh, and (groan) MC Hammer. The rap went on too long. Later in the show, listeners' problems were considered. 'My cat doesn't love me,' informed one, which provoked the great line: 'The very fact that she's got a cat suggests that she fears love anyway.' This is a hit-and-miss show for the moment. It needs more mad gags per minute, à la Milton Jones.

Described by one of the many jingles that stud the show as 'Top of the Pops meets Trisha', the premise is that music can be used to sort out problems. Actually, what it really does during a highly entertaining half-hour is illustrate them. So traffic wardens get a reworking of MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This (it's 'You can't park there'), while a reworking of Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover becomes a list of ways for timid middle-class people to fire their cleaner. And so on. Robbins is aided by the musical comedian Isy Suttie and the remarkable beatboxer Beardyman. It's worth tuning in for him alone.