Henry IX

Henry IX review: lame royal sitcom

It feels like an unfinished idea, and looks like one, too.

Preview - Henry IX

Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the duo behind classic sitcoms Porridge and The Likely Lads, are back with a new three-part series on Gold.

This new abdication sitcom is a real coup for UKTV, having secured the writing services of British comedy royalty Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. After 25 years on the throne, good egg Henry IX floats the idea of stepping down, throwing his coterie into crisis. With an elegant cast - including Charles Edwards, Colin Salmon and Sally Phillips - exchanging dry lines in echoey state rooms, it feels like an eccentric UK cousin to The Young Pope.

Henry IX preview

Gold's new three-part comedy Henry XI doesn't quite seem like the 'must-watch' its pedigree suggests, although it's a gently enjoyable half-hour with a handful of strong gags.

5 reasons you will love Henry IX

Legendary writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais have teamed up again for Henry IX.

Henry IX, UK Gold, review - 'return of sitcom classics'

Clement and La Frenais' latest sitcom is stuffed with gags.

Interview: Charles Edwards on new royal comedy Henry IX

Actor Charles Edwards plays a disgruntled British monarch in a brand-new sitcom from comedy legends Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais interview

Clement and La Frenais have been part of the television landscape for more than five decades.

Why don't comedians criticise the monarchy?

It's the job of standups to hold institutions to account - laugh by laugh - so why aren't more of them laying bare the anachronistic daftness of the royal family?