Reggie Perrin

"That's not funny," groans Reggie as he lies in bed watching a boxed set of French comedies bought by his wife. "It's a comedy - come on, somebody fall over!" The trouble is, self-indulgent French comedies start to look like a barrel of laughs next to this reheated sitcom. A sample gag: "How's work going on our chest hair strimmer?" asks boss Chris. "It's all going tits up," replies Reggie. With jokes like these, it's tempting fate to have a pop at the French. Still, Martin Clunes is as watchable as ever, even if his range of options - moaning, fantasising, offering dry observations on the absurdity of everyday life - are starting to feel repetitive. This week he gets so fed up with commuter trains he buys a racing bike, with predictably painful results.

"What a guy!" says Anthony (Jim Howick) of Martin Clunes's curmudgeonly yet likeable character, Reggie Perrin, in tonight's penultimate episode of the series. As Reggie takes up cycling to work, his marriage with his perennially preoccupied wife continues to feel the strain in this improving sitcom remake.

The only problem with the success of this Reggie Perrin remake is that it may end up breathing new life into the old-fashioned sitcom, just when it was ready to disappear for ever after a long and miserable illness. The penultimate episode is funnier and sharper than ever. Reggie (Martin Clunes) lists some of the things that cause him distress, including death, earphones and "a sense that love is the answer coupled with a searing hatred of so many things and people". To ease his misery, he decides to take up cycling to work - an experience he likens to childbirth without a baby at the end. When he returns home, his wife (Fay Ripley) is unusually sympathetic. "At least your face broke the fall," she says.

Reggie Perrin is a series that really wouldn't right without the live audience feel. With Martin Clunes in the lead role as the increasingly disillusioned Reggie, it's bound to be of interest to most but the problem is for every gag that works and actually produces a laugh there are 10 more that don't even warrant a smile and it makes me feel like each little witty comment is being forced upon me. Plus, Reggie is the only believable character in a land of caricatures.