Squeamish About

Matt Berry's unpredictable historical satire concludes with a trip to the countryside, the "backbone of the nation". Squeamish raids the archives to give us footage on the occult with the help of "satanic expert Kate Humble", as well as an account of the traditional hunting of the May Queen.

Matt Berry's bumbling historian Michael Squeamish reaches London in this week's episode of his archive-raiding satire. Squeamish rattles through everything from the Great Fire of London - which caused £5 worth of damage - to the royal family's relocation to a terraced house after the Blitz.

BBC2's comedy evening is a hit-and-miss affair, but it's good that the Beeb is now producing enough new sitcoms and sketch shows - after a long barren patch - to stage a cavalcade like this.

Diane Morgan's slack-faced creation Mandy kicked it off with a couple of daft stories - one about a job at a banana factory, and one that pitted her in a line-dancing marathon contest against arch-enemy Maxine Peake.

Call me easily pleased, but I was weeping with laughter at the sight of a woman with a beehive and a fag in her mouth, splatting tarantulas on a conveyor belt of imported fruit.

I'm laughing less at Semi-Detached. It started well but I'm beginning to worry that Lee Mack - shorn of his one-liners - is a painfully depleted sight. He needs to be much more than just a character that things happen to.

Matt Berry rounded the evening off with Squeamish About.... It was funny for the first five minutes. Less would be more.

The latest of Matt Berry's spoof documentaries examines relationships. Historian Michael Squeamish begins with "chatting up" ("Showing your trainers, as it's known up north"). Next "the act of physical love" is under the microscope. Not literally, although Berry's tone suggests he would relish a closer look.

Actor Matt Berry's voice-overs for odd bits of ancient news footage are becoming a long-running comedy mainstay, too. The problem is, as proved by his new 15-minute series Squeamish About... (BBC2), the joke is running out of steam.

When he first tried the idea, in 2015, with a couple of shorts about the Boat Race and Father's Day, it was a surreal delight. Berry's knack for mangling words and unravelling vowels was matched to blissfully silly scripts by Bob Mortimer.

But in order to work, the gag has to be constantly hilarious. And despite the best efforts of writer Arthur Mathews (co-creator of Father Ted), it's not possible to maintain side-splitters for a full quarter of an hour.

There were some good lines though. Gracie Fields, enjoying a knees-up, was described as 'the famous drag act from Rochdale -- you have to say that's a pretty convincing woman'' Well, quite.

Squeamish About... preview

In one of the few TV programmes that can be made in isolation, Matt Berry provides his peculiarly stressed voiceover to a patchwork of unrelated archive clips.

Review - Squeamish About...Entertainment

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Berry and Mathews have invented a whole new genre of comedy, but these shows do have a strong, unusual flavour.

Squeamish About... review

Using archive footage, the actor takes us on a whistle-stop tour through Britain's past - think Vic Reeves meets Philomena Cunk, in ye olden days.

Squeamish About..., episode 1

A 15-minute comedy that felt about 10 minutes too long.

Squeamish's top 10 entertainment shows from the past

Matt Berry returns to BBC Two tomorrow as rogue historian Michael Squeamish, about with four more surreal mockumentaries, starting with the history of British entertainment. By way of preview, the show's co-writer Arthur Mathews, below, offers this run-down of ten great entertainment shows from the past, done - of course - with the rigorous adherence to accuracy that the show is known for...