The Comic Strip Presents...

The Comic Strip gives a satirical kicking to Brooks

With The Comic Strip's latest fantasy screening this month, its creators talk about their phone-hacking parody and why they set it in the Seventies.

"Did Iron Age woman have Playtex to guide her?" shouts a young Rik Mayall to a reluctantly undressing Jennifer Saunders. So begins Dawn French's superbly bizarre comedy set at a summer school offering a course in 'Iron Age Living', also starring Robbie Coltrane and Peter Richardson.

A welcome airing for one of the more worthwhile later-era Comic Strips, "Four Men In A Plane". First shown at the turn of the millennium, this follows a quartet of besuited bell-ends (played by premier Strippers Edmondson, Mayall, Planer and Richardson) who charter a plane to an African sales conference. Following unexpected interface with terra firma, the salesmen draw on their storied experience to survive. Basically, a remake of Alive populated entirely by George Osborne clones.

The best moments of The Comic Strip Presents...

As Gold gives a long-awaited reshowing of the 2011 Comic Strip gem The Hunt for Tony Blair on Saturday, we give our guide to the best the troupe has had to offer in its 32 year history.

Rik Mayall's death brings Comic Strip gang closer

Nigel Planner believes the death of his former co-star, Rik Mayall, in June, has brought their alternative comedy group, the Comic Strip gang, closer together again.

Peter Richardson interview

The mastermind behind The Comic Strip looks back at one of Britain's most influential alternative comedy movements and hints at more to come very soon...

Peter Richardson talks about new Comic Strip film

Peter Richardson has confirmed that Harry Enfield and Stephen Mangan are to star in the upcoming Comic Strip film It Ends Badly.

Gigglebox weekly #63 - Five Go to Rehab

While there were some funny moments - the highlight being George's problems with her sat-nav - it was sadly rather dull.

I felt a little uneasy as I sat down to watch Five Go to Rehab (Wednesday, G.O.L.D.), having such fond memories of the original, Five Go Mad in Dorset, which aired on Channel 4's launch night 30 years ago, The last Comic Strip offering - a "satire" on Tony Blair as a war criminal, broadcast in 2011 - did not bode well.

Such was the cultural impact of that debut Comic Strip - as well as its sequel Five Go Mad on Mescalin - that my generation grew up believing that the Enid Blyton stories had referred to "lashings of ginger beer" when in fact, as I learned from QI the other day, Blyton's phrase had been "lashings of hard-boiled eggs". Could the same team pull it off now they were in their mid-fifties? Well, I am happy to report, the answer was yes. And what was astonishing was how kind the years had been to them - even to Robbie Coltrane as the gypsy.

The conceit was that Dick, played by Ade Edmondson, hadn't moved on and was desperate to have a Famous Five reunion; had been planning it for 14 years, complete with picnics and a staged arrest involving actors dressed as policemen and baddies. But the others had grown up and now swore and said things such as "Stop being such a w-----, Dick". Tomboyish George (Dawn French) and Julian (Peter Richardson, who is actually 61) were recovering alcoholics - while shy Anne (Jennifer Saunders) was not only a strict vegetarian but also a lesbian.

While, inevitably, it lacked the shock value of the original parody, this turned out to be unexpectedly moving, such being the power of nostalgia. A good running joke was that Julian - "I hate binge drinking alone" - couldn't recall anything about their childhood adventures.

When The Comic Strip team had the idea of revisiting this comedy classic, their friends must have cautioned against it, possibly citing the train wreck that was the Carry On remake starring Julian Clary. I'm glad they ignored them. And respect to G.O.L.D. for getting it as an exclusive. But why wasn't it on Channel 4, with much fanfare?