Tracey Ullman's Show

More comedy as Tracey Ullman's Show continued. She hammed it up as the Duchess of Cornwall, all wellies and dressing gown, grumpily agreeing to babysit Prince George ("I'm not bloody Yoda! Who calls me Yoda?"); Dame Judi Dench unleashed a five-star mission of destruction, while milking her status as a national treasure ("I'd hardly spend my mornings blocking toilets in five-star hotels in London just because I could get away with it," she bluffs when a toilet attendant calls her on it); while Angela Merkel broke out of her uptight diplomacy rountine by jazz-scatting her way through an official reception ("Eins, zwei, drei, vier, get me an Uber over here").

Ullman is at her best in these lighter celeb sketches, but on much sketchier ground in scenes such as the Midlands couple who arrive home from holiday, discover an illegal immigrant clinging on under their motorhome and take him in to teach him about life in Britain ("Do you think he'd like to watch Eggheads?").

The second episode of Ullman's new sketch show sees a deviant Dame Judi Dench return to wreak more senseless havoc upon an adoring public, a ludicrously practical (in the style of French and Saunders's "stuff and nonsense" ladies) Duchess of Cornwall babysit Prince George, and some middle Englanders become accidental people-traffickers after a trip across the Channel. Ullman is a brilliant mimic, but her subject matter can feel slightly random and the skits are strangely structured, often resulting in no discernible punchline.

The second episode of Ullman's new sketch show sees a deviant Dame Judi Dench return to wreak more senseless havoc upon an adoring public, a ludicrously practical (in the style of French and Saunders's "stuff and nonsense" ladies) Duchess of Cornwall babysit Prince George, and some middle Englanders become accidental people-traffickers after a trip across the Channel. Ullman is a brilliant mimic, but her subject matter can feel slightly random and the skits are strangely structured, often resulting in no discernible punchline.

Tracey Ullman's Show, episode 2, BBC One, review

Why commission a series from a bona fide comedy icon, only to tuck it away at 10.45pm?

Radio Times review

If this series has confirmed anything it's what a brilliant impersonator Tracey Ullman is. This episode treats us to her pitch-perfect Camilla Parker-Bowles, a raucous hunting, shooting 'n' smoking laugh-a-minute lady who spends the day looking after her grandson (a child who bears more than a passing resemblance to the real Prince George).

Ullman's Dame Judi Dench continues to cause mayhem (this time deliberately blocking toilets in posh hotels), while her Maggie Smith auditions for the part of James Bond. Angela Merkel makes a welcome return from episode one.

Ullman's less well-known characters also hit the mark. I loved her retired Wimbledon line judge, and a sketch about a computing lesson for silver surfers shows Ullman's gift for satire and spot-on social observation.

After 30 years away it's clear that this is a gifted woman who is returning to her native UK in triumph.