Watson & Oliver

It was a surprise when, after a first series of declining ratings, Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver's sketch show got a second run. But whatever re-evaluations may have taken place behind the scenes, this is still daftness of a pretty conservative bent: Franglais; the perils of personalised ringtones; a Call the Midwife pisstake.

When a skit does brush the boundaries of good taste, it creates a genuine frisson of risk and invention missing from much of the rest of the show: a rough sleeper inviting a potential beau home, for example. And a stricter editor would have made for a pacier show, as potentially snappy ideas ('realistic cooking') are dulled by overlength. Accomplished performances once more, but the material lets them down.

Is TV sketch comedy eating itself?

What lets the programme down, though, is the over-reliance on sketches that ape other television programmes.

Watson & Oliver on the art of the double act

Oh double acts and their conversational helices! Sentences beginning in one mouth finish in another, or return to their starting place for a final flourish. It's even worse when they speak at the same time. Thus it's a bemusing task, recreating the substance of a chat with Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver - aka Watson & Oliver.

Watson & Oliver's favourite TV

The sketch show comedians on their televisual habits, from Modern Family to Button Moon.

Some of the sketches may go on a bit too long, but their mix of slapstick silliness and biting comic observation have made Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver a very welcome addition to the TV comedy roster. Tonight's delights include Playboy Mansion glamour girls April and Candy attempting to avoid the attentions of Hugh Hefner on the golf course, and a timely spoof of The Apprentice.

Watching Watson & Oliver, I just find myself thinking how old-fashioned the format is. The awkward-intro routine was getting a bit old when Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith did it back in the late Eighties and the comic dynamic seems too obviously indebted to French and Saunders. They are both talented, though - comic actresses as well as comedians. A more up-to-date vehicle would help.

Watson & Oliver: let's give them a chance

Comedy is thriving on the live circuit, but making fans fall about in the flesh is no guarantee of television success.

We DON'T Recommend: Watson & Oliver

Forget My Family and Two Pints of Lager, I think I've found the nadir of British comedy in BBC2's new double act - Watson & Oliver. I'd rather sit through a 48 hour Cannon & Ball marathon than endure a third episode of what has to be the most woefully unfunny sketch show I've ever seen.

The first episode of Watson & Oliver was, on the whole, pretty poor. It began well - I was especially fond of the opening sketch in which Lorna Watson draws eyebrows on her face in response to Ingrid Oliver's feelings, which became more and more ridiculous as the conversation went on. The duo are good physical performers.

However, I didn't enjoy the second half of the episode nearly as much.

The problem seems to be the writing. Some of the sketches seemed lack any purpose, like the friendly conversation between a prisoner and a warden. It totally stumped me, and I think judging by the audience reaction the studio didn't realise understand it either (mostly light tittering and nothing more).

Concerning the writing, I think that the most interesting aspect of Watson & Oliver is that while Watson and Oliver are the main writers, there is a larger bunch of writers providing "additional material". In the opening episode, for example, Kevin Cecil, Ali Crockatt, David Scott, Alex Lowe and Robert Mills all contributed. In other words, apart from the two stars, all the writers are men writing for female roles. Perhaps if Watson and Oliver wrote all their material there'd be a fluidity to the show and it might, well, be a bit better.

Still, it's probably best to see what comes up in future episodes...