TV review - Barbara Windsor: A Comedy Roast

The hair, the chest, the men - Babs's comedy roast is more of a gentle braising.

"A roast is where we show someone we love them by constantly ridiculing them. It's a bit like a marriage," explains host Jimmy Carr, as he lines Barbara Windsor up for the affectionate comedy drubbing. After 50 years in showbiz, she has plenty of friends willing to step up and insult her age, upbringing and career, including Bernard Cribbins, Christopher Biggins, Sean Lock and Alan Carr. Although the jokes are cruel, it's surprisingly loving, and more wholesome than it seems.

Barbara Windsor's Comedy Roast: too cruel?

Five sample jokes from the Comedy Roast (or public humiliation) that a group of top comedians will be inflicting on Barbara Windsor on Channel 4. Are they funny - or do they go too far?

"A roast is where we show someone how much we love them by constantly ridiculing them. It's a bit like a marriage," says host Jimmy Carr in one of the funnier lines from tonight's "tribute" to Barbara Windsor.

For reasons known only to herself, the 73-year-old Carry On actress agreed to sit through this hour of public humiliation at the hands of comedians such as Alan Carr, Patrick Kielty and Rich Hall.

Although some of the observations are affectionate, they're mostly cruel jokes about her age and sexual history. Windsor gets her own back with a scathing riposte at the end, but otherwise it's pretty uncomfortable viewing.

There comedy roasts are a curious beast but tonight's ribbing of Barbara Windsor is downright uncomfortable.

Most of the gags are about her age, the number of lovers she's had and her criminal connections. The problem is the line-up. While Bernard Cribbins and Cheryl Fergison have earned their place here, the same can't be said for Patrick Kielty, a regular fixture usually sniggering childishly at his own gags.

Comedian Sean Lock looks like a body double for EastEnders' Billy Mitchell and as for Rich Hall - as Babs puts it herself: "I don't know who you are."

The former Queen of the Vic does her best to sit gamely through this, muttering, "Ooh, you gotta larf," but the only bit that feels affectionate is a sketch from her former EastEnders co-stars about how much they're missing her. Or not.

"A roast is where we show someone how much we love them by constantly ridiculing them. It's a bit like a marriage," says host Jimmy Carr in one of the funnier lines from tonight's "tribute" to Barbara Windsor. For reasons known only to herself, the 73-year-old Carry On actress agreed to sit through this hour of public humiliation at the hands of comedians such as Alan Carr, Patrick Kielty and Rich Hall. Although some of the observations are affectionate, they're mostly cruel jokes about her age and sexual history. Windsor gets her own back with a scathing riposte at the end, but otherwise it's pretty uncomfortable viewing.

This new series sets comic voice-overs to wildlife footage. Critics may claim it's another example of lowest-common-denominator humour, in the manner of ITV1's Animals Do the Funniest Things, yet it's hard not to smile at the sight of a weight-obsessed panda and a hip hop-loving badger. The filming is provided by the BBC's Natural History Unit; the voices are those of comedians including Jason Manford (8 Out of 10 Cats) and Steve Edge (Phoenix Nights). Throughout the series various well-known people, including Stephen Fry, Richard E. Grant, Barbara Windsor and Sir Tom Jones, also lend their larynxes to the creatures featured.