Ricky Gervais is familiar but compassionate in Derek

A bit like Bob Geldof, whatever you think of some of Ricky Gervais's outbursts, he's still one of the good guys - who seems to want help create a world where, as Derek remembered Joan telling him through his tears, "kindness is magic, more important than being good-looking or clever."

A plot so thin Bob Geldof would be inspired to write a song about it and rally the whole world to a benefit concert, characterisation so crude it makes Og the Neanderthal's cave paintings resemble Van Gogh, dialogue so clumsy it seems to have been arranged with all the artful skill of the shards of a shattered plane falling from the sky. We adored it.

Coming on like the unlikely lovechild of Pirates Of The Caribbean's Jack Sparrow and Dot Cotton, this gig from Brand's 2006 stand-up tour showcases his talent for spinning the most mundane aspects of life into a lengthy skit.

Merely collecting his luggage at the airport is good for 10 minutes of material.

But just as you're worrying that he might be intending to describe his entire skiing holiday to us in real time - and struggling to picture him in salopettes and mittens, or with the group of alpha male northern mates he claims to have gone away with - he changes tack.

There's mileage to be had from his run-ins with Rod Stewart and Bob Geldof, as well as his specialist subject: sex. It's filthy, funny and highly educational.