Celia Imrie

The new Friday morning comedy on Radio 4, Polyoaks, is about the revolution soon to come when general practitioners take over from Primary Care Trusts in handling funds. Co-written by David Spicer and practising medical satirist Dr Phil Hammond, it has closely observed character types in Dr Roy (Nigel Planer) and his brother Dr Hugh (Tony Gardner) who pursue their father's old medical practice in the house they were born in. They have a canny manager in Betty (Celia Imrie) who has taken on the retraining of Dr Jeremy (famous from TV but recently involved in scandal) because the fee the state pays for doing this is so big. While the writers are careful to indicate that much of what is happening now began under the Blair-Brown governments they are scarily predictive about the dangers of putting large budgets into the hands of people not trained to handle them. Listen and learn. Frank Stirling, sharp as a hypodermic, directs for independents Unique.

Here's daring. This new four-part comedy by David Spicer and the tartly witty Dr Phil Hammond is about two brother doctors getting to grips with the new National Health Service, the one just over the horizon where all the funds are to be transferred from area Health Authorities to General Practitioners. The power shift is momentous. The risks will be many. The cast is marvellous, including Celia Imrie, Nigel Planer, Phil Cornwell, Carla Mendonça. As there's no preview disc it remains to be heard whether the script lives up to the promise of its premise.

Sitcoms are a dying breed these days, and while this one won't leave you in hysterics, there are a few good giggles. Nicholas Lyndhurst and Celia Imrie play Jimmy and Diana.

Despite a promising set-up - ineffectual Jimmy (Nicholas Lyndhurst) gets stuck with his interfering mother-in-law Diane (Celia Imrie) after his wife leaves him - this sitcom never tickles the ribs as much as creator Fred Barron's wildly popular My Family. That said, this first episode of season three, in which Jimmy tries to wrestle a measure of independence back by attempting to parent without Diane's help, has its moments.

Relatively Speaking

Celia Imrie talks about the second series of After You've Gone

Written in the style of Dickens after one too many gins, Mark Evans's lively parody, starring Anthony Head and Celia Imrie, sends up the Victorian novelist. We are amused.