First episode of a terrific comedy series starring Jack Docherty, Gordon Kennedy, Rebecca Front and David Haig. Andrew Merrin, visiting professor of anthropology at the University of the West of Scotland (formerly Partick Polytechnic) is embarking on a project to introduce to the modern world two Jacobite soldiers - Macdonald, the chief of the clan, and Rab, his bard - who have been holed up in a Perthshire cave since the mid 18th century.

First lesson: what is patriotism? The search for an answer involves a trip to an Edinburgh souvenir shop and a pep talk on football from Tess McNair from Radio Peebles, followed by a real match: Scotland v the Dickson Isles (like the Faroes but smaller) in a World Cup qualifier - a comic tour de force that had me howling with laughter.

Two Jacobite soldiers from 1745, a clan chief and his bard, have been found alive and well in a cave. A visiting English academic (of no great status but hopes of it) leaps at the chance to integrate them into modern Scottish society. Carl Gorham (of Stressed Eric cultish fame) is the author and this is very funny, especially if you (as I do) like Scotsmen plus a bustling conjunction of the real with the surreal. There's a marvellous cast too, David Haig, Gordon Kennedy (who also directs), Jack Docherty, Moray Hunter, Morwenna Banks and Rebecca Front.

Video: Yes Prime Minister becomes West End hit

The popular 1980's political satire has been revived for the stage. It stars David Haig as the Prime Minister and Henry Goodman as his right hand man.

Henry Goodman and David Haig 'Yes Minister' interview

The 1980s TV political satire Yes, Prime Minister has been revived for the stage. The Metro asks Henry Goodman and David Haig, who play the PM and his right-hand man, why it's still relevant today.

The ailing government is spiralling into the abyss and Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is both waving and drowning when he tries to charm a group of journalists with his customary bravado. There's a real sense of panic in the penultimate episode of the skin-piercing satire. The arrival at DOSAC of Steve Fleming (a terrifying David Haig), Malcolm's bête noir and fellow spinner, has pitched everyone into chaos. There's something almost frightening about The Thick of It when it's this intense, and when Fleming and Tucker have a titanic, foul-mouthed battle, be afraid.

The political satire continues. Nicola Murray MP (Rebecca Front) needs to find a celebrity to publicise a new "Healthy Choices" campaign. But Steve Fleming, the PM's new fixer (played with diabolical glee by David Haig) has competing priorities, demanding massaged crime figures for an urgent press briefing. When Murray's team bungles both tasks, spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is incandescent. Stuck between Tucker and Fleming, Murray can only ask, "Could you two tell me in which order and from which direction I'm going to be shafted?"

The ailing government is spiralling into the abyss and Malcolm Tucker is both waving and drowning when he tries to charm a group of journalists. Though "charm" is an overstatement: "Journalists...one day you are writing for the papers, the next you are sleeping under them." It's typical Tucker bravado, but you can tell he's feeling insecure. There's a real sense of panic in the penultimate episode of Armando Iannucci's skin-piercing satire. Over at the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship, Secretary of State Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front) is thrilled to have won the support of tennis ace Andy Murray for a healthy-eating campaign. But the arrival of Steve Fleming (a terrifying David Haig), Malcolm's bete noire and fellow spinner, pitches everyone into chaos. There's something almost frightening about The Thick of It when it's this intense. And when Fleming and Tucker have a titanic, foul-mouthed battle, be afraid.