Dennis Potter

But in this programme the dialogue is secondary to the misunderstandings and chaos of the plot and the clumsy earnestness of its central character. And on this score Harry Worth showed again that he is one of our most endearing and amusing TV comedians.

Hugh And I, the comedy show starring Hugh Lloyd and Terry Scott, finished its run on BBC last night. Unashamedly and robustly farcical, it has provoked sniffy reactions from some critics, but I must confess to enjoying all the episodes I have seen.

This peripatetic pair ("Do what?" asks the idiotic one in horn-rimmed glasses) have perfected the moth-eaten to a real art. Generations of grease-painted clowns could only nod their approval.

There are comedies that make you nudge your neighbour with a conspiratorial leer. And there are comedies that give you a little pang of guilt as you snigger. But Hugh and I on BBC is in the good old rollicking, belly-laugh tradition that deflates the pompous, and alarms the miserable.