John Alderton

John Alderton showed unusual character in not making Upchat a good lad at heart. Robert Reed's wit kept Waterhouse's top humming merrily and, talking of humming, Mike Batt has written a catchy signature tune, too.

The set pieces between Bob and Terry, funny as they are, never quite attain the majestry of those between John Alderton and Deryck Guyler in Please, Sir - two gifted comedians slugging it out in a welter of double takes and slow burns.

With muted cries of rapture let me recommend Sprout (LWT). The situation is Likely Lads minus the fanatical accuracy of ear and observation, but the main character, a bird-fancying no-hoper, is just the job for John Alderton]. After leaving Please Sir, Alderton wasted his gift on a lumbering series called My Wife Next Door, which won prizes only because the prizes concerned were handed out by nitwits. This time he is called upon to invent, and his powers of invention are considerable. At a time when the screen is crawling with unfunny young comedians, John Alderton is a man to value.

On Tuesday BBC1 played its autumn comedy ace My Wife Next Door, starring John Alderton and Hannah Gordon. The first episode didn't connect as cleanly as one had been led to expect. Alderton and Gordon play two young divorcees who accidentally take up residence next door to each other. Shades of 'Private Lives'. Shades too, unfortunately, of the brand of dumb-bunny domestic sitcom usually featuring Ian Carmichael being wonderful about the kids while Wendy Craig learns to boil water.