Bob, the central character in Kevin Cecil's comedy The Great Outdoors, also uses his hobby to compensate for a less than enlivening day-job but has chosen a pastime in which the greatest danger is getting a nasty blister. Bob is determined to make his group into the biggest rambling club in the Chilterns, his ambitions hampered only by the fact that he's so awful he keeps driving the new members away. Some of them falter in the face of Bob's terrible jokes. Others fall by the wayside because they don't care for the fact that he dictates the conversational topics mile by mile ("OK, mile one topic... Dinner with a Beatle. Living or dead, which wife and what's the menu!"). He has one unquestioning lieutenant, Tom, and one insurrectionary one in the form of his daughter.

Bob was funny but not entirely convincing, because his lines sometimes represented him as witlessly ghastly and at other moments gave him the tart wit of a far more knowing character. "In Barnstaple, we were always prepared for the worst," said new arrival Christine, who invariably cites her previous rambling club as the perfect model of how things should be done. "You had the worst," replied Bob, "because you were in Barnstaple," which seemed to be a joke with sharper reflexes than we'd come to expect from him. A little later - also quite funnily - he was excitedly exploring a loophole in a gastro-pub's special offer ("I have discovered the secret of infinite puddings!") although this is a joke that will only really work if we think of him as an utter fool. The discrepancy may not matter in the long run because Cecil's writing can spring deceptively quiet gags on you - such as Tom's guileless explanation of his current situation: "I've been out of work before but I really want to make a go of it this time." Worth tagging along for the next mile or so, I'd say.

This promising new comedy follows the hikes, heartaches, friendships and rivalries of a misfit rambling club. Gavin & Stacey actress Ruth Jones stars opposite Mark Heap, who you may recognise from Lark Rise to Candleford and Spaced.

Part of BBC Four's Outdoor Season, The Great Outdoors has the potential to be one of the comedy hits of the year. Heap and Jones are two of the UK comedy scene's hottest properties and the show's writers, BAFTA award-winning and rambling-loving duo Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley worked together on the hilarious Black Books. Let's hope the show lives up to its promise.

We've got a lot of affection for Mark Heap and Ruth Jones, have a good deal of time for the work of Hyperdrive writers Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley and even like the idea of a comedy about a hapless group of ramblers. Unfortunately we didn't get a preview, so all we really know is that Christine (Ruth Jones) is hyper-efficient and wants to take over leadership of the ramblers from Bob (Mark Heap).

Feature: The Great Outdoors

A new comedy about rambling starts tonight on BBC Four, following the (mis)adventures of an oddball group of walkers as they tackle a different route each episode. So what inspired the series, and what will real ramblers make of it? Walk caught up with series creators Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil to find out...

The Great Outdoors: Can rambling ever be cool?

We wanted it to feel as real as possible so we interviewed anyone we could find in a pair of stout boots.

Kevin Cecil on pitching a show about walking

"So there are these characters and they are all in a walking club."