Rik Mayall

So as The Comic Strip has been revived, it makes a certain sense that the result is a decade-mashing melange which tells a warped version of Tony Blair's PM years, taking place in an anachronistic Britain which looks like the 1950s, ripping off The 39 Steps, Sunset Boulevard, The Godfather and, understandably, The Comic Strip themselves. Or rather, Peter Richardson, for though never reaching the same heights as his former colleagues, the director pretty much was The Comic Strip. He's brought back some of the old crew, including Rik Mayall, Robbie Coltrane, Nigel Planer and John Sessions.

For some, the intentionally over the top nonsense of Blair going on the run from 'Inspector Hutton of Scotland Yard' after faking evidence for the Iraq War - complete with lines like "It felt like the whole world was against me, apart from Barbara Windsor of course" - will not be enough to excuse the spoof from its nastier accusations: Blair's shown murdering John Smith and Robin Cook, while Thatcher (played by Jennifer Saunders, naturally) is a monstrous Norma Desmond luring him to bed.

Yes, this isn't exactly sophisticated satire, but it is surprisingly funny in places, with Stephen Mangan capturing Blair's wide-eyed insouciance. While it references the 50s visually, it actually evokes nostalgia for the 80s, when having a childish pop at the people in power felt dangerous - like it could genuinely change things. And the darkest comic line is a real one: "Hey, in the end, only God and history can judge me," says Tony.

Familiar to many as the teacher who towers over the wretches of The Inbetweeners and bears an uncanny resemblance to Rik Mayall, Greg Davies returns to his native Shropshire. He takes an easy but effective pot shot at local newspaper headlines, does an extended routine about nicknames which will strike a chord with anyone who spent their teens at an all-boys school, and triumphs with an extended rant about owl cunnilingus. Guests are Roisin Conaty and Tom Deacon, who is good on the female tendency to clamber into pyjamas the moment they get home from work.

The Top 5 Sitcoms of the 1990s

The 1990s produced some very important comedy, seeing some of today's comedy veterans - like Steve Coogan, Steve Pemberton, Rik Mayall, Ardal O'Hanlon - experiencing their juiciest tastes of success. Here's the five best '90s sitcoms, in reverse order.

The alternative comedy collective could be wonderful and they could be awful, often within the same episode. These two tales, first screened in 1984, display the best and the worst of the team's endeavours. Dawn French plays the lead in the love-story parody Susie, while Rik Mayall takes centre stage (surely not?) in the spaghetti western homage A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques. Sitcom veteran Bob Spiers directs both. Patchy scripting was a curse but ambitious, cinema-style visuals and a desire to experiment made the Strip a force to be reckoned with.

Preview: Rik Mayall launches a World Cup England song

Motivation Records presents Rik Mayall's football anthem 'Noble England'.

A trio who are feted on the live circuit bring their orchestrated stupidity to TV, spewing out slapstick, songs, arch references and quick gags in a mashed sitcom about a bad local council. It's aggressive nonsense in the vein of Reeves and Mortimer or... I'd say Rik Mayall or The Goodies, but Klang get there first by namechecking both. They also corpse freely, gurn at the lens and feed off the studio audience, trying hard to push that live buzz through the screen. Flying out of this whirlwind are some peachy gags: "Incompetence is at its highest level since records were lost!"

Anarchic live comedy trio We Are Klang transfer their oddball humour to the screen in their first TV series which sees them playing members of inept Klangbury Town Council (actually Stalybridge, Greater Manchester).

"Anarchic" and "oddball" are of course euphemisms for "Sorry, I just don't get this."

Their fans from the comedy circuit might be curious to see it - and based on the fact that the studio audience mostly seemed to be enjoying themselves, they do appear to have fans.

One musical number in which they rip off Flight Of The Conchords' unique selling point works pretty well. But otherwise we must conclude that bearing a passing resemblance to a fat Rik Mayall is now apparently enough to get you your own comedy show on BBC3.

Dan Clark: a likeable type

How Not to Live Your Life leapt from YouTube to the BBC. The Times ask if its star, Dan Clark, is the new Rik Mayall.