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Steve Coogan is currently showcasing his inner pain to great comic/dramatic effect in BBC2's The Trip, playing himself. In the first of this double bill of one-act plays he does the same as a Russian character created 125 years ago: a man who's supposed to be lecturing on The Dangers of Tobacco but is so consumed with animosity towards his mean and controlling wife, he talks only of her. The script unravels the speaker skilfully (he's good, Chekhov) but to come alive it needs a performer who can put all his bruised heart into it: Coogan makes the crescendo of bitterness and disappointment scarily real. The Proposal, a fast, talky farce, approaches the same theme from another angle, and has another bravura performance: Mathew Horne as a nervous suitor asking for the hand of his neighbour, Sheridan Smith. They're long-term friends, but the years have caused a build-up of tiny resentments more suited to a marriage.

A double bill of Chekhov: in The Dangers Of Tobacco, Steve Coogan plays Nyukhin, a husband who should be delivering a lecture of the harmful nature of tobacco (even though he smokes). However, he keeps slipping off topic, telling the woes of his life, his regrets, yearnings and the misery inflicted by his domineering wife. In The Proposal, Mathew Horne is a nervous hypochondriac who has come to ask his neighbour's hand in marriage. However, he becomes embroiled in a petty squabble with the neighbour (Sheridan Smith) and her father (Philip Jackson) which threatens his life.

A successful season of short farces by Anton Chekhov draws to a close with a double bill. The Dangers of Tobacco is a monologue in which the hen-pecked Nyukhin (Steve Coogan) is forced to deliver a lecture on the dangers of smoking by his domineering wife. Instead, Nyukhin digresses to bemoan his lot and complain about his "petty, evil miser" of a wife. Better is The Proposal, a witty take on marriage. It finds wimpy hypochondriac Lomov (Mathew Horne) seeking the hand of his neighbour Natasha (Sheridan Smith) from her father (Philip Jackson), until it all disintegrates into a bout of one-upmanship.

In the months since Jonathan Creek was last on our screens, writer David Renwick seems to have spent a lot of time with the Sherlock Holmes casebook. Guest Paul McGann remarks on the "lingering air of Victorian mystery" and he's not kidding. From spooky stories about people succumbing at precisely predicted times of death to Jonathan discerning sidekick Joey Ross's (Sheridan Smith) current occupation from the redness of her fi ngertips, this one-off special has the defi nite feel of a Baker Street consulting room about it. Not that this makes it any less enjoyable. Indeed, all the hoodwinking and sleight of hand will keep you on your toes right up to the big reveal. Alan Davies remains extremely likeable as the duffel-coated sleuth, his delivery of those twisted lengths of explanatory detail being so good that he even gets the opportunity to do it twice over. The only flabbiness in the plot comes from the appearance of Adam Klaus: Stuart Milligan brings a wolfish smoothness to the part of the high-profile magician, but his subplot goes nowhere and detracts from an otherwise well-burnished brainteaser of an episode.

Alan Davies ('Jonathan Creek')

After the huge success of the 2009 New Year special 'The Grinning Man' it seemed inevitable that it wouldn't be long before Alan Davies put on his famous duffle coat for another Jonathan Creek mystery. Written and directed by show creator David Renwick, the forthcoming Easter special 'The Judas Tree' will see Sheridan Smith re-teaming with Davies to investigate events at a house called Green Lanterns. We caught up with the show's leading man to find out what we can expect.

A spooky Easter treat for Alan Davies fans with this one-off outing from the sporadic murder mystery series. Once again magic consultant Jonathan Creek (Davies) is inveigled into joining forces with psychic investigator Joey Ross (Sheridan Smith) when a young woman (Natalie Walter) working for a famous crime writer (Paul McGann) appears to become possessed by a vengeful spirit from Victorian times. As ever this is more howdunit than whodunit, with the convoluted plot very much designed to keep you guessing all the way to the end.

Alan Davies: "Terrible Climate Of Fear"

You can count on QI and Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies to give an honest opinion. Last month I took part in small round table interviews in London with Alan, co-star Sheridan Smith and writer David Renwick ahead of the new Jonathan Creek film - The Judas Tree where Davies spoke about "the terrible climate of fear" in British TV today.