Simon Day

Having watched most of the previous two series from Simon Day and co-creator Rhys Thomas I can definitely say that Brian Pern: 45 Years of Prog and Roll is the character's strongest outing thus far. That has a lot to do with the fact that Suranne Jones has joined the cast as Brian's new feisty American wife and manager Astrid who brings a whole new energy to the comedy. Once again Thomas stars as his documentary-making alter ego who has been called upon to make a new programme celebrating Pern's forty-five years in the music business. Day proves what a good sport he is by showcasing Brian's new surgically-enhanced look complete with new jet-black fake hair and a set of sparkling veneers. The first episode documents what happens when Astrid stars managing Brian and gets her new husband to sack his long-time partner-in-crime John Farrow (Michael Kitchen). Astrid's mismanagement means that Brian has to endure a cruise with some of his biggest fans and later suffering the indignity of being lower on the bill at the V Festival than his former Thotch bandmates. I've always thought Brian Pern was a fantastic comic creation and I think this latest series showcases the deluded rocker perfectly. Day is utterly committed to presenting Brian as an out-of-touch rocker whose obscure album concepts sell particularly poorly. Suranne Jones' note-perfect American accent is as brilliant as her deadpan comedy timing especially in the scene in which Astrid is trying to have it off with Martin Kemp whilst on a Skype call with Brian. But it's Michael Kitchen who steals the show as the foul-mouthed Farrow and the final set piece involving a stranded train full of cameoing ageing musicians is laugh-out-loud funny. The biggest compliment I can pay the latest Brian Pern series is that it was the only comedy I watched this week to provide consistent laughter for thirty minutes. Maybe it's just because the old-fashioned humour appeals to me or maybe it's because Day and Thomas know how to present classic character comedy with a modern twist. Whatever the case may be I do know that Brian Pern deserves as many viewers as possible and it's a shame that one of the funniest comedies on TV has seemingly been banished to BBC Four.

Radio Times review

"In part two of this revealing but convoluted documentary," says narrator Rhys Thomas, our man Brian (Simon Day) enters the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This prompts a retrospective. In the 1970s and 80s, Brian enjoyed mainstream success, pitched here somewhere between Peter Gabriel and Dire Straits; meanwhile, Thotch carried on without their departed talisman, regrouping as an outfit very similar to Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac.

This is the funniest Pern yet. Every line of Thomas and Day's script brings a laugh, and even the editing and archive shots are carefully loaded with absurdity. Scorching guest turns come from Christopher Eccleston as the producer of Brian's awful Madchester LP, and Jane Asher as an apoplectic ex-wife.

TV preview: Brian Pern: 45 Years Of Prog And Roll, BBC4

Last time we saw Brian Pern he had had a heart attack and it looked like he might be retiring. But you don't get rid of prog rockers like Pern - played by Simon Day - that easily. He is on TV again for a new series exploring the highways and byways of the rock world.

A second outing for Harry Hill as the Steve Jobs of slapstick inventions, absent-mindedly terrorising the quaint village of Great Pagwell with his daft contraptions. Branestawm's pre-eminence is challenged by snide Professor Algebrain (Steve Pemberton), a heel-clicking Euro-rival determined to win a lucrative inventing competition bequeathed by the late Lady Pagwell. A considerable amount of buffoonery ensues. The game cast includes Vicki Pepperdine and Simon Day.

Radio Times review

Harry Hill returns as the multi-spectacled boffin of Norman Hunter's children's books. After Branestawm's TV introduction last Christmas, his cartoonish adventures are once again adapted by in-demand writer Charlie Higson. This time the chocolate-box village of Pagwell is, fortuitously, hosting an invention contest. But has Branestawm met his match in the ingenious Professor Algebrain (Steve Pemberton)?

Among an extraordinary cast giving fruity performances are Diana Rigg, Simon Day, Vicki Pepperdine, Matt Berry and his absurd intonations, Sophie Thompson and David Mitchell. From the clips available to RT, it's wildly eccentric, old-school and very funny - with a barking mad chase sequence.

BBC Two's newest comedy drama c]Nurse] is written by and stars Paul Whitehouse as a cavalcade of characters. Originally airing on Radio 4, the programme sees Esther Coles star as Liz; a community psychiatric nurse with a number of colourful patients. Whitehouse appears in almost every scene and in the first episode played a total of six characters. As with a lot of character-based comedy not every situation hit the mark especially one in which Simon Day played Whitehouse's former prison roommate. Whitehouse is now stranger to playing multiple characters having done so in everything from The Fast Show to those ubiquitous Aviva adverts. However I don't think his brand of humour quite fit the subject matter of Nurse[/] which at times felt quite dark. For a show that's billed as a comedy first and foremost I didn't laugh once but then again I didn't know if I was really supposed to. This was a problem for me as their was an imbalance of tone between Whitehouse's broad humour and the sensitive subjects that Liz had to deal with during her rounds. Whitehouse has perfectly mixed pathos and humour before, most notably in his underrated sitcom Happiness, however I don't think Nurse stands up against the comedian's former offerings. Thankfully there are some bright spots in Nurse most notably Esther Coles who is perfectly convincing as the harassed Nurse Liz. In my opinion I found the most successful scenes were the ones in which Liz was on her own talking to on her phone to her kids or her estranged husband. Similarly Liz's meeting with the brilliant Rosie Cavallero's Cat Lady was the first episode's most moving scene. This leads me to believe that Whitehouse's insistence on playing the majority of the characters is a hindrance to Nurse's overall success. Had he simply selected to play one role than I feel that I would've enjoyed Nurse a lot more than I actually did.

In Nurse Paul Whitehouse has, with co-writer David Cummings, adapted this multi-role comedy, almost literally fleshing out the characters with much aid from prosthetics.

He plays most of the patients - or service users, as NHS jargon now has it - of the eponymous nurse, Liz (beautifully played by Esther Coles). She's a community psychiatric nurse and in last night's opening episode of four we followed her as she attended to her charges - which seems to involve injecting most of them in the bum with their medication - while visiting them in their homes.

As first sight Liz's patients may seem to be a gallery of grotesques - they include Graham, a morbidly obese young man who can barely move from his bed, a psychotic, agoraphobic ex-prisoner Billy, and ageing lech Herbert (shades of The Fast Show's Rowley Birkin), long past his many sexual conquests - but they are beautifully observed and carefully constructed individuals, people we laugh with, not at.

Whitehouse and Co (aided by Ian Fitzgibbon's adroit direction) capture the huge array of mental health issues, and intelligently address the very real problem that some sufferers have - of people close to them with whom they are in dangerously co-dependent relationships. It's a recognised phenomenon that a loved one can still be jealous of the person getting, as they see it, all the attention, or that they fear the patient becoming well and leading an independent life means their role within it diminishes, and so may try to scupper their recovery.

Other roles in a very strong cast are filled by, among others, Ben Bailey-Smith (aka Doc Brown) as a joky police officer Liz deals with on a frequent basis; Whitehouse's old confrere Simon Day, as Billy's controlling friend Tony; and Rosie Cavaliero, who like Whitehouse plays more than one role - Graham's overfeeding mum and April, a woman who lives alone with her monstrous regiment of cats, eating the same food: "If it's good enough for my little darlings, it's good enough for me."

Nurse is full of pathos and there are no Fast Show punchlines or catchphrases, but there are many, many laughs - often slipped in as throwaway lines or there to undercut the poignancy.

Created with evident affection for the institution of the NHS, and a deep respect for those working in it, Nurse has a real emotional pull while supplying some snortingly good comedy. Warmly recommended.

Poetry Puh-lease - review: a look at comedy and poetry

This three-hour long documentary both celebrates and skewers the relationship between comedy and verse.

For his first dramatic acting role, comic Harry Hill was desperate to play the original Nutty Professor from Norman Hunter's children stories.

Swapping his trademark ear-skimming collars for Branestawm's multiple pairs of glasses, he's the perfect fit for the role in this one-off special penned by Charlie Higson - which we predict will be the first of many.

The Fast Show's Higson, a best-selling children's author, has added some modern touches of his own that should strike a chord with a brand new TV generation raised on sonic screwdrivers.

By far the most significant is the addition of a determined young sidekick called Connie (Madeline Holliday) who is fed up with being taught useless subjects at school.

Even though Branestawm may be the worst science teacher you could imagine, I practically cheered to hear Connie say that she wanted to learn about civil engineering.

As the Professor's inventions bring chaos to the village of Great Pagwell, Hill is joined by another Fast Show stalwart, Simon Day, as Branestawm's best friend Colonel Dedshott.

David Mitchell plays his nemesis, the officious councillor Harold Haggerstone who wants to shut down Branestawm's "Inventory" and Vicki Pepperdine is his housekeeper Mrs Flittersnoop.

It's all hugely silly, but perfect family entertainment nevertheless.