What the stars of 'Gap Year' did on their gap year

As a Brit with a few travels under his belt, comedian and writer Tom Basden knows whereof he speaks. He also has the self-awareness to acknowledge it, not least through his new eight-part comedy drama.

Film review: Life on the Road

In terms of comedy it is in decent working order.

Fringe: Ten theatre shows for comedy fans

It's hard to credit it sometimes, but there are actually sections of the Edinburgh Fringe programme that aren't comedy. Here are some of the picks from the theatre section that would be of interest to comedy fans, even if they are not all comedies.

Simon Bird stars in Tom Basden's Crocodile

Casting has been announced for Tom Basden's new play The Crocodile. Inbetweeners star Simon Bird will appear alongside Ciarán Owens and Marek Larwood in the production, which centres on a self-important actor (Owens) who gets swallowed by a crocodile during a trip to the zoo with his best friend (Bird).

Making it snappy - Tom Basden takes on Dostoevsky

How do you make the writer of Crime and Punishment funny? The comedian's adaptation of short story The Crocodile for this year's Manchester international festival does just that - and, he says, it's not as hard as you might think.

Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (Radio 4) is back for a third series and this week's episode dealt with "the thorny issue of dating", featuring short, bathetic stanzas on flirting, speed dating and other disappointments of the heart. He plays a version of himself: a disappointed, slightly pompous fool with some very odd ideas about courting. This week he brought female companion Ann White (a perfectly deadpan Ellie White) for a romantic tour of the studio, complete with champagne, to the growing annoyance of Tom Basden, his brilliantly dour musical accompanist. While he provided tender flamenco strings, the hapless bard attempted to set a quixotic tone, but it wasn't long before their carping took centre stage and Ann White retreated to the control room with a Brian Cox podcast. "You've been a sourpuss for almost two minutes now," Key hissed as the guitarist tried to push on with the show.

It's only 15 minutes long but every episode perfectly showcases Key's supreme command of tone. His sentences never end where you expect them to and the oddly appealing atmosphere he creates is so spellbinding, it's like emerging from a nice fog when he spits you out at the other end. Fifteen minutes is both perfect and far too short.

We're now more than halfway through the second series of the ancient Rome-set sitcom, which follows the surprisingly still relevant sex and city-based trials and tribulations of Marcus (Tom Rosenthal) and Stylax (Joel Fry). Written by Sam Leifer and Tom Basden - with the latter's sporadic appearances as taunted office water-carrier Aurelius a definite highlight - the show boasts an impressive supporting cast, with this series' cameos including Rosenthal's sport commentator dad Jim and Basden's sometime comedy partner Tim Key.