Ed Reardon's Week

The misanthropic writer returns for a new series of the award-winning sitcom by Christopher Douglas (who also plays Reardon) and Andrew Nickolds. Unmissable.

Ed Reardon is a 52-year-old writer who has drifted into obscurity since his magnus opus was published in the 1970s. He now teaches creative writing at the local Sports Centre and writes gift books such as The Love Poetry Of Nigel Mansell to make ends meet.

Ed finds that 'the besetting dilemma of the life literary is always whether to invest one's time and energies in a project which might realize royalties two years down the line, or, if you and your cat need to eat a bit sooner than that, to nip down to the police station and pick up a quick tenner for standing in line at an identity parade.'

When he's not at identity parades, Ed attempts to write TV scripts for 12-year-old producers and asks his agent to email him a list of writers who are below him in the charts at Amazon. He considers the occasional seduction but, being long divorced, is unsure that he can remember how. He desperately searches through magazines and newspapers for reviews of his work and is gratified to get an honourable mention in Caravan & Camper.

It is a brilliant tour de force.

Ed Reardon is quite the funniest creation I've heard (or seen) in some time; a writer by trade, although he has trouble making ends meet. He did once write an episode of Tenko, and had his first novel made into a blockbuster film by his friend Jaz. But now times are tough, and in between writing books to order like Pet Peeves or Jane Seymour's Household Hints, he's struggling to turn in scripts for Holby City, or write The Old Lock Keeper's column for his local free newspaper.

Quite why Radio 4 insisted on broadcasting it at 11.30am rather than the somewhat better 6.30pm slot is a question I don't entirely understand. It'll certainly get a 6.30pm repeat, but it deserves the bigger audience from the outset.

Ed is a fantastic creation, lovingly crafted. He lives with his cat, Elgar, and has a family from a previous marriage that seems a little estranged. He plays in a jazz band with his old mucker Jaz, even though he's insanely jealous of the big-time director who bastardised his novel for a movie tear-jerker.

The sharpest, funniest and most stinging comedy for years.