Lead Balloon review: still floating nicely

Although I know that My Family is on its *groan* eleventh series and Lead Balloon is only currently starting its fourth, the length of time that Lead Balloon has ran over is a sure sign that it is at least committed to never going beyond its comfort zone. Never getting louder and more eccentric probably means that it will never win any awards... but hey with the new series starting on BBC2 it would make a nice alternative to the news, you're always going to be happy if you managed to catch the show on air and hey, it's always consistent.

Jack Dee a secret romantic at heart

Jack Dee has confessed that underneath his grumpy alter-ego he is a romantic at heart.

Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise? Without much fanfare, Lead Balloon is coming back for a brand new series (the fourth!). If you've seen the show before, you'll pretty much know what to expect. Jack Dee's wonderful as grumpy, deluded Rick Spleen, who in this opening episode is trying to write a novel. Sure, that'll go well! Meanwhile, The Sunday Times wants to do a feature on his wife, which leads to some fabulously awkward scenes as Rick tries to get in on the action... with a pig. Of course, he still has Michael and Magda to contend with, as well as my favourites - his teenage daughter Sam and her boyfriend Ben, played to perfection by Antonia Campbell Hughes and Rasmus Hardiker.

What will it take to make Jack Dee cheer up?

Rick Spleen is a 'what-if version of me', says Jack Dee. Well what if we made it our mission to cheer him up?

Image gallery: On the water with Jack Dee

Jack Dee is back as his grumpy character Rick Spleen in a new series of Lead Balloon. So we thought we'd cheer him up with a fun day out in London...

The start of a fourth series for Jack Dee's downbeat sitcom, in which his character, the unsubtly named Rick Spleen - a washed-up, cynical comedian - goes around being annoyed by things. He's hardly cast against type: it's essentially Jack Dee playing Jack Dee, so if you like Jack Dee it will go down very well. In this episode, he's trying to write a novel and to persuade his wife Mel (the excellent Raquel Cassidy) to allow a Sunday newspaper to do a feature on them. Good support comes from Spleen's teenage daughter (Antonia Campbell-Hughes).

Jack Dee interview

As his comedy series takes to the air for the final time, Jack Dee tells Bryony Gordon that, behind his image as a malcontent, he is a happy, 4x4-driving church-goer.

One of the few reliable British sitcoms around, Jack Dee's unfulfilled comic Rick Spleen has a wince-inducing talent for skewering himself. Funny as those mishaps are, Rick's interactions with sullen housekeeper Magda (Anna Crilly) are the real comedy gold.

The third series goes out on a high with a Christmas episode that verges on the heart-warming. Yes, this is Lead Balloon we're talking about, but for once, Rick Spleen's badwill to all men can't quite spoil things. In fact, while out on his scooter, he finds it in himself to do a genuine good turn at one point, and if that isn't a Christmas miracle, I don't know what is. Mind you, there's plenty of the bah-humbug to begin with, as Rick's role as a panto pirate leads to a mishap with a bag of sweets, while the tree he's bought sheds its needles freely on the living-room floor. Somehow, it's the little hardships that get blown out of proportion by Lead Balloon, and while the show always teeters on the edge of the inconsequential, tonight there are some rich comedy moments. It will come as no surprise that these involve home help Magda, who's in mourning for her country's president, and Michael, who's in love.

One of the many pleasures of Lead Balloon is the strength and diversity of the ensemble cast. Although the series revolves around the childish egotism of Rick (Jack Dee), everyone else - including the children - behave like grown-ups dealing with a fractious child. His wife reasons with Rick. His writing partner mocks him. Magda suffers him. His daughter and her boyfriend exploit or ignore him. Rick's behaviour, on its own, would be ridiculous and self-defeating. Surrounded by the eccentric sanity of a superb supporting cast, it is funny and vulnerable and endearing.