"She had a face like a beekeeper's apprentice"

At last. Last night I finally caught an episode of Steve Coogan's new sitcom 'Saxondale' in its proper slot.

Thanks to NTL's On Demand facility (marvellous, it's the future etc etc), I managed to see the second episode on Sunday night, and thought it a bit uninspiring.

The third installment was in a different league altogether. An old mate from Saxondale's days "on the road" (played by Mark Williams) turned up, both of them ultimately discovering that they were no longer able to party and raise hell as they once used to. Their contemporary Iggy Pop might still be lairy on stage, but, as Saxondale pointed out, "he still has to go home and descale the kettle", even if he does do so while wearing his leather trousers. The comic potential was obvious, and co-writers Coogan and Neal Maclennan milked it to good effect.

Again there was the feeling that some of the gags were leftovers from 'I'm Alan Partridge' reheated and shoehorned in, but that didn't make them any less amusing (not least the pepperpot anecdote) and you can't argue with quick one-liners like "He said the only physician he listens to is Dr Feelgood"...