Quote of the day

"The British have an opposition when you try to be at all intellectual with your comedy – there's a deep mistrust and suspicion of that. They say, 'Just be funny, don't try to be clever'. But we wanted to do comedy that was about something, have the character articulate something about the baby-boomer generation that is now getting old and disconnected with the world. Nobody has properly articulated that ... When Tony Blair walked in to Downing Street with an electric guitar 10 years ago, it confused everything. The war in Iraq - it wasn't a Conservative government that oversaw that war. It's complicated and confusing. It isn't clear-cut. That's what 'Saxondale' is about. It's slightly directionless anger".

Steve Coogan, talking to the Independent's Ian Burrell. The second series of 'Saxondale' starts later this month on BBC2, and while I don't think it's quite as profound as Coogan claims it is, it does at least display some serious touches suggestive of a comedian becoming more gradually more reflective and astute in his middle age.