TONY ON TV - A touch of much-needed humour on our screens

The goings include the end of a second run of ‘Watson & Oliver’ (BBC2, Thursday), which was enjoyable but uneven in parts, while on Friday it’s goodbye to the fast-paced antics and ad-libs in ‘Not Going Out’ (BBC1), which saw comedian Lee Mack having to work harder after the departure of Tim Vine, his sparring partner from the previous five series.

The humour would appear more gentle and dated over on BBC4 on Thursday evening in ‘Up the Women,’the first of a three-part trip back in time to 1910 Banbury and a women’s craft circle where amid the threads and stitches one of the members, Margaret (Jessica Hynes from ‘The Royle Family’ and the Olympics sitcom ‘2012’) returns from London fired up with the group getting in on the “votes for women” bandwagon.

Other TV favourites getting caught up in the heated debate of the group, now rebranded the ‘Banbury Intricate Craft Circle Politely Request Women’s Suffrage,’ include Vicki Pepperdine (‘Getting On’), Rebecca Front (‘Lewis’ and ‘The Thick Of It’), Judy Parfitt (‘Call the Midwife’) and Sandi Toksvig, host of Radio 4’s ‘The News Quiz.’

Whether this period sitcom will get the viewers’ vote remains to be seen, but there’s not likely to be a recount for Ben Elton’s “health and safety” themed ‘The Wright Way’ (BBC1), a miserable and wasted six weeks’ of my Tuesday evenings, which should have been renamed ‘The Wrong Way.’

The jury’s still out on ITV1’s Monday night comedy double bill which resumes next week with the penultimate episodes of ‘Vicious’ -- as Freddie (Ian McKellen) and Stuart (Derek Jacobi) continue their camp capers and invite Ash and his new girlfriend, Chloe, to dinner -- followed by more jobcentre juggling in ‘The Job Lot’ as the “loved up” Karl (Russell Tovey) finds out when his new girlfriend comes to sign on, forgetting that relationships between staff and jobseekers are against the rules. I’m not sure what rules apply in ‘The Only Way Is Essex,’ but tune into ITV2 this Sunday at 10pm as the cameras roll again for another extended visit to the gossip and glamour capital of the UK as ‘TOWIE’ returns for yet another action-packed 12-part series of trash TV.