I’ve got all sorts of mixed feelings about the return of Tracey Ullman to British sketch comedy, It’s great to see an older face get a series. Even greater that it’s a woman. On the other hand why couldn’t the BBC give the slot to newer, younger and probably cheaper talent? And no doubt her return to TV and the publicity circuit means that we are going to keep hearing her bloody anecdote about mistaking Kanye West for a shop assistant that has been doing the rounds for ages.

The only truly important question, of course, is is her show any good? Well I’m going to avoid answering that for a bit longer by saying that the writing credits include Arthur Mathews, Lucy Montgomery, Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, who all know how to make viewers laugh. 

OK, you’ve stuck with me this far. So come on, what is it like? Well the thing is that Tracey Ullman’s Show is a bit like, erm, everything. Maybe that’s what comes with employing lots of writers. There are plenty of laughs from Ullman and her supporting cast of familiar comedy faces including Sam Spiro and Katherine Jakeways, but no cohesive style or tone emerges. 

The most notable influence is probably Little Britain. In the sketch that might be described as "edgy" or maybe "naughty" Ullman plays a topless MP elected on a feminist ticket. Except, of course that her breasts are prosthetic. In fact there’s a lot of prosthetics here. Her Judi Dench – using her national treasure status to get away with behaving really badly – is spot on and you wouldn’t even know it was Ullman. Her Angela Merkel is excellent too. Her Maggie Smith - auditioning for sci-fi roles with her Downton vowels, a pretty basic premise – is not quite so good.

So is the show all about celebrity impressions? No. As well as her fictional MP there are other fictional characters. Most notably northerner Karen, back in the UK after doing 28 years for drug smuggling in the Far East and coming to terms with flat whites. Karen keeps recurring, while others gets in, bang out the punchline and get out. There is also a song-and-dance sketch about library closures and a darkly subversive sketch which mentions genocide and, fair play, you don’t get many of those on BBC1.

It’s easy to say this is hit and miss but it is more complex than that. In fact if you’ve got a broad, tolerant sense of humour this is much more hit than miss. Ullman is an excellent, versatile mimic. It’s just that this show is all over the blinking place. It’s on BBC1 but it wants to be edgy. Ullman probably wants to be cutting edge, but also plays it very safe. I’ll certainly keep watching, if only to see if one style of comedy wins out over all the others jostling for our attention.  

Tracey Ullman’s Show, Mondays, 10.45pm, BBC1. First episode on iPlayer here.