TV: Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, Dave

With innovative programmes such as Taskmaster and Dave Gorman's Modern Life Is Goodish Dave – the channel not Mr Gorman – has shown that it can put its own idiosyncratic spin on the game show and the stand-up show. With Jon Richardson's new vehicle they prove that they can also do conventional panel shows pretty well too.

It helps that in Jon Richardson they have a host with a) a very distinctive personality and b) someone who is not overexposed on television. Richardson brings his set of grumpy anxieties to the foreground in a format where guests talk about things that make them go all itchy and then the topics get put onto a wall/league table, graded alongside other issues depending on how much they grind Richardson's gears.

Sounds familiar? Well, yes, it's basically Room 101 but for topics that worry/bother you rather than things that boil your piss. In the first episode Suzi Ruffell and Josh Widdicombe chat about the things that bring them out in hives. Are people sleeping badly? Would a voiced-activated App that records what you say in the night help? I don't know but they recordings Jon plays are pretty bloody funny, which is the main thing.

Widdicombe and Ruffell are very good value – they've toured together so know each other's foibles well – but nobody can quite compete with Richardson, whose pet peeves are both very specific and very relatable. If there is a fault with the format it's that it is a little too long at an hour. Just as you think it is reaching a conclusion there is another ad break and then the show comes back. It avoids being repetitive with a few sketches and inserts, but nothing is quite as funny as hearing a recording of someone using the sleep App who is convinced that there is a Womble in their bed.

Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, Wednesdays from May 16, Dave, 10pm.

Tags: 

Articles on beyond the joke contain affiliate ticket links that earn us revenue. BTJ needs your continued support to continue - if you would like to help to keep the site going, please consider donating.

Zircon - This is a contributing Drupal Theme
Design by WeebPal.