Rich Hall's Red Menace, BBC Four review - laconic comic referees the Free World versus Communism

★★★ RICH HALL'S RED MENACE, BBC FOUR Laconic comic referees the Free World versus Communism

A sideways look at the madness and paranoia of the Cold War decades

Who won the Cold War? Nobody, according to comedian Rich Hall in this 90-minute film for BBC Four. His theory is that after the symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago, Russia and America merely “flipped ideologies”.

Elf Lyons, Komedia, Brighton review - bonkers, brilliant and a bit of bare bum

★★★ ELF LYONS, KOMEDIA, BRIGHTON Bonkers, brilliant and a bit of bare bum

An endearing personal journey into why guinea pigs hate their loving, attentive owners

Elf Lyons’ new show, Love Songs To Guinea Pigs, has moved away from her usual slapstick and absurdist mimicry into new realms of traditional stand up. She cites the reason as being unable to do mime on the radio, but there’s a more serious reason for the switch.

After ChifChaff, her Edinburgh show last year, and a string of shows involving ballet, hula hooping and ice skating, the comic found herself in bed, paralysed from the waist down. What came next was corrective spinal surgery, adoption of two guinea pigs, a bout of depression, a break up, and a return to the stage.

Ruby Wax, Brighton Festival 2019 review - how to be human

★★★ RUBY WAX, BRIGHTON FESTIVAL 2019 How to remain real in an inhuman world

An evening of laughs alongside real lessons in mindfulness and neurology

Once the self proclaimed poster girl for mental illness, Ruby Wax has evolved her stand up act, because, as she puts it, “everyone has mental illness now. It spread like wildfire.”

It’s a tongue in cheek reference to the current supposed "fashion" for speaking up and out about mental health with the aim to de-stigmatise and taboo-bust – something that Wax has contributed hugely to over the years, by bravely opening up about her own journey to let other people know that it was OK to not be OK.

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story review - inside Sidebottom's head

The inspiring saga of an artist hidden behind a mask

Frank Sidebottom was a petulant, man-child showbiz trouper with a papier-mâché head. He was more spontaneously subversive than memories of his heyday rampaging round Nineties kids TV may suggest. As to the rigorously hidden man behind the mask, he was more peculiarly brilliant than that.

This Time with Alan Partridge, BBC One review - a man out of time?

★★★ THIS TIME WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE, BBC ONE A man out of time?

Shameless return of Steve Coogan's cringetastic broadcaster

“I’ve remained a vital presence on the fringes of TV Land,” argues Alan Partridge in an interview with Radio Times, the man whose latest claim to… well, not fame, but at least he has been presenting Mid Morning Matters on North Norfolk Digital.

Jellyfish review - life on the edge in Margate

★★★★ JELLYFISH Powerful character work makes this British indie worth watching

Powerful character work makes this British indie worth watching

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside – well perhaps not, if Jellyfish is anything to go by. Set in Margate, this independent feature paints a picture of a town and people that have been left behind. Cut from the same cloth as Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, it tells the story of Sarah (Liv Hill), a young carer barely able to balance school, work and her homelife.

Adam Riches Is The Guy Who..., Drink, Shop & Do review - super-suave Lothario on the prowl

Immersive show examines male-female engagement in the #MeToo era

The first line of this show is “I'm the guy who you meet right after you come out of a long-term relationship.” On the night I see The Guy Who..., Adam Riches has three tries with it before he meets his target, a woman who has been dumped by a long-standing boyfriend.

DVD/Blu-ray: Under the Tree

★★★★ DVD/BLU-RAY: UNDER THE TREE A devastating suburban satire

Summer in Iceland and the living's not easy: a devastating suburban satire

If you’ve ever had an argument with a neighbour, watch Under the Tree and take notes. This mesmerising story of a dispute over a tree blocking the sun in a next-door garden is based, says Icelandic director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, on an actual domestic conflict, though surely one with less cataclysmic consequences.

Kidding, Sky Atlantic review - tears of a clown

★★★★ KIDDING, SKY ATLANTIC A surprisingly deep lesson in loss

Jim Carrey-led series provides a surprisingly deep lesson in loss

There’s no one right way to grieve. It cuts through everyone differently, whether reverting to childhood traits or out-of-character impulses. The person you lose might mean one thing to you, and something completely different to someone else; it can hit you both differently, and equally hard.