Last night’s episode of Lead Balloon (BBC4, 10.30pm) – ‘Fatty’ – was the last in the series, and, like the fickle viewer that I am, it’s only now that it has been taken away from me that I’ve realised just how much I actually enjoyed it. This is certainly down to the performances, which are all natural, and all rather brilliant, and which give the show it’s sense of ease. It doesn’t induce belly-laughs, admittedly, but from Hancock to Reginald Perrin, comedy has always loved a moaner (little that’s funny has ever come from being happy and content, now, has it?) and Jack Dee, as ‘put-upon’ comedian Rick Spleen, certainly does moaning very well. He is the physical embodiment of A Good Rant – every facial contortion displays his annoyance, and, very often disgust, at pretty much everything around him.

And of course the comeuppance he gets for all this bile, is putting his foot in it in a massive way, on quite numerous occasions. Luckily, seeing Spleen squirm is just as wonderful as watching him despair at the world’s wrongs, so it might by lose-lose for him, but it’s win-win for us. Jack Dee was certainly the one who kept me watching, but he was undoubtedly surrounded by a fantastic cast. Anna Crilly as housekeeper Magda threatened to steal every scene she wandered into, with an apparent total lack of effort, and Tony Gardner, as Michael, showed us that he’s not just great in kids’ shows (My Parents Are Aliens) but that he can also cut it in Proper Adult Comedy too. Quite cute one moment, downright weird the next, Michael certainly knew how to infuriate Rick – though probably not consciously, bless him.

This isn’t a perfect series by any means, though. Sometimes you wish Rick were even more mean and selfish, not only because Dee can do that so well, but also to prevent the show from creeping towards something more akin to Love Soup (the music kept making me think of that show) – ie. great performances, but with no real bite. A couple of the episodes perhaps rated nearer ‘very good’ than ‘mind-blowingly excellent’, but this is nit-picking, really, as you always knew that there was a Spleen monologue, or Magda one-liner to keep you watching, at the very least.

If you’ve missed it on BBC4, you can catch Lead Balloon (alas, only from halfway through the series, now) on BBC2, Thursdays at 9.30pm, as the filling in the ‘Pedigree Comedy’ sandwich of The Catherine Tate Show (9pm) and Never Mind The Buzzcocks (10pm). Just as That Mitchell and Webb Look provided some welcome relief and laughs after Extras, Lead Balloon should really put a smile on the face of those who really aren’t bovvered anymore. [annawaits]