That’s it. No more Saxondale (BBC2, Thursday, 9.30pm) for me. Last in the series. Gone. There’d better be another series or I’ll… kill someone. If you’re thinking ‘that’s a bit much, you should get some anger management classes down yer’ then I’d thank you dearly for neatly taking me to the next segment of my article.

Basically, the last in the series saw Tommy in his anger management class trying to deal with his issues. Of course, this being Coogan, this gave him license to vent surreal spleen in a superb cack-handed manner. Whilst ‘waving good-bye to anger’ he managed to call the counselor a “moon faced drip” and be generally disparaging about his fellow anger managers. Of course, it was the anger ‘talking’ in the letter, not Tommy. Tommy’s anger at the world has been a constant source of fun and gags… but what happens when it turns on its head?

Tommy’s constant cynicism and clawing has endeared him to most who view this marvelous show. On the occasion that he’s out of order, he’s so funny that your laughter does all your forgiving for you. His rock throughout has been the wonderful Magz (who has a fondness for Rush LPs and painting large chested women). However, the snipes got too much, and she left him for week to go on a spiritual retreat.

As a result, Magz starts spending a lot of time with her spiritual guru and naturally, Tommy is absolutely certain that there is more yoga going on. Of course, having this guru (Toby) bending her over and having his hands all over is enough to drive Tommy into strange mental places. Such as pretending that he’s dying. In his daft attempts to win her back, Tommy tries dressing up as a cross between David Crosby and a Native American… for those who can’t really picture that, think a fringed leather jacket and a dream catcher in lank hair. Then there’s the begging. It’s desperate stuff (which Steve Coogan does so very well).

In the end, after some ill timed rants and a session with… shall we say ‘a gentleman’s magazine’ which involved the larger chest, Magz comes back to Tommy due to the memory of a particular track from a Rush LP. It’s funny and somehow heartwarming (as, naturally, Tommy corrects her on the track she’s recalled). The show hardly went out with a bang… but it would be wrong if it did. This is a story of someone struggling to survive in suburbia, so any grandiose storylines would merely serve to undermine the whole thing. Tommy is struggling on in his own little world, ever aware of the fact that his best days are truly behind him. Thankfully, this show is just heating up, and the next series will be fantastic. [Mof Gimmers]