My god, I'd not realised I'd missed series two and three of this. Massive shame, because I've enjoyed pretty much everything Jones has been in for years. Well, at least I've caught this one before any of the episodes have fallen off the internet.
Each episode has a vague plot, with Jones taking up some new career (thus far a police officer, art dealer, and theatre director), with his motto being to solve problems and help as many people as possible in the next half hour. (Which always reminds me of the Stingray opening sequence. With him in these adventures is his friend, Anton, and their landlady, Pauline, "who looks after us".
The plots are naturally nonsensical, often spinning off into "flashbacks" and other silliness as things spark Jones' in-universe recollection. The plot is generally loose, but it's entirely a vehicle for good, and sometimes pleasingly bad, jokes, many of which are delightfully self-deprecating. (It also has probably the best version of a "Me Tarzan, You Jane" joke I've heard in a while.)
The character of Jones is, as always, a lovable idiot. He's never got a malicious streak, and brings a nice cheeriness that isn't always present in character comedy. Anton is a good counterpoint, being both polite and competent, and frequently explaining Jones' confusion, whereas Pauline is rather more vague, and is played by probably my favourite, Josie Lawrence.
None of that really matters though. Jones is a one-liner comedian, and this show is a consistent stream of gags, puns and the very occasional brick joke. And they're all excellent. You should laugh pretty hard for half an hour. I certainly did. Go listen, will cheer you up.
Tagged: Radio Comedy Cast Sitcom Anthology