Apart from the absence of a mention for Rik Mayall, the other notable omission at last week’s British Comedy Awards was Brian Pern. The lead singer of prog legends Thotch, alias Simon Day, did not figure in the prize-giving for his first trilogy that went out on BBC4 in the Spring. Hopefully this second trilogy will make amends in next year’s gong-fest.

The short but sweet rock spoof certainly goes out in style this week as we follow Brian as he makes his first new record in twelve years – a Christmas charity album in aid of bipolar polar bears. The fun is in seeing the guests Pern ropes in. Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt turns every pastoral melody into an R&B riff, Melanie C has a face-off with Pern's protege Pepita Sanchez and Chrissie Hynde turns out to be an angry old flame of Brian but still does it for the bears. Meanwhile manager John Farrow eyes up the potential profits from his noticeably large yacht: “that’s a fuck of a load of glacier mints”.

The timing of the episode could not be better as much fun is extarcted from spoofs of old Christmas singles. We get to meet Brian's Uncle Lionel, who had an early seasonal hit and there is a rare screening of Pern’s accidental number one I Wish I Was At Home With Me Missus – any similarity to Jona Lewie’s Stop The Cavalry is purely accidental. 

There are further surprises which we won’t spoil, but we can reveal that Thotch guitarist Pat Quid (Paul Whitehouse) briefly formed a spin-off band, Pat and the Patios, which does sound eerily similar to Mike and the Mechanics. But that sums up this series. Everything is never more than a whisker away from reality. A spoof so convincingly accurate maybe Pern really should save the bipolar polar bears and Thotch really should reunite and go on tour next year.