Dancing for 24 hours? What a twat. It’s easy to be cynical about Comic Relief. From the bathfuls of baked beans to celebrities raising their profiles for charity there is much to knock about it. But I don’t know why, maybe I am getting softer and soppier, last night’s Comic Relief seemed pretty decent to me. I started off thinking Dermot O’Leary was a bit of a dick, but ended up thinking he was a bit of a hero. If you want a hatchet job stop reading now. 

From the opening Mr Bean sketch with Atkinson creating havoc during a funeral it looked good. The concept of the sketch was predictable but Atkinson showed that his silent numbskull still had legs and mucking about with the coffin he wasn’t afraid to offend. I also spotted Colin Hoult and possibly Liam Williams in bit parts, which was nice.

The evening did feel like a Richard Curtis tribute night later on when Dawn French dusted off the Vicar of Dibley for a short special. Putting aside the notion that French seems to be in an unspoken competition with Lenny Henry to lose the most weight this was a very neatly delivered sketch. Maybe even my highlight of the night.

French had received a call (from Richard Ayoade - three cheers) saying that she was being interviewed for the post of bishop, but was so ecstatic she had not heard it was an interview and pitched up thinking she already had the job. In fact she was up against five other candidates, including Ruth Jones as a kind of leather-clad Bizarro World Dawn French and, in another jolly Comic Relief twist, Jennifer Saunders. There were plenty of laughs but you also felt for her character when she was bullied by the others.

Talking of bishops, John Bishop was one of the star turns on film in Africa and then back in the studio. It is easy to see why Bishop has become such a primetime star. He just has that easy touch where he seems to reach out from the screen and into your lounge, whether near to tears in Africa or in the studio coming across like a polite Bob Geldof and coaxing you into coughing up cash.

Also in the studio and on film Lenny Henry was on great form, reunited with a family he had helped out in the past and helming his section at the Palladium like the pro he is. Henry’s career is a bit of an enigma - absolutely brilliant at some things, not quite right at others. As long as he sticks to being brilliant he should be in line for National Treasure any year now*, which brings me to…

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