Following the success of Vic and Bob's Big Night Out "reimagining" last Christmas here are four brand new episodes revisiting their early unique screwball lunacy. And while I had a few misgivings about the Christmas special there are no complaints here. I don't know how they've done it but Vic and Bob really have recaptured the old magic again.

At the end of July it was reported that Alan King, who worked with comedian Vic Reeves at the start of his comedy career, had died. It now appears that this is incorrect.

The news had appeared on the internet and had been confirmed to Beyond The Joke. It is unclear how the confusion arose. BTJ has been in touch with people who have recently tried to reach King by phone and email. He had not responded but we have now been told that he is still alive from someone who says that they heard the news via his wife.

I’ve usually found Vic Reeves to be a pretty elusive interviewee, always opting for a gag when you want some insight, but he was unusually open in this interview with actor/director Tony Pitts about his formative years.

Maybe it was because the series was all about artists and, as Reeves/Moir admitted, he always saw Vic Reeves as an art project from the very first time he stuck on a cardboard Sylvester Stallone mask and made his debut at Winston’s Wine Bar in Deptford in the 1980s.