I was dismayed on my way home yesterday to realise that I had now listened to the last episode of Nebulous, a hilarious spoof sf show starring Mark Gatiss as Professor Nebulous, the leader of K.E.N.T. (the Key Environmental Non-Judgemental Taskforce) whose two secret shames are that his parents wanted him to be a clown and he accidentally destroyed the Isle of Wight. It’s not deep stuff, but it’s funny and affectionate towards its target (classic British sf, especially but not only Doctor Who).

It is surprising how much of the humour is based on that old stand-by, catch-phrases. I remember many years ago reading that Spike Milligan asserted that if you did it often enough, you could eventually get laughs from a character repeatedly opening a door and yelling “More Coal!” or something similar. Though I think the lines in Nebulous are genuinely funny. Whenever anyone says something to me in future that references a body part, I shall think of Harry complaining “Unlike you, professor, I no longer have the luxury of a nostril/nose/leg/arm!”

I heartily recommend it, and hope that there will be more (I see rumours of a TV series).