A popular comedy duo from the 1970s meet up again for one last reunion gig, but will the unresolved fallout from the events in Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room derail this last hurrah.

After the high comedy of the previous week’s Zanzibar, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have crafted what’s essentially a two-hander (there’s a fleeting intervention of a third character) that’s aching with nostalgia, a lost past and the guilt from not facing one’s demons. The leads play Cheese and Crackers, a popular light entertainment act of their day, probably more Cannon and Ball than Morecambe and Wise. It all came to a head following a bust-up in Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room (his trademark ostrich was also a victim) and years later straight man Tommy agrees to perform with funny man Len for one last time.

Much is made is of how comedy tastes have changed in the intervening years, how some jokes are now inappropriate, and even how fellow comedians were under the scrutiny of Project Yewtree. Tommy has made a point to take down YouTube clips of the act that might negatively impact his successful marketing business, and fears that someone might recognise him in Tina Turner fright wig with ping pong eyes – a lovely reference to the duo’s Psychoville.

Doctor Who director Graeme Harper gets a change of pace from ordering Cybermen around with a poignant, melancholic script that allows both performers to express decades of regret and disappointment into their brief exchanges.

Verdict: It’s one last serving of Cheese and Crackers as the curtain falls one last time on a broken relationship. Can things so far in the past ever be mended, and to what end? It’s a beguiling half-hour. 8/10

Nick Joy