When a panel of judges convenes to decide the winner of an acting award, it’s pretty clear that this clash of egos and different agendas will make for an interesting session.

Most of the fun in this episode is derived from the cast of popular genre TV actors playing highly exaggerated versions of themselves, bitching and backstabbing. Zoe Wanamaker is a once-famous US actress who’s now stuck in some rubbish at the Trafalgar Studios, director Noel Clarke has just come off an episode of Doctor Who, Kenneth Cranham is a politically-incorrect old luvvy and Fenella Woolgar is a scabrous TV reporter. Co-writers Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith are a desperate-for-work writer and awards chairman respectively.

Everyone is quite horrendous – these are not people you’d want to spend your time with, apart from Phoebe Sparrow’s Jackie, a member of the general public who has been added to the panel to add the voice of the people. No-one can say anything nice about anyone else, and even if there’s no real redemption by the end, someone gets the upper hand.

Verdict: Less clever than some of this series’ earlier episodes, it’s still a joy watching TV royalty spitting such bile. 7/10

Nick Joy