RADIO REVIEW - THE LIGHT PROGRAMME
The Stage 02/02/1995 BY LISA MARTLAND

To search for contemporary queens of comedy you need look no further than performers like Victoria Wood, French and Saunders and, of course, the 'slimline' Jo Brand. But they follow in the footsteps of some quite special comic ladies, a number of them still raising a laugh today. The Comediennes (R2, from Thursday, January 19) is a series celebrating the lives of such performers, with archive material which includes interviews and memories of classic sketches. The first programme focused on Irene Handl, and dealt with her memorable portrayals of cockney characters, as well her work with artists like Peter Sellers.
It was an interesting half hour, though I felt the formula was a little haphazard and unsatisfying. However, there was a vast improvement in the second instalment when the spotlight was turned on Hattie Jacques.

Male, funny and considerably more modem, Lee and Herring are currently causing hilarious havoc on Radio 1 (from Monday, January 9). This is no ordinary hour of music and chat - in fact Stewart and Richard appear to select records either for their bizarre content or so that they can deliberately label them worthless. My favourite bits were the outrageous tribute band competition, hapless Peter Baynham's lifestyle tips and the alternative parable. It had me laughing out loud.