TV REVIEW Stephen Merchant does heavy lifting in new Outlaws series | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV

Congratulations BBC, The Outlaws (BBC1, Thursday) was actually funny!

What a relief. Yes, the plot – about criminals getting up to a caper while doing community service – was still completely daft. But the hand of Stephen Merchant on the script was more than apparent – and most welcome.

My private LOL count almost reached double figures. In fact, it was so long since I’d laughed at a TV show that I felt rather embarrassed to be chortling away.

All this comes after the BBC said it would “Save Our Sitcoms”. It’s a laudable aim but to be honest I think the fight has been lost. We’re so restricted as to what we can and can’t laugh about that most comedies now simply aren’t funny.

It’s no wonder we now have a channel devoted to the heyday of sitcoms – the 70s and 80s – it’s called Rewind TV. But this hasn’t stopped Stephen Merchant, his stature being what it is, who made jokes about the word “queer” and about Alison Hammond! I was delighted. And yes, I should get out more.

Merchant’s character Greg relayed a complaint about noise coming from an adjoining room.

He said: “It was so bad during This Morning, she told me, that she couldn’t hear Alison Hammond laughing!”

As for the “queer” joke, actor Darren Boyd’s John did back away from it in the end, saying, “I’m not taking any chances”. It’s the thought that counts.

And then there was a fine performance from Diane actress Jessica Gunning, she of Baby Reindeer fame – the Netflix dark comedy where she stalks a comedian. If it’s possible she’s even better in The Outlaws. She runs the community city farm with what she believes is a rod of iron – of course, she doesn’t have a clue.

We look forward to the rest of the series. Hopefully all the jokes haven’t been used up – and won’t get censored before the next instalment.

Newscaster Clive Myrie has been let loose on another foreign adventure before he takes up his exciting role as co-anchor of election night on the BBC.

After that whistle-stop tour of Italy he has now taken himself off to Jamaica, where his family lived before the Windrush brought them to Britain.

The series is called Clive Myrie’s Caribbean Adventure (BBC2,

Sunday). Myrie, who also presents Mastermind, has a rather unusual

manner. He can come across as a little distant, somewhat at odds with his apparently jolly, friendly exterior. It’s a curious thing.

It was a fascinating visit though a crammed schedule as Clive met

up with his sister Judith to explore the wild beauty of eastern Jamaica.

To fire up his political bones, he talked with descendants of rebel mountain communities, the Maroons.

He moved on to a high-altitude coffee farm, and did some impressive grinding. He was a natural. Incidentally, he doesn’t touch the stuff.

Finally, he learned the secrets of making the famous Jamaican Jerk Pork, which was met with acclaim by local diners, before bedding down 100ft above the Caribbean Sea for a peaceful night’s sleep.

So is it possible to actually feel nostalgic about politicians? This was how I felt when I saw Theresa May: The Accidental Prime Minister (ITV, Monday). The title almost suggested she was in the wrong place at the wrong time which, in some ways is true.

Apart from not getting Brexit done, May is most remembered for her tears at the very end of her exit from power.

Mostly it was a chance for her to be confessional, “I should’ve been less shy,” was one admission. Not sure about that. We rely on Downing Street to be populated by people who parade their egos proudly, otherwise Ian Hislop would have no material on a Friday night.

FINALLY, Netflix had the show of the week, and another hit to celebrate. It’s Eric (Netflix), starring Benedict Cumberbatch. This is a missing child mystery, but not as we’ve

seen it done before. It’s Sesame Street meets every parent’s nightmare – with puppets and paedos (potentially) thrown in.

There are big furry creatures that appear on the hit fictional show, Good Day

Sunshine, on which Cumberbatch’s Vincent does a turn each morning.

No spoilers about Eric, but this creative drama was already going in directions that Sherlock or Watson would have found far from elementary.

Weave in some edgy 80s New York street life and some unorthodox police work and

you have got a fascinating show.

Clarke Peters is the apartment caretaker George. But Cumberbatch is the watch here, drawing on his Patrick Melrose character by descending into a drug-and-drink-induced parallel universe where anything can happen.

I’m not writing off a cameo from either Big Bird, or Ernie & Bert.