Green Wing Special

One of the most essential part of comedy is timing. And part of that is knowing when to stop. Fawlty Towers is the best example of that, with two perfect series and then nothing else, while The Office, Spaced and Black Books all got out before the jokes stopped being funny anymore. However, so many other series just go on and on well past their sell-by-date. Green Wing has decided to be in the first category, and after two series, this special finale draws a veil over one of Channel 4's best comedies. As with the normal episodes, this feature-length (it's basically three episodes in a row) edition has all of the hazy music, strange visual effects, wacky humour and surreal re's storylines, but with the different priority in terms of tying up all of the loose threads from the end of series 2. And there was certainly plenty of those, with Dr Statham and Joanna on the run in a stolen camper van after killing a midget, Caroline engaged to Guy for reasons even she doesn't quite understand, and Mac coming to terms with his impending death. This special kicks off with a funeral, and keeps you guessing about who is in the coffin for quite some time. Is it Mac? Is it that admin girl who got pushed out of the window? Or is it someone completely different? It ends with two naked people walking into the sea and a wedding, but to find out who's involved in those you'll have to watch it yourselves. Which, to be fair, most of you will have done as it was on TV last week. That makes this DVD release's timing seem a little bit strange, but if you liked it so much that you want to watch it again immediately or missed it completely, here it is. If you missed it, the good news is that it's excellent and much funnier than the slightly disappointing and convoluted second series, and there's plenty of laughs in here. There's also the most hilariously inept killing spree ever committed to film, the aforementioned nudity, office girls turning into the lords of the flies and a women dressed in a rabbit costume at a funeral. Plus special features like an alternate endings (which is not very alternate but still funny), deleted scenes and a fairly scrappy behind the scenes featurette, all of which makes for a decent package, but an excellent end to an innovative and unique comedy with one of the best ensemble casts you'll find anywhere on TV.

Michelle McManus - The Lifeplan Workout

Michelle McManus won Pop Idol in 2003, incredible though it might seem now. She weighed 23 stone and wasn't actually much of a singer, but her bubbly personality won the public over and she got the sympathy vote on a large scale. Just goes to show what Rik Waller could have achieved if he hadn't been such an unsufferable prat. Unfortunately, sympathy only goes so far, and McManus's pop career faded into obscurity even quicker than Steve Brookstein's. She's stayed in the public eye just about since then, but instead of her singing, it's her weight that has been of interest. According to her, she never realised how overweight she was until she saw a photo of herself on holiday, but since then she's been shedding the pounds and has lost ten stone, which is really very impressive. So who better to release a fitness DVD than her? The Lifeplan Workout is her guide to how to get healthy and stay healthy and if that's what you're looking for after a Christmas full of choccies, then it's obviously a tempting option given the clear success that McManus has had with it. You certainly wouldn't want to watch it for kicks though, as neither her nor personal trainer Dax Moy exactly burn up the screen with charisma and the background muzak is the kind that would be rejected as too dull for lifts or supermarkets.