By Matthew Gormley @MatthewPGormley

Following the conclusion of the hit small screen mickey-take TV Burp in 2012, Harry Hill has turned his hand to a variety of different projects, both on and off the telly. We’ve had the CBBC show Shark Infested Custard, the spoof cookery programme Tea Time and the disastrous revival of Stars In The Eyes, which was so dire it pains me to even write about it. There was also the ill-fated West End musical I Can’t Sing, a song and dance shambles based on The X Factor which nobody really understood, as was proven when it closed after just six weeks.

This week, the colossal-collared comedian returned to his old haunting ground with Alien Fun Capsule, which was billed as a panel show in which Harry and two teams of guests are tasked with finding amusing clips and quips to convince aliens that human beings can be fun to hang out with. It’s a format that’s as loose as decade-old knicker elastic, and the trailers portrayed it as a Saturday morning kids show plucked straight from the middle of the 1990s. I thought I was going to hate it and, to be honest, I really longed to.

Credit where it’s due, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. In fact, it was actually quite amusing. It was practically a rehash of TV Burp, with Harry caustic, comical and, at times, cruel ribbing of his four celebrity guests and the shows they’ve appeared in making up the majority of the show. Kind of like a ‘live’ edition of TV Burp. The two ‘teams’ on the opening episode were made up of actress and comedian Sara Pascoe, former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher, actor Patrick Robinson and Josh Widdecombe from The Last Leg. The four were there simply to be mocked. Kelvin ran into the studio, following a clip of his character Andy legging it through the forest and dirtying his new suit, setting the tone for the thirty minutes of nonsense that followed. Sounding very familiar already?

The role of Sara, Kelvin, Patrick and Josh was purely to act as a scapegoat for Harry’s childish cribbing. ‘This is the most fun I’ve ever had on a TV show’, Josh proclaimed. One of the few contributions he managed to make, aside from the over-the-top hysterics as they fell about laughing at absolutely everything that Harry said.

By the time we reached the ten minute mark, I was starting to wonder when the ‘panel show’ element would kick in. ‘Time for a round’, Harry declared, seemingly having read my mind. ‘Probably should have one at some point in case we try to sell it abroad’, he jested; confirming once and for all that the format is non-existent. Quite what this ‘round’ was supposed to be, I’m still not sure. Ah yes, it involved the celebrities singing pop standards whilst repeatedly belting themselves on the head with a metal tray, in homage to the music hall act Bob Blackman. Don’t ask me why. There’s nothing worse than stars taking themselves too seriously on these light-hearted panel shows; at least there’s certainly no danger of that happening on Alien Fun Capsule.

Clattering the brain cells out of their heads was as far as the ‘panel show’ bit went. I think the only section that resembled anything to do with a quiz was the ‘What Happens Next?’ clip which led into the commercial break. There was no scoring, no competition and even no conclusion. Had the teams completed their mission? Was the fun capsule efficiently full, enough to convince extra terrestrial creatures that life on Earth could be fun? Harry didn’t seem to care, so why should we?

Whilst it was amusing enough to get you chuckling a couple of times, it doesn’t belong in a primetime slot and the format needs much more development. Yes, TV Burp was Harry Hill at his best, so to sneak elements reminiscent of the old format into this new show gives the programme great potential, but it craves some more muscle. Why are the teams not selecting clips of their own to put into the ‘fun capsule’, with Harry, at the end of the half hour, judging which ‘capsule’ is the funniest overall? At least, then, there would be some sort of point.