The Last Tommy (BBC1)

Hannibal Of The Alps: Revealed (five)

THE idea behind The Last Tommy was a simple but effective one - have the last surviving veterans of the First World War tell their stories about their experiences in the so-called "war to end all wars".

In 2003, when filming began on the project, only 27 British Tommies were still alive. All were centenarians, ages ranging from 102 to 107. Today, only four survive. But it's important to hear their voices, not solely for historical purposes but to remind us all that war, no matter where or when it's fought, is hell.

The figures are horrific. Of the five and a half million British soldiers who fought in the First World War, some 700,000 were killed by heavy artillery, gas and machines guns. Many more were wounded.

For 80 years, Harry Patch kept his war memories a secret, never watching a war movie or speaking of his experiences in the trenches. Only since going into a home at 100 has he faced his war demons.

Hearing his description of going over the top for the first time you could understand why he'd tried to wipe the memory from his mind. He came across a soldier, badly injured by shrapnel - "ripped from his shoulder to his waist". The wounded man asked Harry to shoot him. "He was beyond human aid," said Harry. The man died before his wish could be carried out.

Alfred Anderson remembers watching, as a six-year-old, troops returning from the Boer War. Twelve years later he was a soldier in the same Black Watch regiment. He's the last surviving Tommy who witnessed events when the guns fell silent in the Christmas truce of 1914. The British and Germans swapped presents and played football (the Germans won, although the game had to stop when the ball was punctured on the barbed wire).

He wasn't a smoker but found a use for the tin that contained cigarettes sent by Princess Mary. It was a perfect fit for his bible. Prayer, I imagine, was one of the most powerful weapons these Tommies had.

The fighting continued in Hannibal Of The Alps. We remember from history lessons that he crossed the Alps with an army and some elephants, although who knows why? It was all to do with his lifelong war with Rome and desire to restore Carthaginian supremacy. He came within an elephant's trunk of succeeding.

The narrator was putting it mildly by pointing out that "getting to Italy would be far from straightforward". A four-month trek with his army and animals across the Alps in the winter was no picnic. Many thousands of the 46,000 men who began the journey never finished it.

Once in Italy, Hannibal won battle after battle but failed to take Rome, although the experience was the catalyst for the growth of Rome's empire. Just think, without Hannibal the BBC wouldn't have its new hit drama, Rome.

Paddy McGuinness, Grand Opera House, York

FEMALE members of the audience whooped with delight when the comedy heartthrob of the moment came on stage. He used the big telly screen behind him to emphasise his gags and had the audience in the palm of his hand from the start. But Paddy McGuinness is in danger of becoming the Jonathan Wilkes to Peter Kay's Robbie Williams. He became famous as Paddy, the sex-crazed bouncer from Phoenix Nights, and co-starred in the subsequent spin-off, Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere. The Darkside of the Force tour sees him branching out and developing his character a bit more but there was a feeling that he is finding it hard to let go of familiar ground. "Peter Kay talks about sliding on your knees and grannies dancing at weddings, not me. This is the Dark Side," he said. Why mention it then?

The style included Kay-type quick fire gags, which raised a smile but would not have come amiss from a local radio DJ. It was a crowd-pleasing set that featured songs and audience participation, but it always focused on the crude side of his character. In many ways, he is a traditional blue comic, whereas Kay is more a family entertainer.

The show made for an enjoyable evening, given that it was the sixth night of his first solo tour, but comedy fans want more than predictable and obvious references to the TV show that made them come in the first place.

Gavin Havery