Never Had It So Good (ITV)

This nostalgia quiz is one of those seen-and-instantly-forgotten shows that pad out the schedules between children's TV and the early evening news.

There's nothing remotely novel about it. All it does is remind you of other, better, quiz shows. This is no Have I Got News For You and presenter Matthew Kelly is no Angus Deayton (for which he's probably very grateful at the moment).

But he tries, introducing one of the regular captains, Fred Dinenage, as "the Cliff Richard of How". Rowland Rivron captains the other side in a permanent state of bafflement.

Much depends on the quality of the guest panellists. Thank goodness for Sally Lindsay, who plays barmaid Shelley in Coronation Street. She knew most of the answers.

Round one has the teams guessing a particular year from a collection of images. This, at least, gave us the chance to savour Thora Hird encountering a naked man in her pantry with something clutched over his privates. "And it was me best jelly mould," groaned Thora, funnier than anything said by anyone on the show.

A round called Connect 3 asks contestants to guess the mystery celebrity from three picture clues. Funny man Bob Carolgees (who worked with Spit the dog in Tiswas) and singer Patti Boulaye were the answers. After which the quiz veered into where are they now? territory by revealing Carolgees runs a furniture and candle shop in Cheshire and Boulaye, after getting into Tory politics in the 1990s, is now a painter. "Fabulous singer, fabulous artist and friend of William Hague. Two out of three isn't bad," commented Kelly.

It was left to Jenny Powell to provide the most embarrassing moment when trying to identify the item described by a member of the public in the following terms: "If you don't get into the rhythm, you fall off and hurt yourself. They're weird things but great fun," he said.

Jenny's answer was simple and to the point. "Men," she said, amid much giggling.

Steve Pratt

Bacchai, Olivier Theatre, National Theatre

PRONOUNCED Back-eye, this is a 2,500-year-old Greek tragedy by Euripides which dares to venture into the classical world of Dionysus, the god bent on bloody destruction of young non-believer Pentheus, the king of Thebes. Classical scholars are in their element. The rest of us are left with a morality play where pride leads to a royal family being erased from the Earth.

Director Peter Hall's determination to explore theatre of the mask means that ten-hour epic Tantalus (seen at Newcastle's Theatre Royal last year) is followed by one hour and 50 minutes of ancient Greek translated into English by Colin Teevan. Hall enjoys the traditional format of three actors sharing the starring roles while a semi-clad, mud-caked chorus of Asian followers of Dionysus act as narrator-cum-thought process.

Those new to mask work find their eyes inescapably seeking the source of each line as 15 identically-faced, constantly moving figures identify our story. Greg Hicks enjoys the unstoppable power of bull-horned Dionysus and pulsates as the priest who tricks Pentheus into dressing as a woman to spy on the Bacchai, thus sealing his fate.

William Houston clearly finds the mask a burden as headstrong Pentheus, but establishes a believable Agave, the king's mother. Her role is death's instrument as she leads the bare-handed dismembering of her son (not seen on-stage) in the mistaken belief that it's a young lion. The gore-covered Agave then carries the head as a trophy to her father Cadmus (David Ryall) before further humiliations are heaped on Pentheus' family.

Bacchai is not for the faint-hearted.

Viv Hardwick

* Bacchai visits Newcastle's Theatre Royal from June 19-22