Legends Of Stand-Up And Bernard Righton (Gold)

THERE are rumours that the cast of much-loved late-1990s series Cold Feet – which includes James Nesbitt, Hermione Norris and Fay Ripley – will be reprising their roles.

"It's not 100 per cent lit, it's subject to contract," reveals John Thomson, who played Pete Gifford in the seminal show. "It might start next year. All I can say is that it's likely, but the deals aren't done."

The 46-year-old, who lives in Manchester, says he "would love to do it" – "I'm genuinely excited if it goes again, because it's probably the best thing I've done" – but in the meantime, new Gold series, Legends Of Stand-Up And Bernard Righton, has been keeping him busy.

In the five-parter (a sixth programme will air at Christmas), Thomson appears as his stand-up alter ego, the "legendary club comedian" Bernard Righton, to compere programmes celebrating the world's greatest comedians.

The character was created around 1990, when Thomson and fellow funny man Steve Coogan were at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University), and is based on a politically correct version of the late controversial comedian Bernard Manning.

"Imagine if he'd seen the light and he wasn't offensive any more?" explains Thomson, who was born in Salford and used to work in one of the working men's clubs where many comedians of Manning's generation honed their craft.

"I know the scene, I've seen acts, and know what the comedians were about. Of course their kind of humour is a thing of the past, some of it was terribly offensive and things have moved away from that, and in the right direction."

Describing his own stand-up style as "a bit pick and mix", Thomson recalls how a five-minute stint as Bernard Righton prompted the audience to start chanting, "Bernard! Bernard!"

"It really took off, and I thought, 'I'm missing a trick here'. So I knuckled down, wrote a set, got the costumes and that's how he started."

The character appeared as a compere in Coogan's live show, and the pair won the Perrier Comedy Award at Edinburgh in 1992.

After a long absence, Thomson revisited the character when he returned to stand-up in 2012.

"Originally, I'd gone off the boil with him and didn't feel the need to do it. I felt there was a lot of jeopardy involved, because there are so many factors that can affect your performances," explains the father-of-two. "The venue might not be right, the lighting or the sound, the audience might be in a quiet mood and that spreads like a virus. These days, one of the first questions I ask when I've got a booking is, 'Are the audience comedy-savvy?', which means is it a comedy club that is regularly attended by people who like comedy?"

Thomson is considering writing and starring in a biopic about the late, great actor Oliver Reed.

"I think it's time I got my pen to paper, rather than writing comedy, write something a bit more serious. I've mentioned it to a few people and they've gone, 'That is a brilliant idea', because people have always thought I looked a little like Olly, so it would be very interesting."

First Dates: Celebrity Special for SU2C (C4, 9pm)

THE show' restaurant opens its doors for a special episode in aid of Stand Up to Cancer, with maitre d' Fred and his team welcoming hopeful single people from across the country who are unaware that some of the dinner dates will be famous faces. Those hoping to meet the person of their dreams include Swiss-born neuroscience student Sophie, personal trainer Craig and part-time model Louis.

Rhymes, Rock and Revolution - The Story of Performance Poetry (BBC4, 10pm)

WEARSIDER Lauren Laverne narrates a documentary exploring how the lines between popular music and poetry have become blurred in the 50 years since beat poet Allen Ginsberg's appearance at the Royal Albert Hall, which captured the imagination of young people aligned to the emergent counter-culture movement. John Cooper Clarke, Hollie McNish and Phill Jupitus take part.

Viv Hardwick