Carl Jones: Will Peter Kay, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer be kings of comeback?

Still Open All Hours and Birds of a Feather have already given us blasts from the past, and now Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, and Peter Kay, are on their way back too.

Reviving cult shows which earned large fan bases in a bygone era can be a risky old business.

History tells us that walking the fine line between making a show fresh and current, without straying too far from its origins, is fraught with danger and disappointment.

Leave them alone, and they seem old-hat and outdated. Revolutionise them too much, and you risk alienating an established fan base.

That's why, more often than not, these shows end up being over-hyped, and underwhelming, and sometimes actually damage the reputation and cult appeal of the originals.

Still Open All Hours is a case in point. Sir David Jason tried gamely to step up to the plate in the Ronnie Barker-less update of the corner shop sitcom, and the show was a ratings winner with an audience of 10 million.

But most viewers would have tuned in out of either loyalty or curiosity, and found that even Sir David using all the weapons in his considerable armoury couldn't lift the tedious, tired, and achingly predictable innuendo.

No, the spectre of the genius that was Ronnie Barker hovered too largely over the production – it remains to be seen whether a new series will be commissioned, but the post-Christmas silence is rather ominous.

Not that shows can't continue without their star performers, of course. Taggart, that Scottish crime series named after detective Jim Taggart ('there's been a murrrrdurrr'), continued for more than 15 years after the death of actor Mark McManus, becoming arguably more popular around the world in its later years.

It's the exception to the rule, though. Generally, these things only work when the original teams both in front of, and behind the camera, stick together.

That's what Birds of a Feather do, of course. Stick together. And the return of the comedy about bickering sisters and their pompous pal is now a quarter of the way through its rebirth, having been plucked from BBC obscurity and given fresh wings on ITV.

If the show does garner a new fanbase, it will due in no small part to the fact that leading ladies Linda Robson, Pauline Quirke and Lesley Joseph remain great pals off-screen, and managed to retain a watchable, pantomime-style chemistry.

So what of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, another pair of long-time best pals?

The Beeb is clearly hoping House Of Fools, which starts on Tuesday will do for the sitcom what Shooting Stars did for the game show – bend the rules in anarchic fashion.

Set in Bob Mortimer's home, every episode sees Bob frustrated by uninvited lodgers, visitors and guests. Vic Reeves is the long-term and mostly unwanted guest, always treating the place like his own, with little regard for Bob's wishes.

Other waifs and strays include Bosh, a Geordie ex-con played by Angelos Epithimiou alter-ego Dan Skinner. The ingredients are all there . . . it's definitely got potential.

As comedies go, though, it's Peter Kay's return to our screens I'm looking forward to most. First up will be the BBC's Car Share, about supermarket staff thrown together on the commute to work.

He's also created the Channel 4 special Malachy's Millions, poking fun at the Secret Millionaire series. Now that one has the makings of a must-see classic.