Lawrence Rickard + sarcasm. That’s basically all you need to know about this week’s Yonderland. It’s time for Rickard and Jim Howick to get more screen time as the Chamberlain and King Bernard respectively.

A slight dip in laughs tonight is counteracted by a slightly darker tone (relatively speaking), with sinister undercurrents afoot in Elf’s behaviour and in the mysterious goings-on in Ennythingos. While there’s still a lot of imagination on display, there’s perhaps more reliance on bawdy humour here than previously.

Yonderland is getting increasingly hard to review, because it’s so bloody consistent.

Four episodes in and we know what we’re going to get – inspired silliness, a constant stream of one-liners, great ideas, non-sequiturs, physical comedy and not much in the way of plot arc advancement. It’s very funny. It’s hard to describe an episode without spoiling a few of these, although as there are lots to go round, it’s not the end of the world.

Sky1’s Yonderland maintains its high quality levels this week with a high gag-success rate, gratuitous nudity, and the inspired concept of the Monks of Old John, who must always tell the truth, and end up offending Negatus as a result. Debbie attempts to lead them to safety, avoiding those hunting for the reward of bringing them in dead or alive, including goblins and bounty hunters.

Yonderland – Sky1’s new comedy series from the makers of Horrible Histories – really kicks into gear this week, launching promptly into the adventure and being all the funnier for getting to spend more time with all the one-off, incidental characters.

There is, as with many comedies, a lot more fun to be had once the setup of Yonderland – Sky1’s new comedy series from the makers of Horrible Histories – is over and done with.