For me, it is undoubtedly the funniest and most original British sketch comedy since Big Train and The Armando Iannucci Shows – both of which aired more than a decade ago. So Limmy's Show! should, by rights, be a major cult favourite throughout the UK. And yet, despite being in its third series, the Bafta Scotland-winning gem is still not broadcast on the BBC outside Alex Salmond's tartan kingdom.
One of the few "internet sensations" to prove in any way sensational, Glaswegian comedian Brian "Limmy" Limond certainly has fans south of the border. But for all his online popularity – from his podcast to his provocative Twitter feed – Limond's TV show seems to be regarded within the BBC as something of a baffling anomaly.
Limond's sense of humour, oblique though it often is, really isn't that difficult to grasp. It certainly isn't overtly parochial. Yes, it's absurd, dark and surreal – but given the UK's long love affair with comedy in that vein, it's not as if broadcasting it on BBC2 nationwide will result in the channel controller being chased into a burning windmill by hordes of confused and irate viewers.
Written and directed by its star, Limmy's Show! is unusual in that it could only have emerged from the restless imagination of one peculiar person. It's the very antithesis of bland, committee-formed comedy. Recurring characters such as thwarted adventure game host Falconhoof and waster fantasist Dee Dee underpin a barrage of existential observations on the endless complexities of life. It's Limond's own Twilight Zone, filled with pathos, horror, hilarity and wonder.
His comedy finds madness in the mundane – an outlook best typified by a sketch in which a bus journey to the Glasgow district of Yoker escalates into an epic odyssey. Limond's Millport sketch, meanwhile, is quietly devastating in a manner other sketch shows fail to match.
Burnistoun and Gary: Tank Commander – two amiable if admittedly more conventional BBC Scotland comedies – were both recently granted the privilege of a networked slot. But still the superior Limmy's Show! has been left abandoned in Scotland.
Of course, those who don't live in Scotland can watch the show on iPlayer the day after transmission, or on Sky channel 970 as it goes out live – but the issue is surely that the BBC is failing to help a strong series find its widest audience.
Popular mainstream shows such as Miranda have their place, but there should also be room in the schedules for inventive oddities aimed at an appreciative minority. Limmy's Show! will only ever appeal to a niche audience – but it's important that Limmy's audience, that unwashed crowd of bleary-eyed loners, are catered for too.
Admittedly, it's to BBC Scotland's credit that it has allowed an auteur such as Limond to run wild with his singular vision. Other comedians must envy his freedom. But the BBC's failure to build on this success and network his show feels like a cowardly affront to fans of intelligent and distinctive comedy – not to mention one of its brightest comedy stars.
Or maybe it has simply decided that no one will understand Limmy's accent. Yes, it's probably just that. After all, Billy Connolly, Craig Ferguson and Rab C Nesbitt never amounted to a hill of beans outside Glasgow. The accented poltroons.
• Limmy's Show!, 10pm, Mondays, BBC2 Scotland.
