A college reunion

Peter's Friends (Pearl, 9.30pm) appeals for a variety of reasons, not least the plot; a reunion between six college friends.

We have all wondered what such an event would be like: is so-and-so as pretty as she was, are so-and-so and so-and-so still together (I hear she was having an affair), will so-and-so turn up (I gather he's made a fortune on the West coast and thinks he's quite above us all)? Add to this the perfect film setting - a mansion in the English countryside - and cast some of the most fabulously fashionably young actors of the early 90s (Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Rita Rudner) and you're stoked for success.

Fortunately, Peter's Friends lives up to expectations: co-written by Rudner and her husband Martin Bergman and directed by Branagh, it combines a sharp, witty script with finely-honed performances that provoke laughter, anger, tears, envy, romance and heartbreak.

Thompson is a standout as the lonely, gentle Maggie, the group nerd, and Rudner is perfect as a self-absorbed American actress.

But Fry, as Peter, is the pivotal character. He brings the characters and the film together as a set piece and not a collection of parts.

The cast also includes Tony Slattery, Imelda Staunton and Thompson's real mother Phyllida Law.