Two become one: the stars in a publicity shot

The pair acted out scenes between the clips, which saw Hurley smiling convincingly, pulling her tongue at Cleese, looking in disgust at him and screaming in fear when he produced a stuffed squirrel.

Their argumentative presence made for an interesting variation on the normal documentary theme, and Cleese's deadpan delivery occasionally worked well when it contrasted with Hurley's mischievous persona.

And there were convincing moments of chemistry.

"I told them to get Judi Dench," Cleese said at one point, looking frustratedly at his sidekick.

Subdued

"So sorry you didn't get that Oscar nomination," he told her later, which met with a particularly stinging insult in return.

But the two were both laughing heartily - presumably to demonstrate how easy it is to fake an expression.

But the show failed to inspire that many smiles.

Cleese's straight-man delivery would have worked better if there was more irony and humour to be had from the subject.

Instead, it came across as slightly subdued, lacking the levels of energy required to draw the viewer in.

In fact Cleese recently criticised the BBC for insisting on more facts and less humour, asking: "Why did they ask me to do it in the first place?"

His most convincing facial expression of the show was a mixture of delight and rage when he set about a set of computers with a baseball bat, after demonstrating that technology is damaging social interaction.

But why the BBC decided on this subject for the star treatment is anyone's guess.

Michael Palin, Pierce Brosnan and Prunella Scales will be helping Cleese out for the remaining three parts of the series, shown every Wednesday night on BBC One until 28 March at 2110 GMT.