THESE raves from the grave of British sitcom TV are on the rise. Dad’s Army, ’Allo ’Allo! and dinnerladies have all passed through York, and now The Comedy Theatre Company has chosen to excavate the voluble social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet), who had her day with her socially dysfunctional family on the Beeb from 1990 and 1995.

Maybe the first-night audience was drawn to the rebirth of rhino-skinned comic monster Hyacinth, now characterised by the York-raised Rachel Bell. Or maybe it was the presence of Hale And Pace’s Gareth Hale, Brookside’s Steven Pinder, EastEnders’ Debbie Arnold and ’Allo! ’Allo’s Kim Hartman in the celebrity cast. Or maybe it was the lure of a new script by Roy Clarke, who knows how to spin out a story beyond its seemingly natural life from the ironically titled Last Of The Summer Wine.

In his update, Clarke has moved Keeping Up Appearances out of its natural terrain of Hyacinth Bucket’s candlelight suppers at home and into the village hall for a play within a play. Or, more precisely, rehearsals for a comic murder mystery, directed for the local amateur dramatic company by her beleaguered neighbour Emmet (a typically smooth yet flustered Pinder) with the assistance of his nervy sister Liz (Hartman).

Already in the cast are Hale’s slobbish Onslow, swilling lager and spilling out insults in his string vest; his strangely besotted wife, big Daisy (Christine Moore), Hyacinth’s sister; and that tramp Rose (Arnold’s blonde stereotype), Hyacinth’s other sister, who has her eyes on diffident new company member Mr Milson (David Janson).

Under no circumstances does Emmet want Hyacinth to join them, but what noises off can be heard? Why, it is the grand entry of Bell’s Hyacinth – a moment much like Berwick Kaler’s dame in the Theatre Royal pantomime – as she parades her way through the stalls, voice heard first, and still dressed as if for The Queen’s garden parties.

Surely she should be too busy preparing to participate in the painting exhibition in the same building. Wrong, of course! Once Hyacinth hears there is part of a lady still to be filled, inevitably she puts herself forward, and not only does she fill it but she tries to take over the director’s role too.

Bell has the mock posh voice, the handbag carriage, the airs and graces that Patricia Routledge brought to Hyacinth so successfully, and Clarke also lets her stretch Hyacinth further by casting her in a second part as a lowly cook, West Country accent and all.

Professional actors playing amateurs is a familiar minefield for comedy from Michael Frayn’s Noises Off and Alan Ayckbourn’s A Chorus Of Disapproval, and both are far superior comic creations to this stilted, awkward, forced comedy.

Bell and Pinder work particularly hard to make it work, and Hale’s Onslow has the occasional biting comment, but Hyacinth couldn’t put it better when she says “it’s one of those days when your soufflé won’t rise”.

Keeping Up Appearances, The Comedy Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk