As we wait rather impatiently for the third series of Brian Pern, the team behind it have released a mini-episode online.

In it, Simon Day returns as Brian Pern – former frontman of prog-numpties Thotch turned activist and world-music inventor. In this installment, we find out about Brian’s divergence into the Manchester indie-music scene in the early 1990s, and his work with pioneering producer Luke Dunmore – played by the eternally wonderful Christopher Eccleston.

Once again written by Day with director Rhys Thomas, and featuring mad-fer-it cameos from Tony Way, Lucy Montgomery and Steve Burge, this is more vintage Pern, and will tide us over until the new series rather nicely.

It also gives us another excuse to share the sublime 2012 spoof The Second Second Coming, directed by Al Campbell (Newswipe, Man Down) and written by Nico Tartarowicz, and featuring a whole host of familiar faces.

As for Pern, he’ll back on BBC Four in the New Year.