THERE is something very British about an Iranian who can write with outrage in the red-tops about an Iranian woman under threat of the death sentence for adultery, calling the country's government to account. And who can also slip into a series of very dodgy Middle Eastern characters on the big and the small screens, then hit the West End as fiction's most demonised Jew, Fagin.

Omid Djalili should be the biggest nightmare of the uber-PC BBC, but happily they seem to give him free rein to do his thing.

They won't have to worry about him for a while though, since he heads out on a stand-up tour, taking in Swansea's Grand Theatre tomorrow.

Tour Of Duty sees Omid step back into the stand-up fray after more than three years away, with the show's title, Tour Of Duty, donated by one of his Twitter followers after a half-serious appeal for ideas.

"It reminded me of peace-keeping forces and the fact that someone once said I was a bridge between East and West.

"And I thought 'yes, I'm a bridge, and it's about time I started charging a toll."

He promises a night of big ideas as well as chatter about celebrities and politicians, starting at 8pm.