Nearly a decade ago, Ron Burgundy was released on an unsuspecting public. Possibly the world’s worst local news TV presenter, he was not an immediate hit, but word spread with the movie and the character becoming a cult favourite.

To its credit, the sequel does not just tread water. There is an attempt to put a story around the visual and verbal gags.

The film has its moments, but not really enough to justify a running time just shy of two hours. Whoever said, “brevity is the soul of wit” got it right. But if you enjoy the type of comedy pedaled by Will Ferrell, above, and his regular cohorts then Anchorman will have something for you.

In Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, we are in the 1980s and New York City’s first 24-hour news station Global News Network (GNN) is getting under way. Burgundy is at a loose end, having been sacked from his job after seeing co-anchor and lover Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) promoted to lead anchor.

Burgundy gathers up the old team who are engaged in various non-journalistic pursuits. Field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) is a cat photographer, sports reporter Champ Kind (David Koechner) runs a restaurant serving deep-fried bat and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) is giving the eulogy at his own funeral.

But not only is Burgundy relegated to the 2am graveyard shift on GNN but he has – shock, horror – a female boss and – even more shock horror – she is Afro-American. He also has to contend with the jeering of the station’s golden boy Jack Lime (James Marsden) and his wife’s new lover Gary (Greg Kinnear).

The whole thing culminates on the battlefield as the news networks face off against each other, a sequence that features a host of cameos from familiar faces such as Sacha Baron Cohen (representing the BBC), Jim Carey, Liam Neeson and Will Smith.