Weekly Newsletter	Monday 7th July 2014

The date is 7-7-14. That probably means something special to mystic people... all we know is it's a Monday, so time for this:

Latest Comedy News

E4 to screen Almost Royal series E4 is to show Almost Royal, the BBC America comedy series in which two actors (comics Ed Gamble and Amy Hoggart) travel around the US pretending to be distant descendants of the Royal Family. Read BBC wants Mrs Brown's Boys chat show The BBC is reportedly looking into the possibility of a chat show hosted by Brendan O'Carroll in the guise of Mrs Brown. Read Horrible Histories Series 6 in planning Hit, multi-award winning childrens' sketch series Horrible Histories may return to screens for a sixth series - but not with the same cast. Read Comedy Central to pilot I Live With Models Comedy Central is to pilot a new show called I Live With Models. The sitcom focuses on a chubby hand model who lives with three good looking flatmates. Read Danny Baker gets 8-part BBC comedy drama The BBC is reportedly working on Cradle To Grave, an eight-part comedy drama based on the early life of broadcaster Danny Baker. Read Crackanory Series 2 line-up revealed David Mitchell is amongst the stars reading stories for Series 2 of Crackanory. An episode featuring Rik Mayall may also be screened. Read GOLD orders more You, Me & Them You, Me & Them, the GOLD sitcom starring Anthony Head and Eve Myles as a couple with a 26-year age gap, will return for a second series. Read Filming underway on Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters 2 The second series of Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters is now being filmed. It'll be shown on Sky Atlantic alongside a new 'hard-hitting documentary special'. Read Josh Widdicombe and Georgie Thompson to host Fighting Talk Josh Widdicombe and Georgie Thompson have been named as the new hosts of Fighting Talk, the popular sports-based panel show on BBC Radio 5 Live. Read

Also of interest...

Here are some pages on other websites that you might also be interested in... - Frankie Boyle is to play a recovering alcoholic in the BBC Scotland film Gasping. BCG - Sacha Baron Cohen has been photographed with a Liam Gallagher-like hairdo on the set of his new movie Grimsby. Daily Mail - ITV have apologised for broadcasting a repeat of Benidorm which featured various mentions of Rolf Harris. BBC News - Bad Education and Green Wing star Michelle Gomez is joining the cast of Doctor Who. BBC Press We post lots more like the above every night on our Facebook and Twitter accounts:

Features

Edinburgh Fringe 2014 The huge Edinburgh Fringe Festival is next month. We have a brand new website to cover it, featuring details on over 1,500 shows. You won't find a more detailed guide anywhere else. We even beat the official website. View Katie Mulgrew: Why you shouldn't date a comedian Katie Mulgrew explains why she couldn't think of anything worse than going out with a comedian. Read Monty Python reviews The first batch of Monty Python's live shows have now taken place. Pretty much all the newspapers have posted reviews. We've collected up all the opinions here: Read Monty Python as Paper People If you haven't got tickets to see Monty Python, don't worry. You can make little paper models of the Monty Python stars and put on your own show at home. View No Pressure To Be Funny Aisling Bea, Liam Mullone, Bob Mills and former MP Tom Levitt take part in the topical podcast panel show. With music from James Sherwood. Listen

TV Listings

This must be our shortest TV listings section of the year. Blame the sport. Badults Monday, BBC Three, 10pm Last in the series. Changes seem unavoidable as Tom, Ben and Matthew each face their own challenge that could potentially see their lives divide in new directions. Guide Set List: Stand-Up Without A Net Monday, Sky Atlantic, 11:15pm The second half of the improvised stand-up series starts. Josie Long, Judah Friedlander and Rich Hall perform improvised stand-up comedy routines based on subjects presented to them while on stage. Guide Episodes Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm Last in the series - how will it end? As interest in their new script intensifies, Beverly struggles to keep Sean on course and return to London. Guide Mock The Week Thursday, BBC Two, 10pm Dara O Briain and the team put the week's events under their comedy microscope and examine the results, with guests including Josh Widdicombe, Gary Delaney and Tiffany Stevenson. Guide TV OD Thursday, ITV2, 10pm Matt Edmondson hosts this topical series that takes a humorous look at the most talked about shows on TV. If you've got a strong opinion about a programme you've seen, tweet them and they might read it out. Guide 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown Friday, Channel 4, 9pm Sean Lock and Jon Richardson are joined by Bill Bailey and Josh Widdicombe this week. Rising star Jake Yapp joins Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner, while Joe Wilkinson 'helps' Rachel Riley again. Guide Friday Night Dinner Friday, Channel 4, 10pm Another great episode. It's Martin and Jackie's 26th anniversary, and Jonny's got a secret he's desperate to keep. And then Jim arrives, heavily sedated... Guide For a complete list of broadcasts, including repeats and radio comedy, see our full schedule.

New DVDs

Spring In Park Lane OUT NOW. This jaunty 'upstairs-downstairs' romantic comedy could hardly have failed to triumph at the box-office, and Spring In Park Lane would indeed prove the most successful British film of 1948. Starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding, this is a tale of a footman who is not quite what he claims to be, and the niece of his employer, who sees straight through the facade. Details A Hard Day's Night - 50th Anniversary Restoration PRE-ORDER. It's 1964 since the biggest band on the planet, The Beatles, starred in the first feature film, comic adventure caper A Hard Day's Night, directed by cinema legend Richard Lester. To mark its 50th anniversary, the film has now been comprehensively restored to 'Ultra-HD' 4K standard, and packed with extras. Get it on Blu-ray for the best experience. Blu-ray Details & DVD Details The Double PRE-ORDER. Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska star in writer/director Richard Ayoade's adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella about a man who goes insane after the appearance of his doppelganger. Blu-ray Details & DVD Details Josser In The Army PRE-ORDER. Sunderland-born Music-Hall star Ernie Lotinga was admired by T.S. Eliot as "the greatest living British histrionic artist", and particularly loved for his comedy character Josser. In this incredibly rare 1932 film, Josser is serving in World War One, where he masquerades as a German general, unmasks a spy, gets captured and makes a spectacular airborne escape. Details Back To School Mr. Bean PRE-ORDER. Bean is back in a newly packaged 'Back to School' edition featuring Mr Bean in three classic set-ups: Back To School Mr. Bean (Episode 11), The Library (Unbroadcast sketch), and Mr Bean: The Exam (Episode 1, Part 1). Fantastic fun for all the family. Details For more, see our full list of new releases and items coming soon.

Comedy Videos

Brett Domino - How To Make A Hit Pop Song 2 Following his first 'how to' video going viral, Brett Domino returns with another quick guide to making a hit pop song. Watch Predictive Text Man Meet a man whose communication side of his brain has been replaced with a broken text message dictionary. Watch Marek Larwood's Weird World Cup - Last 16 Marek Larwood looks at the second stage of the World Cup, whilst Cyril the Psychic Swan predicts the winners of the Quarter Finals. Given this is a week later now - we can judge just how good Cyril is at predicting. Watch Armstrong and Miller's RAF pilots are back Armstrong & Miller have revived their famous RAF Pilot characters for a Spitfire Kentish Ale advertising campaign. Standard bruv. Watch Episodes - How television works Matt talks Sean and Beverly through the Los Angeles auditioning process. Watch Mock The Week - Things a sports commentator would never say Replay the final round from last Thursday's show. It's a summer of sport... but you're unlikely to hear these things on TV. Watch

Message Board Posts...

Here are some quotes from our message board... "It's made double the amount of money that Alpha Papa did. A sad day for British Comedy." Woozie on Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie "I'll look forward to seeing it on Gold for nostalgia sakes. I hope Graham got a big cheer when his face came up." Steve Sunshine on Monty Python Live (Mostly) "On the strength of this thread I'll rent the first series and start from there. I did find it funny in the 80s." TheBlueNun on 'Allo 'Allo! "Started watching this after the death of the great Sam Kelly who was always my favourite in 'Allo 'Allo!. Have got through the first 2 series and love it. Nothing clever or original but just a nice easy comedy with a great cast to finish an evening." fustidious on Barbara "I think it's pretty good, although the 'mentally disturbed new boss guy' plot is a bit of a lead balloon for me." TBone on Episodes "I have just finished watching the first series. Had to dust off my old VHS double box set, luckily the tapes still played. The episodes really do get better and better." teenage comedy freak on The New Statesman "I saw a few episodes from the first 2 series and I was never really a fan. But I've been watching this series and the 1st episode of the series was the best Friday Night Dinner I'd ever seen." blahblah on Friday Night Dinner

Guide Spotlight

The New Statesman We continue a round-up of the sitcoms of the late, legendary Rik Mayall with this masterstroke of late 1980s/early 1990s satire. He stars as the atrocious Alan B'Stard, the most right-wing Conservative MP in the House, as the series skewers all the stereotypes and popular images of the politicians of the day with panache. Many of the references are understandably dated, but with plenty of physical comedy and one of the most delicious sitcom monsters ever created, The New Statesman has lost little of its humour, 27 yeas since it began. Guide

Thanks for Reading

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