BCG Daily Monday 22nd December 2014

How Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote a book

Cult novel Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, has been adapted for radio. Here Neil Gaiman tells the story of how it came to be written.

Brian Logan's top 10 comedy of 2014

Featuring Liam Williams, Daniel Kitson, Bridget Christie, James Acaster, Sara Pascoe, Kim Noble, Sheeps, Funz and Gamez, Aamer Rahman and Josie Long.

The cast of Derek on the special, Gervais & TV kindness

Is it really the end for the Channel 4 comedy? Kerry Godliman, Holli Dempsey and Brett Goldstein are all keen to return to Broad Hill Care Home in the future...

Radio Times review

For some of us The Wrong Mans was the unexpected TV treat of last year. The comedy thriller about two hapless nobodies caught in an international espionage plot could have wobbled in so many ways (not funny, not thrilling, not making sense) but it never put a foot wrong.

For that, all credit to writers/stars James Corden and Mathew Baynton, whose council postboy Phil and planning officer Sam were forever searching for the heroes inside themselves, facing up to rock-hard criminals and above all "rolling deep".

We might have guessed it wouldn't turn out smoothly for them. As this two-parter starts, they're holed up with new identities at a trucking firm in Texas, and pining for home. Well, Sam is - Phil has managed to convince a local girl he's a former pro-wrestler who did brain surgery on the side. But fate has more trouble in store, involving Mexican drug lords, Russian assassins and a terrific dig at Top Gear.

Radio Times review

"Do you touch the frogs?" It's the kind of question you'd only hear in a David Lynch film or an episode of Would I Lie to You? Here, team captain David Mitchell dons a helmet with a light on it that he maintains is his "frog-lamp" for wearing on nocturnal trips to check on the frogs at the bottom of his garden. If that strikes you as a rattlingly daft claim, you're in good company, but stranger things have been posited on this show and proved true. At the bottom of Ray Winstone's garden, meanwhile, he wants us to believe he has a scale model of Stonehenge. A Winstonehenge, if you will.

Radio Times review

Pontyberry's first festive special is unashamedly tinselly and warm. Longing for absent loved ones, thinking of those less fortunate than ourselves and blazing rows about turkey: these are the fundamentals of Christmas, and they're the themes here. While Stella (creator Ruth Jones) takes on a difficult patient during a nursing stint on a children's ward, the rest of the town gathers, irritably, to audition and rehearse for Auntie Brenda's charity panto.

You know all the bickering and misunderstanding will work itself out in the end. That's the appeal. This is a lovely indulgence, but with plenty of salty laughs to complement the sweetness.

Babylon star Adam Deacon charged with harassment

Babylon star Adam Deacon has been charged with harassment. The 31-year-old actor, from Bethnal Green, East London, was charged with one count of harassment on December 20, a Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed.

The Wrong Mans preview

A slow start before James Corden and Mat Baynton get back to their best.

Next stop USA: James Corden is packing up for Hollywood

Having lost six stone and gained a gig presenting The Late Late Show in America, the writer, actor and comedian is heading stateside.

Charlotte Ritchie on the "maze of a plot" in Good Omens

Good Omens has "a huge maze of a plot" so I'm going to let her explain...

Interview: Silly Billies promoter Jack Gardner

Jack Gardner is a stand-up comedian and alternative comedy promoter from Newcastle upon Tyne. Jack runs the rather mental but brilliant Silly Billies comedy nights upstairs at The Cumberland Arms in Byker, with more shows planned for the nearby Live Theatre in 2015. He tells Andrew Dipper why 'alternative' is making a comeback.

Paterson Joseph interview

Paterson Joseph chats to us about Good Omens, Peep Show, being cut from Paddington, and why he'd "never say never" to playing the Doctor...

Harry Hill: BBC One Branestawm bags its boffin

It wasn't too much of a stretch for Harry Hill to play Professor Branestawm.

Comedy festival to celebrate Red Nose Emsworth honour

It is already known as a the foodie capital of the south and now it has been named the UK's first Red Nose town. The international aid charity Comic Relief has bestowed the title on Emsworth after the organiser of an arts festival asked for the moniker.

Neil Gaiman: Radio 4's Good Omens is for Pratchett

In his only interview about the show, author Neil Gaiman tells Stephen Kelly why now was the time to adapt his and ailing friend Terry Pratchett's apocalyptic comedy. "I want Terry to be able to enjoy this while he's still able to enjoy it".

Mat Baynton: Wrong Mans had its own "Sherlock problem"

It may not have a falling Benedict Cumberbatch, but The Wrong Mans series 2 had its own cliffhanger problems to solve, explains its co-creator.

Derek: 5 things we want from the emotional finale

As we get ready to wave goodbye to the lovable care worker, here's what we're hoping for from the last episode.

Derek Noakes vs David Brent: who would win in a fight?

It's the all-important debate: which of Ricky Gervais' comedy characters from The Office and Derek would triumph in a head-to-head?

James Corden's Hollywood success could end show

Mathew Baynton has admitted The Wrong Mans could come to an end if James Corden's US career goes well.

Billy Kennedy was nervous about working with Kate Moss

"I was a bit nervous about working with Kate Moss" says Billy Kennedy.

Script Room dates 2015

Whatever platform your Comedy script has been written for - TV, Radio, CBBC or Film, you can submit your script to the first window, which will go live on March 9th 2015 and close on April 2nd 2015.

Goodbye, cruel 2014: we promise not to miss you

From flooding to Benefits Street, the rise of Ukip to the Apple Watch, the year was filled with huge, grim events. We could all use a lie-down over Christmas.

Professor Branestawm preview

In this digital age, there's no reason for the Christmas Eve movie to be some Disney fare that we've all have seen twenty times already. A better gift to the nation is something like this: and with twelve books to plunder, we might well make a Christmas wish for a whole new series.

Robert Webb: we need to let women be idiots too

You hear TV producers sometimes talking about the importance of having "strong female characters". This is balls, particularly in comedy.

The Wrong Mans returns with a Bang!

The Wrong Mans has once again proven that comedy can be dramatic, tense and thrilling. If anything, the first part to the Christmas special was more of what made the first series so brilliant.

The Wrong Mans: James Corden & Matthew Baynton shine

I'm just hoping that we get a satisfying conclusion tomorrow night that offers more laughs and thrills than tonight's story provided.

The Wrong Mans, TV review: boys hit the ground running

It's a common sitcom mis-step: relocate the action to a more glamorous setting and lose the "com" inherent in the "sit" along the way. The Wrong Mans (BBC Two), which has moved stateside for a second series split over two hour-long episodes, makes a rare exception to that rule. This action-comedy caper was always based on the juxtaposition of ordinary characters and extraordinary circumstance.

11 perfect moments from the Derek Christmas special

Ricky Gervais has already hinted that the Derek Christmas special will be the last episode, and the plot of tonight's special certainly seemed to confirm that it is, tying all the plotlines off.

DVD review: Lee Mack, Hit The Road Mack

Self styled banter merchant Lee Mack isn't for everyone. His fast paced performances can feel a bit old fashioned at times; to the extent that you half expect him to be rounded up and carted back to the 1970s variety show he must have escaped from - or possibly the branch of Pontins where he used to work as a bluecoat. Nevertheless, this DVD shows him at his best and fans of Mack won't be disappointed.

Miranda Hart named best stand-up comedian by DS readers

Miranda Hart has been voted the best stand-up comedian of 2014 in Digital Spy's Reader Awards.

The Wrong Mans, review, series 2: a gleeful comedy romp

James Corden's action movie-comedy crossover is a combustible mix of hi-octane thrills and wry humour but it barely put a foot wrong.

The Wrong Mans, BBC2 review

Mathew Baynton and James Corden again prove themselves the right mans for the job.

Stop James Corden going to USA - he's just too good!

Millions of us would gladly dial, text or click online to make James Corden realise that he is one of Britain's best-loved comedy actors, and a peerless sitcom writer, who must stay here at the peak of his TV career instead of rushing off to a country that doesn't know him or want him, to waste his talents on a third-rate show, doing work that doesn't suit him.

Mathew Baynton: This could be the end

One of the stars of comedy thriller The Wrong Mans has said the second series "might be the end" of the show.

Derek: The Special - what did you think?

That's it! Derek and the residents of Broad Hill Care Home have graced our screen for the very last time, and we want your thoughts...

Derek: The Special review

If you're already a fan of Derek, there is plenty to enjoy in The Special. It's a downbeat, if cautiously optimistic, ending to a show that has always been preoccupied with life's darker aspects. It may prove too gloomy and peculiar to win Gervais any new fans or to impress his doubters, but that may be the point. After all, he stopped paying attention to popular opinion a long time ago.

Still Open All Hours preview

Many people complain that reviving such sitcoms shows a lack of imagination on the half of TV commissioners. I would argue that if this show can still pull in the viewers, modern comedy writers need to up their game in order to attract people's attention.