BCG Daily Friday 26th December 2014

Miranda Hart shed real tears as she filmed last episode

The comedienne couldn't help but sob at the live recording for her Christmas episodes.

Mrs Brown tops Xmas Day ratings for 2nd year in a row

Mrs Brown's Boys was the most watched programme on Christmas Day as 7.6 million viewers tuned in to see Brendan O'Carroll's festive special.

Victoria Wood creates Moulin Rouge in slippers

The comedian's musical for Manchester began with pink ice-cream and has ended up on the BBC.

Mapp & Lucia: Discover the delights of Rye

Follow in Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor's footsteps in this charming literary Sussex town.

Radio Times review

It would be tempting to think that the focus of this story is its creator, David Walliams, who was no stranger to rocking a frock in Little Britain and Come Fly with Me. But the comic actor turned children's writer has a serious point to make in this uplifting version of his debut novel.

Our hero is 12-year-old Dennis (Billy Kennedy), who lives with his couch-potato dad and unreconstructed brother. Dennis is missing his mother, who has left home to live with a roofer, but he soon finds an escape.

A gifted footballer, Dennis also discovers through his new friend Lisa (the school's coolest girl), that wearing dresses makes him happy. How will he reconcile his interests, or sneak past his fashion-police teachers?

Walliams's knack of championing the outsider and celebrating difference shines out of a story he says isn't autobiographical, but is "very personal". It's no wonder such a quality cast signed up, including Jennifer Saunders, Tim McInnerny, Steve Speirs and James Buckley, who has some of the best lines as a supremely negative PE teacher. Even supermodel Kate Moss gets to shake a tailfeather, and Walliams allows himself a cameo as a camp referee.

It's a refreshingly unusual Christmas treat with a punch-the-air final act, and a great use of Queen - have a guess which song they use.

Radio Times review

A wildly successful pilot last Christmas has inevitably resulted in a series of the refreshed, fuzzily nostalgic version of Ronnie Barker's beloved sitcom. Not that much has changed in that Yorkshire corner shop since 1976.

Yes, hapless nephew Granville (David Jason) is now in charge, but the jokes are still pretty much the same as they ever were, with gags about women's boobs ("How well you are... both looking"), which everyone finds inherently hilarious, pratfalls, men being caught in their underpants and nudge-nudge lines such as "I think I may have dislocated my valuables." Which is doubtless why audiences love it.

In the opening episode it's Valentine's Day and Granville has problems with a new money belt.

Radio Times review

Agatha Raisin, a brittle London PR with a sharp bob and spiked heels, gives up her fast-paced life for the peace of a honey-coloured thatched cottage nestling in the Cotswolds. But her attempts to fit into the life of the village of Carsely backfire horribly when the local roué is poisoned by a quiche that Agatha submitted to the village show.

Agatha is the charmless amateur-sleuth heroine of a string of bluntly jolly books by MC Beaton. OK, this isn't The Wire, but it will, ahem, kill a couple of hours on a night when you'll possibly welcome something that makes no demands on you whatsoever. Ashley Jensen makes a chic, lively Agatha and the Cotswold scenery is, of course, chocolate-box perfect.

Radio Times review

After years of Towie brashness, the bawdy Essex humour of Birds of a Feather seems cosy by comparison. Bad puns come with the regularity of a metronome, while the plot signposting is so big it could take your eye out. That said, the on-screen relationships between Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph are as comfortable as a pair of fluffy slippers.

In the first episode of this new series, Dorien is treating Sharon and Tracey to a holiday in the Canary Islands. But before the flight has even taken off, Dorien is in the onboard loo waiting to join the "50ft High Club". The jokes are pretty down to earth, too - assume the brace position throughout.

Radio Times review

This is part of a neat little series where Radio 4 "faces" -- characters from sitcoms -- invite us into their homes to share their Christmas. I have selected Ed Reardon, devastated as I am that he does not have his own festive special this year, but hopeful that his natural gloom may be lifted by at least one pleasant surprise.

Radio Times review

The team returns for a festive edition of the classic impressions show, this time putting a yuletide spin on some very unseasonal programmes. Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Duncan Wisbey and company send up a cosy, snow-sprinkled special of Crimewatch, while also taking a look at some snowman-shaped abnormalities in Embarrassing Bodies. This Christmas, no one will be spared.

David Walliams interview

Walliams still grapples with the trauma of his parents cancelling his stocking, but enjoyed dressing up as a doll.

Ashley Jensen on Agatha Raisin

"I've played a lot of best friends so it's nice to be at the helm," The Extras and Ugly Betty star explains as she returns to our screens in Sky1's Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death.

Still Open All Hours - what did you think?

Granville's corner shop opened its doors once again - and we want to know whether you bought into the comedy?

TV review: Miranda Christmas Special, BBC1

What, no falling over? The penultimate episode of Miranda had almost everything. A Frank Spencer moment in a shopping centre, some prancing like dressage ponies, a spot of physical clowning with Stevie on the sofa. Even a cameo from Joe Wilkinson as a sexually inadequate traffic warden. But no actual falling over.

Alexander Armstrong interview

The comedian on insulting Mary Berry, his love of Bargain Hunt, and life as a llama farmer.

The Boy in the Dress - what did you think?

David Walliams brings the festive fun for young viewers - and we want to know what you thought?

The Boy in the Dress, review: 'witty and heart-warming'

What really impressed me about The Boy in the Dress was how deftly it skipped across its heavily mined social territory by simply treating it as no big deal.

The Boy in the Dress, TV review

David Walliams' Boxing Day treat is a celebration of being different.

The Boy In The Dress leaves Twitter divided

Twitter was left in two minds about the BBC adaptation of David Walliams' The Boy In The Dress.

'The Boy in the Dress' review

Oh, blessums, The Boy In The Dress really is an utterly sweet tale.

The Boy in the Dress review

For the third year in a row it appears as if David Walliams has done it again and provided a Christmas family treat.

Johnny Vegas interview

Why Johnny Vegas is loving being back in the family-friendly series Still Open All Hours.

Radio Times review

On the face of it, the formula for WILTY? is childishly simple. Celebs and comedians reveal daft things about themselves that may or may not be true. As formats go, it's a feather duster, an airy nothing. Yet there's no panel game on TV that so reliably creases you up. The battle of wits between David Mitchell and Lee Mack - or rather between their adopted roles of unworldly toff and philistine oik - always chucks up comedy sparks, but something in the vibe of the show keeps it likeable, feel-good and family-friendly. There's a reason it has won the British Comedy Award for best panel show three times: it's the best panel show on TV, end of.

Radio Times review

This was the rarest of comic beasts: half a dozen standalone episodes with jokes that weren't laid out on a plate, but instead jumped out from corners or tripped you up during awkward pauses. It was written by League of Gentlemen alumni Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and performed by them in various guises alongside the likes of Timothy West, Helen McCrory and Gemma Arterton. It was dark, of course, but otherwise deliciously unpredictable: the first was about an uncomfortable engagement party; the second was a silent comedy with slapstick from Charlie Chaplin's great-granddaughter, Oona.