BCG Daily Wednesday 31st December 2014

Radio Times review

It's pelting with rain in Tilling, and the dark skies herald bad news for reigning queen of the social scene, Lucia, when she hears that a fluent Italian speaker is to visit and wants to chat.

The conceit is, of course, that Lucia and her confirmed bachelor best friend Georgy Pilson (Anna Chancellor and Steve Pemberton) pretend that they love nothing more than whiling away hours together talking Italian. But they know just a few phrases.

I'm well aware that this sounds like torpid tosh, the kind of petit bourgeois nonsense that maybe people cared about in the 1930s when E.F. Benson wrote his Mapp and Lucia books, but why should anyone bother in the thrusting, connected 21st century?

Maybe they shouldn't, but as a piece of escapist confectionary, this is hard to beat. Au reservoir!

Radio Times review

Hunker down for a solid three hours of clips and talking heads, counting down the 50 best sitcoms of all time, as decided by a viewer vote. A limited roster of actors, comedians and journos pop up repeatedly with soundbites that aren't always insightful, but there are flecks of gold: Ardal O'Hanlon's paean to The Royle Family is joyous, and Shelley Long's paean to Ted Danson is... a bit scary actually.

The constant flicking from UK to US and from recent to classic means boredom never sets in, and the list holds surprises, too. Two British sitcoms from the 1980s are shock inclusions in the top ten. As for the top spot, it has to be Fawlty Towers... doesn't it?

Brendan O'Carroll reveals on-stage pain

The 59-year-old comedian suffered with crippling pain due to his dental implants but he says it hasn't put him off the procedure.

TV comedy in 2016

While researching up-and-coming TV comedies for 2015, Beyond the Joke also came across some other projects and proposals for 2016. As far as we know these have not been revealed elsewhere, though we can't imagine why as some of these sound like definite ratings-grabbers...

The comics we have lost in 2014

2014 has taken its toll on the comedy world. Here we pay tribute to some of those who passed away after dedicating their lives to laughter...

BOAF: Tracey set to have a cancer scare

Birds of a Feather will pay tribute to the late Lynda Bellingham in an upcoming storyline. Lynda's friend and Loose Women co-host Linda Robson, who plays Tracey in the ITV comedy, asked bosses to give her character a cancer scare.

Video: Milton Jones interview

Richard Herring interviews the madcap one-liner comedian.

Miranda Hart will take a year off

The star, who bows out on New Year's Day with a BBC One special called The Final Curtain, reckons a break between jobs keeps her fresh.

'Mapp and Lucia' episode 3 review

The petty jealousy and absurd one-upmanship continues in this final instalment of BBC One's Mapp and Lucia.

John Finnemore talks about the final episode

Well, I'm glad you liked it! Glad, and very, very relieved.