BCG Daily Tuesday 10th November 2015

Stephen Fry review: Telling Tales more like a sermon

At times the show feels a bit self-indulgent (but what is a one-man show but an indulgence in oneself?).

Comedy review: Stephen Fry, Hamer Hall, Melbourne

Fry's professorial air belies a wicked wit and sense of mischief, but his baser comedy instincts are kept in check (with rare exceptions) tonight, as he delivers a virtuoso storytelling performance with true passion and tremendous skill.

Kevin Bridges storms onto young rich

Kevin Bridges - who came from humble beginnings in Clydebank - entered the under-30s celeb rich list in 28th place after earning a staggering £4.4 million last year.

Peep Show: the cult sitcom that defined a generation

Ahead of its 9th and final series, Phil Harrison explains why we've taken the hapless duo Mark and Jez into our hearts.

Mitchell & Webb interview

"There's a long-running sense of narrative. If you watched the final episode of the last series as your first episode of Peep Show it would work, but the fact this is the end makes sense too."

End of Peep Show: 'Super Hans took the sofa' - video

At a Guardian Live preview screening of the final series of Peep Show, David Mitchell and Robert Webb reveal what they took from the set and we find out who got the coveted horse biscuit tin. Mitchell and Webb were joined by writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain and chair Julia Raeside from The Guardian to discuss the final series of Peep Show at a Guardian Members' event at the Greenwood Theatre, London, on 5 November 2015.

Review: Bramall Comedy Night

Review of Scott Bennett, Angela Barnes and Gary Delaney.

Darker sense of humour could be sign of dementia

Report by UCL polled relatives and found many said patients' perception of what was funny changed dramatically and became 'inappropriate and graphic'

Sacha Baron Cohen pays Staines tribute with new company

Ali G star Sacha Baron Cohen, who put Staines on the comedy map, has paid tribute to the area with the recent launch of new comedy production company, Spelthorne Community Television, named after a north Surrey borough.

Beat The Frog competition results announced

Comedian Rob Mullholland was crowned winner of the Beat The Frog World Series Final at the Frog & Bucket in Manchester last night.

Katy Wix interview

'I've written women who swear and are allowed to be intelligent'

Peep Show season 9 episode 1 review

The takedowns of modern culture and consumerism are as hilarious and perfectly-sculpted as ever.

TV review: Peep Showback on top, awkward form

The joy of Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain's Peep Show is the way the characters vocalise internally what everyone thinks but no one would say.

Rowan Atkinson's 'quickie' divorce is finalised

Rowan Atkinson and his wife of 24 years have been granted a 'quickie divorce' after he left her for a comedy actress half his age.

Radio Times review

This lesser entry to the Army canon, about toughening up the platoon's feet, is a curious beast. The podiatric pranks are a little hit-and-miss, but there's much for fans to savour. For instance, after all the chip-on-his-shoulder speeches to Wilson about privilege, Mainwaring gives him a surprisingly generous - and accurate - character analysis.

So if all the shoe-shop tomfoolery fails to hit the spot, just enjoy Pike at his mollycoddled worst, a guest turn from the wonderful Erik (Mr Smith in Please Sir!) Chitty and an epic fail at the seaside for Mainwaring.

And those who pooh-pooh the idea that Pike is Wilson's son will be dumbfounded by one scene that all but shouts out the connection.

Radio Times review

Tonight on Jonathan Ross, a bit of a coup. Football megastar Cristiano Ronaldo makes his first-ever UK chat show appearance. Opinions vary as to whether the Real Madrid winger is a misunderstood wizard who does things with a ball nobody else could... or an egomaniac who represents everything rotten in the game. Or something of both. We can take sides tonight as he discusses his family and career ahead of a new documentary about his life.

Radio Times review

Dara O Briain is a very safe pair of hands for hosting Live at the Apollo, which continues its newly-demoted run on BBC Two this week. Whether it's the sexiness of men's elbows, the tragedy that built the Channel Tunnel or a very clever (if rude) way to get men to be completely honest, the Irish comedian holds court with a casual confidence and panache that most of his peers could only dream of.

That said, his guests on tonight's show more than hold their own, whether it's the wry deconstructions of Zoe Lyons or the dark and controversial gags of Paul Chowdhry. Forget which channel it's on - when this series works, it really works.

Radio Times review

It's Sharon (Sharon Horgan) and Rob's (Rob Delaney's) third anniversary, but this episode of this gloriously honest, filthy and funny comedy focuses a lot more on their circle of friends - most of whom are dipping their toes into the singleton market and finding how tough it is. Chris (Mark Bonnar) cavorts with a prostitute while his estranged wife Fran (Ashley Jensen) is finding her clingy new boyfriend a bit much.

Rob's fabulously obnoxious American friend Dave (Daniel Lapaine) is also finding things tricky with pretentious new squeeze Catherine (which may make you warm to him a bit more). It's lonely and tough out there and it's comforting when we're back in the tender bosom of the main couple.

Radio Times review

Some of the best Peep Show moments are when the gang go on the road and this trip to East Anglia for Super Hans's wedding is no exception. Dobby (Isy Suttie) has finally come back from New York - but with a smug American boyfriend in tow, to the intense irritation of Mark (David Mitchell).

Jez (Robert Webb) has to reflect on a rather surprising personal discovery that isn't a secret for very long, thanks to the hidden cameras Mark has secreted inside the flat (well, it is called Peep Show after all). Who will be Hans's best man? Will he manage to get through his big day without hitting anyone? And what is his real name? All is revealed in another painfully funny riot of a ride.

Radio Times review

Steven Toast, the volcanic, pathologically self-absorbed actor, emerges from the debacle of a Lorraine interview stricken with stage fright. He's doing Macbeth in the open air in Regent's Park but is blissfully unaware, until Lorraine tells him, that it's being screened live for ITV's Night of Culture.

It's a thin episode to open a new series of the cult, award-winning comedy, with far too few rank idiocies and not enough laughs. Still, Clem Fandango, the hipster buffoon who torments Toast (Matt Berry) from behind the mixing desk in the voiceover studio, is back - as is the lubricious Mrs Purchase (Tracy-Ann Oberman). But a central story featuring Toast, Stanley Kubrick and a fake Moon landing needs more oomph.

Radio Times review

It's crunch time for our Poundland Time Team: Andy (Mackenzie Crook) faces an interview to work in Botswana, while Lance (Toby Jones) is nervous about playing catch-up with his long-lost daughter Kate. Neither meeting goes well.

Among the show's many amusing pairings, the timorous, hangdog Andy and his much more driven wife Becky (Rachel Stirling) are a charmingly odd couple. In an episode with more drama than comedy, their exchanges, plus the trivia-laced banter of the two friends - is golden talk indeed.

Radio Times review

Comedian Susan Calman hyperventilates at the prospect of this week's topic: maths. "I'm phobic about maths," she wails to a sympathetic Stephen Fry, who guides her gently through a maths-based limerick. Future host Sandi Toksvig (who takes over next series, after Fry's retirement), however, thinks maths can be "beautiful". During a jolly episode where Alan Davies is outnumbered there to one by female contestants (including comedian Aisling Bea), we learn the difference between an anagram and an aptagram, and ponder whether rhesus monkeys can count.

Interview with producer Henry Normal

He's the "scruffy kid from Bilborough" who ended up writing some of the most beloved comedies on British television. So what makes Baby Cow Productions co-founder and Steve Coogan's pal Henry Normal tick?

Jesse Armstrong 'still terrified' by writing challenge

It was "a mixture of luck and fear" that aided the success of Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, co-creator and co-writer of the series Jesse Armstrong told the programme.

"Fear basically governs my life," Mr Armstrong said, on the subject of ending the programme, and is "still terrified" that the last lines "won't be funny enough".

The sitcom, which begins its ninth and final series on November 11, was first shown in 2003 and has since won Baftas and been lauded as the best sitcom of the decade by GQ Magazine.

John Lloyd talks TV and radio comedy... and Gogglebox

John spoke candidly about Stephen Fry's departure ("an iconic figure") and the origins of the series.

Why Chewing Gum so deserves a second series

This E4 comedy is getting better, funnier and weirder. Come on Channel 4, give Michaela Coel's brilliant show a series two, says Kasia Delgado.

Jeremy Clarkson spotted on Bridget Jones film set

The former Top Gear presenter was spotted smoking a cigarette on the London film set of the upcoming blockbuster.

Peep Show: Mark's greatest humiliations

Whether it's attempting to get his book (Business Secrets of the Pharoahs) published or trying his hardest to get married, it never quite works out the eternally-experated Mark Corrigan.

David Mitchell and Robert Webb on their last hurrah

Nine series in and it's the closing curtain for Channel 4's beloved sitcom, Peep Show. As the usual mayhem ensues, Gemma Dunn talks to the stars about their less than sentimental end, objecting to Twitter and their plans for the future.

Kill Your Friends review

There is something about the film that is genuinely entertaining.

One final excruciating hurrah for Peep Show

The sitcom that defined a generation and its protagonists - the self-styled 'Croydon Bullingdon' - begin their last run.

Here's what to expect from Peep Show

A lot's changed since their last outing of Peep Show, and fans are doubtless wondering about what to expect from Series 9 - so we've prepared a handy guide to prepare you for what is a brilliant first episode.

John Sparkes enjoys a visit to South Wales Evening Post

Hugh Pugh, the alter ego of Welsh comedian John Sparkes, has paid a visit to the South Wales Evening Post while on a return visit to the city where he grew up in the 1960s.