BCG Daily Friday 13th May 2016
BCG Pro
Pro
Press clippings
Mum preview
Us Brits can find humour in anything and this touching series will have you laughing and crying as we follow a widow's attempts to move on.
Sara Wallis, The Mirror, 13th May 2016Preview: Mum's the comedy word for Lesley Manville
A bittersweet new sitcom gives Lesley Manville, the Bafta-nominated drama actress in BBC1's River, the chance to go for laughs as a widow who is trying to move on with her life. The six-part series created by the writers of Russell Tovey's comedy Him & Her appealed to Manville because she felt she was known for plying big emotional classic roles and this was a good chance to do something lighter that still had character and substance.
Viv Hardwick, The Northern Echo, 13th May 2016BBC Scotland to have its own director of comedy
The BBC will for the first time be ordered to deliver for Scottish viewers as a series of changes come to BBC Scotland.
Phil Miller, The Herald, 13th May 2016Review: The Complete Deaths
There are 75 on-stage deaths in Shakespeare and zany troupe Spymonkey has cobbled together a Brighton Festival comedy evening depicting them all.
Quentin Letts, Daily Mail, 13th May 2016Mum preview
If you love television don't let Mum pass you by. It really is worth watching.
Elliot Gonzalez, I Talk Telly, 13th May 2016Preview: Mum, BBC2
One of BBC3's epic fails was axing the relationship sitcom Him & Her. Now at least BBC2 has gone some way towards making amends by commissioning writer Stefan Golaszewski to pen a new comedy, Mum. It's in the same chatty, conversational vein but much more mature. Imagine Him & Her 30 years on with 'Him' dead and this could be the result.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 13th May 2016Sara Pascoe: 'My mum has heckled me'
From Would I Lie To You? to the Kappa symbol, the comedian reveals the things she finds funniest.
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian, 13th May 2016Preview: Upstart Crow, episode 2
It's great to report that the first episode of Upstart Crow was not a fluke. Writer Ben Elton repeats the trick again in the second episode. In fact if there is a problem here it isn't so much that this week's episode is like Blackadder, it's more a case that it is too much like last week's episode.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 13th May 2016Mum, episode one review
While there were some weak patches in the first episode - I'm not sure how long we should be expected to find it funny that a woman's lost glasses are on her head - Mum looks set to be a stronger take on the trials of the M&S set than BBC One's Boomers.
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph, 13th May 2016Mum preview
It revolves around the newly widowed Cathy, with the opener set as friends and family gather at her suburban home for David's funeral. Though it's a big occasion, the comedy here emerges from the apparently mundane. It wouldn't be out of place to mention Mum in the same breath as Abigail's Party.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 13th May 2016Mum is painfully funny
Mum is silly and surreal but born from the realities of grief.
Ellie Walker-Arnott, Radio Times, 13th May 2016Lisa McGrillis interview
"I've got everything in my body crossed, all my fingers and toes. I think definitely it could go on and do another series - the characters have all been set up now."
Tom Eames, Digital Spy, 13th May 2016Ed Byrne: 'My wife Claire and I laugh all the time'
Ahead of shows in Belfast and Londonderry, comedian Ed Byrne talks about why audiences here love him better than his home ground in the Republic and how much he misses his better half when he's working.
Una Brankin, Belfast Telegraph, 13th May 2016Mum review
Manville is excellent as the new widow trying to get her head around being a new widow, and hoping to be able to move on with her life.
Paddy Shennan, Liverpool Echo, 13th May 2016I made this... Cunk on Shakespeare
Giving Charlie Brooker's comedy character Philomena Cunk her own BBC Two 'documentary' - producer Sam Ward offers his take on creating a "narrative, factual entertainment" comedy hybrid.
Sam Ward, BBC, 13th May 2016Sarah Kendall review
An absorbing narrative which takes the audience on a sometimes unnervingly vivid journey of tragedy and comedy.
Alexandra Cook, Voice Magazine, 13th May 2016Videos
TV
TV & radio
11:30am30 min
Barry's Lunch Club
Episode 3 - HobbiesHow do older people keep minds active? Barry discusses various hobbies while all the time keeping an eye on the ferocious dog that Hilary is minding in the hall for the morning.
1:30pm30 min
Breaking The News
Series 3, Episode 10Des Clarke is joined by comedians Tiffany Stevenson, Jay Lafferty and Bruce Morton and journalist Chitra Ramaswamy for a satirical swipe at the week's big news.
5:45pm15 min
Scream Street
Series 1, Episode 15 - Nightmare On Scream StreetResus can't get a good night's sleep - he keeps having nightmares. Luke and Cleo decide to take Resus to Eefa's to try and find a solution to his problem.
6pm30 min
Witless
Series 1, Episode 4Patrick contacts Leanne out of the blue but Rhona is insistent that she cuts all ties with her former lover. Meanwhile, their nosey neighbour, Jackie, overhears something that could lift the lid on their double life. In Bristol, the police re-examine Mrs Hobbs' murder case and Sergeant Forrest comes under pressure to reveal the whereabouts of the girls.
6pm10 min
Zig And Zag
Episode 15 - StaycationZig and Zag decide to go on holiday to their favourite neighbour's house.
6:30pm30 min
The News Quiz
Series 90, Episode 5Miles Jupp is joined in the Corn Exchange in Ipswich by Susan Calman, Zoe Lyons, Hugo Rifkind and Jeremy Hardy.
6:30pm30 min
The Leak
Series 4, Episode 1Marek Larwood and Carrie Quinlan join Tom Price to review the week's biggest stories from around Wales and the world.
9pm30 min
Have I Got News For You
Series 51, Episode 6Paul Merton and Ian Hislop are joined by guest host Frankie Boyle and guest panellists Adil Ray and Julia Hartley-Brewer.
10pm40 min
Hoff The Record
Series 2, Episode 2 - RehabAlways thinking about ways to make cash, Max checks Hoff into rehab - with potentially fatal results.
10pm30 min
The Windsors
Series 1, Episode 3Wills and Kate shun their royal life and move to her dream semi in Rickmansworth.
10pm30 min
Mum
Series 1, Episode 1 - JanuaryIt's the morning of Cathy's husband's funeral and her family gather at the house to wait for the funeral cars. Battling her brother's partner and meeting her son's new and over-enthusiastic girlfriend Kelly, Cathy prepares herself for a day of great emotion with help from her friend Michael.
10:35pm60 min
The Graham Norton Show
Series 19, Episode 8 - Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Johnny Depp, Jack Whitehall, will.i.amJohnny Depp says he loved the idea of being Donald Trump, Jennifer Lawrence talks about her celebrity humiliations, James McAvoy says another X-Men may be on the cards, Jack Whitehall jokes about Harrison, while will.i.am talks about Michael Jackson and Prince.