Press Clippings
Film of the day: Doghouse
If you can see past the lame acting (and park judgement on the ever present misogyny), this British horror comedy is worth rounding off the day with.
Gareth Hargreaves, On The Box, 27th June 2017
Sykes: Making a nation chuckle
To celebrate the release of Sykes: The Complete Series being released on DVD, we take a look at what made the series so iconic.
Jack Barton, The National Student, 27th June 2017
When Kevin Bishop was sacked from Grange Hill
Actor and comedian Kevin Bishop has been appearing on Tracey Ullman's Show of late, and in 2016 we saw him star as Nigel Farage in Nigel Farage Gets His Life Back. But his big break came in 1994, when he was cast in the role of Sam Spalding in the gone-but-not-forgotten classic kids TV drama, Grange Hill. Bishop played the character across the 17th and 18th series of the show. Yet Sam Spalding mysteriously disappeared halfway through his second series. The reason? Kevin Bishop had been fired.
Martin Prince, Cult Box, 27th June 2017
Channel 4 cancels Host The Week after first episode
Channel 4 has axed improvised comedy format Host The Week after a single episode. The second episode, due to feature Jack Whitehall, will not be filmed.
British Comedy Guide, 27th June 2017
This last of the Ealing comedies is an exceptionally black specimen, with Alec Guinness as the sinister Professor Marcus, a fanged master-crook lodging at the home of sweet old Mrs Wilberforce (Katie Johnson). When his gang - including Peter Sellers's dim teddy boy and Herbert Lom's wannabe American gangster - swipe £60,000 in a raid, they decide the landlady has to go; but they are, of course, in the Ealing equivalent of the Bates motel and stand no chance against the dotty old girl. It's all vastly superior to the Coen brothers' misguided remake.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 27th June 2017
There's no running out of old people, and seemingly no running out of shows that find some fleetingly entertaining formats to feature them (if not exactly to cater for them). In this one, game seventysomethings in the public eye such as Stanley Johnson and Eve Pollard share their thoughts on ageing and get stuck into some fish-out-of-water challenges. Tonight, Eve takes a shift in B&Q, while Amanda Barrie and Kenny Lynch run a B&B.
John Robinson, The Guardian, 27th June 2017
Opinion: comedies that were pulled earlier than planned
If Host The Week has been axed by Channel 4 after one episode, as has been reported, it joins a very select band of television comedies that were pulled earlier than planned.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 27th June 2017
Ben Phillips could make a pranking movie
Ben Phillips has hinted he will be moving onto the silver screen.
The Sun, 26th June 2017
Russell Kane to present online show Rage Room
Russell Kane is to present Rage Room, a new show for All 4 in which two people compete to smash up a depiction of something that has annoyed them.
British Comedy Guide, 26th June 2017
Eddie Izzard interview
The comedian says running a marathon a week is a challenge, but nothing compared to coming out as a transvestite 32 years ago.
Kasia Delgado, Radio Times, 26th June 2017
Danny Dyer had affair with Sarah Harding on film set
Dyer 'fell in lust' with the Girls Aloud beauty as they filmed a comedy movie - but she was heartbroken to discover he had a long-term partner, Joanne Mas, who he later married.
Stephen Moyes and Laura Armstrong, The Sun, 25th June 2017
Host the Week (Channel 4) review
It's quite evident that Channel 4 were trying to do something new, and they should actually be credited for that - far too often we, as viewers, bemoan the fact that too much comedy follows the same frameworks and lacks originality. It's surely beyond dispute, however, that Host the Week has far from got off to a good start and will need quite an overhaul if it's to escape the same fate as The Nightly Show and be written-off as a failure.
UK TV Reviewer, 24th June 2017
George Formby's banjo ukulele for sale at auction
A banjo ukulele owned by popular 1930s and 40s entertainer George Formby is being sold at auction.
BBC, 24th June 2017
Tracey Breaks The News review
The impersonations were good but the chortles felt like an afterthought.
Ed Power, The Telegraph, 23rd June 2017
Film of the day: Bridget Jones's Baby
Bawdy comedy starring Renée Zellweger as Helen Fielding's titular heroine, Bridget, the car crash singleton with a fondness for Pinot Grigio, married men and big knickers.
Gareth Hargreaves, On The Box, 23rd June 2017
Ellie Taylor announces 2018 tour
Comedian Ellie Taylor is to embark on a tour later this year with her new show, This Guy. Tickets are now available for 20 dates.
British Comedy Guide, 23rd June 2017
French & Saunders receive Comedy Legend Award
Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders have been awarded the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award at a special ceremony in Bristol.
British Comedy Guide, 23rd June 2017
After the silly Thailand shenanigans in The Edge of Reason, cinema's most lovable diarist returns to ramshackle London life. Renée Zellweger's Bridget is now a producer for a cable TV company; Patrick Dempsey's Jack is her new beau, but Colin Firth's awkward Darcy is still around, and Bridget has had a little accident in the birth-control department. It all makes for a good-natured comedy.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 23rd June 2017
Isn't it a bit early for Peter Kay to be looking back over his career? Which is, incidentally, a compliment, a way to suggest that Car Share reveals a man who, even after 20 years of success, hasn't lost his ear for the vernacular; the Alan Bennett of austerity Britain perhaps? That said, any show that features clips from Kay's shows, highlights of his chatshow jawmongering and his music videos has to be worth a look.
Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 23rd June 2017
All sitcoms must arrive here eventually: an episode where the whole gang visit a safari park, with near-death consequences. But the Count makes everything his own by playing on the pseudo-paternal bond between the two leads. Either can be the dad and today it's Arthur (Steve Delaney), taking Michael (Rory Kinnear) on a well-meant but disastrously cheap birthday trip. As they go, comic seeds are, as always, deftly planted for harvesting later.
Jack Seale, The Guardian, 23rd June 2017
As part of a recently commissioned raft of satires across all BBC TV channels (including brand new series for Frankie Boyle and Philomena Cunk), Tracey Ullman impersonates Theresa May, Nicola Sturgeon, Angela Merkel and Melania Trump for this one-off political show dealing with the (utter) state of the world and the fallout from the most surreal general election in quite some time.
Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 23rd June 2017
Host the Week review
File alongside ITV's Nightly Show as an experiment gone wrong.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 22nd June 2017
TV review: Host The Week, C4
But I have to be honest, I'm struggling to find something good to say about this.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 22nd June 2017
Iain Stirling announces 2018 tour
Stand-up comedian Iain Stirling has announced a 2018 tour. He will perform his show U OK HUN?X around the UK between February and April.
British Comedy Guide, 22nd June 2017
Barry Humphries reviews Australian National Dictionary
A personal account of the development of Australian slang.
Barry Humphries, The Times Literary Supplement, 22nd June 2017
Tom Allen to host new show The Persuaders
Tom Allen is to host The Persuaders, a new comedy show pilot in which guests argue over appealing or unappealing options.
British Comedy Guide, 22nd June 2017
Sir Billy Connolly receives honorary degree
Sir Billy Connolly has received yet another honorary degree despite joking the closest he got to university "was to deliver coal". The Big Yin became an honorary doctor of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, just days after he was given a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
The Daily Express, 22nd June 2017
Preview - Host the Week
Channel 4 has commissioned another comedy topical entertainment show but this show - Host The Week - follows a very different set-up.
Eloise Craven-Todd, On The Box, 22nd June 2017
Channel 4 signs up Miranda Hart
Miranda Hart is to make a studio entertainment show for Channel 4.
British Comedy Guide, 22nd June 2017
Channel 4 picks up Harry Hill format The Remote Controller
Channel 4 has picked up The Remote Controller, a comedy format devised by Harry Hill. The series will star Hill, with Alan Carr as the presenter.
British Comedy Guide, 22nd June 2017