Press Clippings
Have I got news for you: no more BBC panel shows
The television panel show could soon be a thing of the past after a BBC executive said that no new shows in the format would be commissioned.
Matthew Moore, The Times, 24th August 2017
Rory Bremner: 'A lack of satire caused Brexit'
Impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner has suggested that a lack of satirical comedy in mainstream entertainment is partly to blame for Brexit.
Finlay Greig, i Newspaper, 23rd August 2017
E4 orders half-animated computer game comedy from Fresh Meat team
Dead Pixels, a half-live action, half-animated comedy from the Fresh Meat producers, is coming to E4 next year. It focuses on friends obsessed with a computer game.
British Comedy Guide, 23rd August 2017
BBC confirms new League Of Gentlemen
The League Of Gentlemen will return to BBC Two for a series of three new special episodes, it has been confirmed.
British Comedy Guide, 23rd August 2017
Friday Night Dinner Series 5 confirmed
Channel 4 has confirmed that Friday Night Dinner will return for a fifth series.
British Comedy Guide, 23rd August 2017
When the zombies invade, it takes north London slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) a while to notice, so wrapped up is he in his own world of the pub, on-off romance with Kate Ashfield's Liz, and the pub. But soon he's involved in a blend of deadpan humour and horror, ending in a John Carpenter-like siege - in the pub. Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy add some feeling as Shaun's parents.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 23rd August 2017
Tonight's comedian in this series of six coming from the Soho Theatre is Canadian Mae Martin, who delivers more of an engaging monologue than a free-ranging series of cracks. Recently split from her girlfriend, she discusses perceptions of her sexuality ("Your hair lied to us!"), her parents Wendy and James, her mother's attempt to explain the facts of life, and her father's penis, which was subject to a biting incident.
David Stubbs, The Guardian, 23rd August 2017
When Caroline blags an invite to her hero Charles Dickens's dinner party, William also pretends to be a fan and goes along, too. Andrew Scott plays Dickens brilliantly as a doom-filled fop lapping up compliments while knocking back the sauce. Elsewhere, Florence Nightingale wants the surgeons to clean their instruments as she assists in the case of a woman with a haemorrhoid "perhaps the size of a Christmas walnut". Excellent fun.
Hannah Verdier, The Guardian, 22nd August 2017
Bradley Walsh revealed as Doctor Who companion
It has been revealed the first female 'Doctor Who' will have a male sidekick old enough to be her father as the comedian and quiz show host is set to join the cast.
Nicola Methven, The Mirror, 22nd August 2017
The scatological legacy of British humour
Is it simply a testament to our good nature, or a sign of a darker kind of cynicism?
Polly Evans, The New Statesman, 21st August 2017
E4 sitcom Chewing Gum ends after two series
Michaela Coel has reportedly said she doesn't want to make any more episodes of her hit E4 sitcom Chewing Gum.
British Comedy Guide, 21st August 2017
The Kagools, Ian Smith & Rob Kemp win Amused Moose Awards
The Kagools, Ian Smith and Rob Kemp have been declared winners at the Amused Moose Comedy Awards 2017.
British Comedy Guide, 21st August 2017
Another wonderful fantasy from Aardman Animations, in which the Hugh Grant-voiced Pirate Captain sets sail to beat rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the pirate of the year award. When he happens on Charles Darwin (David Tennant), all sorts of landlubberly machinations threaten to sink his plan. A witty stop-motion adventure.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 21st August 2017
Over six 15-minute episodes, Liam Williams's sharp, pointed mockumentary series takes aim at some of the more inane professional vloggers ("Or, as I call them, self-manipulating content puppets," says the comic), immersing himself in the world of YouTube via a surprisingly successful turn as Vloggy McVlogface. Though internet celebs might seem an easy target, the satire is as bleak as it is witty, and Williams's attempts to become a YouTube star himself in order to win 10 grand turn increasingly dark.
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian, 20th August 2017
Witch trials, office karaoke, snuff films, party games, incestuous cannibalism: no subject matter is too terrible, or trivial, for Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's hair-raisingly inventive anthology series. With help from a rotating cast of acting aristocracy, The League of Gentlemen[/c duo have spent three series battering down the divisions between comedy, horror and drama. However, one episode towers above the rest: the Sheridan Smith-starring 12 Days of Christine is one of the most profoundly evocative half-hours of TV ever made.
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian, 20th August 2017
Robert Webb: 'I was never very good at being a boy'
In this extract from his new memoir, the comedian and actor revisits a village childhood overshadowed by the violent temper of his father and the premature death of his mother. Below, he talks to Alex Clark.
Robert Webb, The Guardian, 20th August 2017
I wanted to love Quacks, Rory Kinnear and Rupert Everett hamming it up with much snot, grist and ether, prat-slipping all over the ichor-soaked boards of Victorian London. But, if I didn't actually laugh once, does it deserve to be billed as a comedy? Still. It's written by James "Rev" Wood, has a winningly short title, and even Blackadder started pretty poorly.
Euan Ferguson, The Guardian, 20th August 2017
Preview: People Just Do Nothing
The west London spoof programme returns for a new series following the unconventional group behind Radio Kurupt FM.
Eloise Craven-Todd, On The Box, 19th August 2017
TV review: People Just Do Nothing
There are lots of ways in which People Just Do Nothing succeeds as near-peerless comedy (only This Country, another BBC Three creation, and Channel 4's The Windsors rivals it). Now just into its fourth series, the team has shifted gear a little, run plot lines a little longer, and introduce some tension and poignancy into proceedings without losing anything of the wit and pace that make it so superbly balanced.
Sean O'Grady, The Independent, 19th August 2017
Hard to resist this sweet-natured romcom from Richard Ayoade, AKA Maurice Moss of The IT Crowd. It's the story of 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), who is determined to lose his virginity before he hits 16 (preferably with Yasmin Paige's Jordana) and to protect his mother (Sally Hawkins) from the seductive powers of old mullet-headed flame Graham (Paddy Considine). There's real warmth and comedy in these characters.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 19th August 2017
Preview - Submarine
Richard Ayoade's directorial debut is an idiosyncratic coming-of-age drama about a teenage pupil who is trying to cope with the trials of school and domestic life while also discovering love.
Gareth Hargreaves, On The Box, 18th August 2017
Bruce Forsyth, the last of the BBC's great entertainers
Good game, good game. Didn't he do well? Sir Bruce Forsyth had a glittering 75-year showbiz career but with news of his passing aged 89, we have lost the last of the BBC's great entertainers - and a reassuringly familiar figure who you, me and the entire nation has huddled around the TV to watch for the past half-century.
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 18th August 2017
Birds Of A Feather to return for new special
Sitcom Birds Of A Feather will return to ITV for a new Christmas special.
British Comedy Guide, 18th August 2017
Sir Bruce Forsyth dies aged 89
Sir Bruce Forsyth has died at the age of 89.
British Comedy Guide, 18th August 2017
Michael Barrymore: How British TV king lost his crown
Michael Barrymore has been awarded damages following a lengthy court battle over his arrest on suspicion of rape and murder. Although the sum will be decided at a later date, the High Court ruling is the latest twist in a case that has hung over the former TV presenter since 2001, when a man was found dead at his home.
Jodie Halford, BBC, 18th August 2017
Michael Barrymore to get damages over arrest
The entertainer Michael Barrymore is to get "more than nominal damages" after claiming his wrongful arrest by police destroyed his career.
BBC, 18th August 2017
When it comes to today's comedy, the situation is dire
Since everything else in the deplorable modern world is perpetually in crisis, humour might as well be too. It isn't funny.
Robert McNeil, The Herald, 18th August 2017
Preview - 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
It's two Carrs for the price of one tonight as Alan Carr appears as a guest team captain on a new series of the panel/game show mash-up.
Ian Wolf, On The Box, 18th August 2017
Jimmy Carr is your host for this enduring takeover of the afternoon quiz show format by the near-the-knuckle satire show. Alan Carr is the big-name guest, but there should be some good stuff from Cariad Lloyd and Kevin Bridges as well. Joining staunch good sport Susie Dent in the dictionary corner, meanwhile, are Radio X's weekend double act Elis James and John Robins, who seem likely to find just the right tone.
John Robinson, The Guardian, 18th August 2017
BBC Radio 4 confirms 35 comedy commissions
Radio 4 has revealed details of 35 separate comedy commissions, ranging from returning shows to new series, previous pilots and brand new stand-up.
British Comedy Guide, 17th August 2017