Claudia Winkleman enters the overcrowded Friday night chat show fray with a new six-part "high concept" show that invites celebrities to debate the relative merits of their favourite things (a reverse of the BBC's Room 101 format). As that could encompass choosing between Stinking Bishop and Manchego as the king of cheeses, its success will depend not only on the quality of her guests, but also their peculiarities. Tonight's guests are broadcaster Chris Evans and South Shields stand-up Sarah Millican.

Comedy, music and good causes - it can only be the show that makes you laugh until you give.

Harry Hill, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Ant and Dec and Armstrong and Miller are all doing something funny for money this year, along with the casts of The Inbetweeners, Outnumbered and Miranda.

We can also look forward to a specially shot mini-episode of Doctor Who, and James Corden will be back with the third instalment of his iconic Smithy trilogy - calling in favours from some very big names in showbiz.

Corden will also be one fifth of Fake That - a tribute band which boasts the talents of David Walliams, Alan Carr, Catherine Tate and John Bishop.

Never fear, though, the real Take That will be performing too. In fact, the night's going to be awash with boy-bands, as JLS are in the studio and it's The Wanted's turn to do the official Comic Relief single, Gold Forever.

The music line-up also includes chart-busting Adele, Annie Lennox, Elbow and Gareth Malone, who will be trying to turn some TV chefs into a Comic Relief choir.

Your hosts through this comedy marathon will be Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross, Michael McIntyre, Graham Norton, Claudia Winkleman and Fearne Cotton.

There have been 12 Red Nose Days since 1988, helping to raise more than £500million to help needy people in the UK and abroad.

There'll also be films from David Tennant, Jack Dee, Ruth Jones and Comic Relief stalwart Lenny Henry, each providing frequent reminders of how your money can help change people's lives for the better.

It's Red Nose Day, which means only one thing: rip-roaring laughter and top telly treats, presented by TV favourites Lenny Henry, Fearne Cotton, Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross and Claudia Winkleman.

Highlights include a feast of unmissable sketches from the likes of James Corden, the cast of Outnumbered, Miranda Hart, Harry Hill, Steve Coogan and Armstrong & Miller.

There are also Comic Relief specials of Masterchef and The Choir and unforgettable music performances from some of the biggest names in the industry. The night is sprinkled with plenty of reminders of why it's all happening: to raise money to change the lives of extremely vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the UK and Africa.

Get your credit card out, make the phone call, pledge the money. Then you can sit back, guilt-free, and enjoy the funniest evening on telly since oooh, probably the last Red Nose Day. Anyone who's anyone from the world of comedy is on BBC TV tonight. There's funny stuff by Lenny Henry, Graham Norton, Peter Kay, Harry Hill and James Corden, and a road trip in the company of The Inbetweeners around the rudest places in Britain. There's also a mini episode of Doctor Who featuring two Amy Ponds, a special edition of Outnumbered and a Downton Abbey spoof. Adele sings live, and in a celebrity MasterChef Miranda Hart and Claudia Winkleman go head to head, which ought to be a physical impossibility. We also get a special version of The Choir, Gareth Malone's foolhardy bid to get celebrity chefs to sing Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up. In between all this are sobering film clips reminding us what it's all about and a ten-minute edition of EastEnders resolving the disturbing story about teenage prostitution.

Possible chat show War between Norton and Winkleman

A chat show war is looming between Graham Norton and new rival Claudia Winkleman.

A comedy panel show about celebrity news, chaired by Claudia Winkleman who bubbles away nicely but (going by her Radio 2 Arts Show on Fridays) can't quite manage to read out a script as if the words have meaning.

BBC Radio 2's Comedy Season launches with the return of the irreverent comedy panel show hosted by Claudia Winkleman. Comics and commentators are thrust into the silicon-filled world of glossy magazines and showbiz columns, for a unique take on the week's most "important" celebrity news. As with the people they are laughing at, there are no teams - it's everyone for themselves. Guests on the opening show are Rufus Hound, Jo Caulfield and Dom Joly.

8 Out Of 10 Cats is rapidly becoming the best panel show around, isn't it? I think a big part of that is how everyone seems to genuinely enjoy the experience. Half the guests on Have I Got News For You look scared out of their wits, or spend their time walking on eggshells, while Mock The Week has always been very competitive and male-dominated, with guests often left to flounder amidst the regulars...

There's just a more pleasant atmosphere on 8 Out Of 10 Cats nowadays, and I really respond to that. Team captains Jason Manford and Sean Lock openly laugh at each other's jokes, Jimmy Carr appears to have toned down his cattiness, and this episode's non-comedians (EastEnders' Charlie Clements, presenter Claudia Winkleman, popstar Jamelia) didn't embarass themselves.

In fact, it appears that producers everywhere have realized Jamelia's TV gold with her ill-informed opinions and, well, good-natured stupidity. Can you believe she home-schools her kids?! She was better value than Iranian comedienne Shappi Khorsandi in this first episode, too. Shappi fell into the trap of mostly sitting on the sidelines and smiling at everyone else's gags, unless that was just very unfortunate editing. Also, am I alone in finding Sean Lock absolutely hi-larious on this show? The strange thing is, I find Lock's standup rather dull and tedious.