David Mitchell (I)

If you think that endless analysis, swingometers and flashy graphics of Churchill and Thatcher superimposed on to Westminster are so 2010, this night of sideways election coverage might be for you. Jeremy Paxman and David Mitchell host, with guests including Kayvan Novak and Richard Osman joining the pair, plus themed editions of The Last Leg and Gogglebox during the evening. Lest the election itself be forgotten, Gary Gibbon and Cathy Newman will relay the results throughout the night.

Jeremy Paxman: trading news for comedy in the election

The veteran journalist will be co-presenting Channel 4's alternative election coverage alongisde David Mitchell, Richard Osman and other entertainment figures.

David Mitchell on the election's doomsters

The French thinker Michel Onfray says western civilisation is on the way out and there's nothing we can do about it. It's a relaxing thought but I think he's wrong.

Radio Times review

Rumbling Russell Crowe joins Jonathan Ross to talk about his directorial debut, The Water Diviner, about an Australian farmer setting out to find the bodies of his three sons who died at Gallipoli. No one will put him off (of course), not even snooty Brits.

Also on the sofa is Elizabeth Hurley, talking about her new US drama The Royals, which looks absolutely hilarious, though I'm not sure it's meant to be funny; and Downton Abbey's Lady Rose, Lily James twinkles by to talk about playing Cinderella in a new Disney film. Don't stay after midnight, Lily!

Best of all, the comedy corner is occupied by David Mitchell, and music comes from brilliant disco funksters Chic.

David Mitchell: this is definitely the last series

...But I'd still like to drop in on Mark and Jeremy when they're older.

Radio Times review

If I tell you that the expression "penal code" is enough to raise a laugh in this edition of QI and that at one stage Alan Davies is reduced to sticking his biro to his top lip for fun, you'll get the picture. It's not, I'm afraid to say, a classic. And that's despite the presence of the usually rock-solid David Mitchell, who is strangely subdued throughout.

So why watch? Well because even a sub-par, so-so QI can put a wry smile on your face and impart mildly intriguing titbits, such as the fact that a French documentary about King Edward VII's coronation featured a lavatory attendant standing in for the king.

Radio Times review

"I find nothing more relaxing than making scented candles," is the claim Adrian Chiles reads from his card to start the show. It's a splendid image - the football presenter dabbling with hot wax and perfume - and even better, it kicks off a heated dispute about what exactly candlestickmakers sell, which gets Lee Mack, Rob Brydon and David Mitchell barking at each other in a surreal shouting match.

Otherwise it's an episode held together by Mack's artful embroidery - right up to the point where guest June Brown almost collapses the whole format by replying in an exasperated tone, when asked if she thinks a story is true, "I don't see why it's so important!"

David Mitchell: 2015 in review

Now that 2015 is drawing to a close, the time for jumping to rigid and lasting conclusions about the previous 12 months is upon us.