Frank Skinner

Graham Norton will be prattling on (or, to be strictly accurate, on and on and on and on and on and on and on...) in a Comic Relief fundraiser tonight on BBC Three[/]. Yep, another one.

Comic Relief's Big Chat With Graham Norton will kick off at 7pm, and unless the whole thing goes tits-up and he develops laryngitis or something, it'll continue into he early hours - by which point, and here's the thing, our host hopes to have smashed the world record for the most questions asked on a TV chat show.

Among his many guests will be Martin Freeman, Sarah Millican and Louis Smith, with the likes of Frank Skinner and Nick Grimshaw doing co-host stints.

Norton foregoes the usual physical challenges beloved of Comic Relief for a more sedentary affair: attempting to set the Guinness world record for most questions asked on a TV chat show, which should see him broadcasting into the wee hours of Friday morning. We can only hope that Graham also dispenses with his usual tipple of wine with guests, otherwise this chatathon is going to get very messy.

So far guests announced as appearing on the sofa include Ronnie Corbett, RT's Sarah Millican, Martin Freeman, Elle Macpherson, James Nesbitt, Louis Smith, Heston Blumenthal, Warwick Davis, Russell Tovey and Jimmy Carr, though you wouldn't bet against an American superstar or two turning up, too. Music acts will include Example, Paloma Faith, Hurts and Laura Mvula.

Graham will be assisted by co-hosts Terry Wogan, Frank Skinner and Nick Grimshaw, and viewers can help, too, by submitting questions via Twitter and Facebook. And by donating money.

Frank Skinner's role as judge and jury seems inconsequential in tonight's final show of the series - its all about the verbal sparring that breaks out between the guests.

Comedian Jon Richardson is in the firing line, declared dull by Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood for wanting to dump dancing into Room 101, who then gets up actress Sheila Hancock's nose by admitting he buys scented candles - one of her pet hates.

It just leaves Skinner to bring the curtain down with a Macarena.

Actress Sheila Hancock, Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood and comedian Jon Richardson are the final celebrities bidding for their bêtes noires to be consigned to oblivion tonight. A sassy Hancock proves good value on subjects such as her aversion to fireworks and scented candles, although Revel Horwood lives up to his mean persona by insulting Richardson throughout, and even puts forward joke-telling as one of his pet hates, which creates a bit of an atmosphere. Although unfunny guests do tend to dampen the fun, host Frank Skinner's impromptu joshing largely makes up for the deficit of laughs.

'Look at the bloody size of it!' marvels Peter Kay as he runs on stage at the O2. It feels a little disingenuous, because Kay is arguably at the front of a pack of comedians who have been aiming this high from the start. The second part of this fascinating three-part series examines the process behind these startling new comic trajectories. Via a dig around in the BBC's written archive (Frankie Howerd was on 80 guineas a series) and Frank Skinner's brush with pay-related tabloid infamy, we reach the present day.

Comedy historians will probably dub our era The McIntyre Ascendancy. But has edge and artistry been lost as careerism wins the day? Or is it naive to think that stand-up was ever about anything other than a drive towards commercial success? Reassuringly, Mark Thomas is on hand to suggest than comedy has 'fallen for the capitalist concept of endless growth'. But the hyper-competitive Comedy Store bearpit we visit at the end suggests that many young comics still think there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Taking a break from hunting killers under the scorching sun in Death In Paradise, actor/comedian Ben Miller lets off steam in Frank Skinner's lair.

What gets the persuasive Miller hot under the collar are shoelaces, homeopathy - which, to his scientific mind, is quite simply rubbish - and pedestrians who don't know how to behave on a pavement.

Splash! judge Jo Brand's high-heeled shoes and BBC 1's Breakfast host Bill Turnbull's low-slung jeans haven't got a prayer.

George Orwell has provided TV producers with plenty of concepts; but we can only hazard a guess at what he would have thought of them. In this panel show, based on the idea of a room in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four where prisoners are subjected to their worst fears, guests must discuss their pet peeves with host Frank Skinner and compete for his approval to banish them to Room 101. Tonight's guests are BBC presenter Bill Turnbull, who hates low slung jeans and people who hog the middle lane on the motorway, comedian Ben Miller who can't abide homoeopathy, and comedian Jo Brand, who thinks personalised number plates and high-heeled shoes should make the cut.

Glamping is an unlikely TV theme tonight, cast in two very different roles. Over on Great Night Out, it's a positive holiday option, but here in Frank Skinner's domain, it's being proposed for disposal in Room 101 by actor/comedian Jack Whitehall. It's what bugs him most about the great outdoors, while for The One Show's Alex Jones, it's seagulls. But the controversial choice for presenter Clive Anderson is Bambi's extended family - until meeting special guest Arthur changes his mind.

If Frank Skinner's ad libs are the real thing and not carefully pre-arranged, then they're little comedy gems.

There's a moment tonight when Clive Anderson has proposed consigning British deer, or a large proportion of them, to Room 101 and in the process he points out that there are three million deer in Britain now. To which Jack Whitehall quips, "All they need is a leader!" It's a nice idea - of the deer rising up as one in a horned rebellion. Then Skinner chimes in: "Maybe the Dalai Lama?" It's quick, silly and typical of his ability to juice up the joke quota.

Not that he needs to much this week: Anderson, Whitehall and Alex Jones make a great panel. It's the sparkiest episode yet.

All the obvious targets were shunted off into the vault of shame a long time ago, so the attraction of Room 101 these days is the window that it gives into the bizarre minds of celebrities.

Without a script, and without anything to plug, what are they really thinking? This week it's showbiz legend Cilla Black who provides some of the most unexpected moments, as ­comedian Frank Skinner invites his guests to nominate their pet hates concerning people and modern life, plus their wild card entry.

"When I used to watch you on TV I used to wonder what we'd talk about if we ever met," Frank admits. "I never expected this." His other guests, Outnumbered star Hugh Dennis and Great British Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc, can only stare in wonder as Cilla explains her gripe with one particular gadget.

But Frank has also got an old clip of Cilla that's odder than the rest of the show put together.