Frank Skinner

The latest offering by Dave is the new quiz hosted by The Pub Landlord, Al Murray, in which contestants fight it out to win the grand prize of a frozen chicken. The big question is, is this show a turkey?

It started off well enough, with Murray interacting with his audience like he does in his normal stand-up act, picking on individual people. However, it went a bit downhill when he introduced the "Celebrity" Top Table, which consisted of comedian Olivia Lee, footballer Peter Shilton, and Dominic Littlewood who... does whatever he does.

Also there are Murray's assistants. One is Mr. Giblets, who is a man dressed up as a frozen chicken, who is no doubt glad his face is covered to save him the humiliation of people recognising him in the street. There is also Zoe Salmon, who I have never heard of before and I will probably never hear of again outside of the context of this programme.

With regards to the quiz itself, there were some fun categories (e.g., "Salt", "Body Matters", "Moustaches") and featured questions like "which of three members of the audience carried the most change", and "how many pickled eggs were there in a jar that Frank Skinner was holding". There was also the physical "Last Chance Saloon" challenge which featured contestants playing shuffleboard using various items of pub grub.

While there are good moments this show is mostly just OK. What we want from a show with Al Murray is him to do his stand-up in character. While we get some of that, it isn't enough. Why does there have to be a quiz? Can we not just have a show in which Al Murray just does his stand-up please?

On one final note, a bit of advice for Murray - don't end the show by singing "Eye of the Tiger", it just sounds naff.

Frank Skinner enjoys return to TV... but prefers radio

Frank Skinner says he only does TV to keep his ego happy.

This much I know: Frank Skinner comedian, 54

Interview with Frank Skinner.

Frank Skinner's Opinionated Review

Frank Skinner seems to be having a second wind in career terms. Frank started his television life predominantly as a stand up. He was a quick hit becoming a regular television fixture and the winner of the much respected Perrier award in 1991.

Frank Skinner: A tribute to a national treasure

Frank Skinner is back with a new show, Frank Skinner's Opinionated, and it's great to have him back. There's nothing post-modern about his style and he looks like he's been kicked out of the bookies, but as far as I'm concerned Funtime Frankie is a comedy great.

Much has been made of Frank Skinner's "rehabilitation" as a thoughtful talking head, as opposed to the New Lad icon of Fantasy Football, but he was never really that boorish back in the 1990s, and he's by no means so earnestly highbrow nowadays. Few details available, but this six-part run is set to follow the same format as the last, in which Skinner and guest comedians interact with audience members to ruminate amusingly, whimsically and often sharply on the detritus thrown up by current affairs.

The start of a second series for Frank Skinner's topical comedy show, which consists of Frank and two comedians chatting about the week's news.

It must have been a good idea, because ITV almost replicated it (minus comedians) when they enlisted another chap from the West Midlands, Adrian Chiles, to front That Sunday Night Show which finished last month.

Frank's guests this week are Lee Mack and Miranda Hart who have both done the show before and can be relied on to squeeze laughs out of almost anything.

As with all panel shows, the best stuff doesn't come out of the news itself but from all the chat in between - and with world events being a mixture of doom, gloom and apocalypse that's probably just as well.

Cultural Life: Frank Skinner, comedian

An interview with the comedian Frank Skinner.

Frank Skinner's heyday might have been during the lad-mag Nineties, but as the first series of this topical comedy show reminded us, he is a more interesting and in some ways more old-fashioned entertainer than that. He has matured into a witty and surprisingly wry host, and the BBC has signed Opinionated up for two more series, the first of which begins tonight. His guests, Lee Mack and Miranda Hart, are likely to be gently amusing but solidly uncontroversial.

A quick chat with Frank Skinner

One of the few good things to come out of the recession was the fact that it brought the quick-witted Frank Skinner back to our TV screens after he lost most of his life savings in the banking crisis...