Channel 4 seems to be positioning Alan Carr's Happy Hour as a challenger to Norton's Friday-evening chokehold. But the Chatty Man still has a way to go to match Norton's cheek and charm. Norton commands a higher calibre of guest, too; tonight, A-listers Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt will be discussing their imminent sci-fi film, Passengers, and, just possibly, recent events in their home country. Emeli Sandé brings the tunes.

Graham Norton to host Children in Need

Graham Norton is joining the presenting team for the BBC's 2016 Children in Need appeal following the death of long-time host Sir Terry Wogan.

Graham Norton's dream guests

"My answer used to be Brad [Pitt] and Angelina [Jolie], but I don't think that is happening now," he told us, referring to Brangelina's bombshell divorce filing last month.

Graham Norton: 'My chat show pays for itself'

"Most of the big earners pay their way. My show is shown in a bunch of countries and pays for itself."

Graham Norton: I'm not friends with anybody famous

Talk turns to the government's continual calling for the Beeb to publish the salary details of its best-paid stars. "It will happen and I won't be pleased," sighs Graham. "And also, it isn't going to be that accurate, because a lot of people are on company payrolls, others are freelance and others are half and half. I'm not sure how I'm paid."

The 1996 Edinburgh Fringe

Clearing out this week, I unearthed the 1996 Edinburgh Fringe programme and some flyers So for no other reason than nostalgia, here's how the festival has changed in 20 years.

Why can't the UK do late night comedy?

Chat shows are thriving in the US, with James Corden leading the viral charge. Yet British versions keep on biting the dust.

Graham Norton is quitting Twitter

Graham Norton is quitting Twitter because he claims it is "not a happy world".

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie - review

Producers did not release the Ab Fab film to the critics ahead of its release yesterday, which is rarely a vote of confidence. Add to that the fact that it's a big-screen adaptation of a sitcom - a genre with a patchy track record, The Inbetweeners Movie notwithstanding - and that it uses the tired and tested plot device of plonking their characters somewhere foreign, and the signs are not encouraging. Yet despite such portents, Absolutely Fabulous is as much of a fun, raucous romp as fans would have hoped for - director Mandie Fletcher throwing proceedings into the preposterous story and high camp with as much vigour now as there was when the series started a rather incredible 24 years ago.

Norton introduces some of his favourite moments from the past 14 shows in this series closer, featuring the usual roster of A-listers; the likes of Helen Mirren, Russell Crowe and Samuel L Jackson. Given his guests' extraordinary willingness to bare their souls and more, we may well be treated again to Dame Joan Collins opening up about her late sister or Hugh Grant breezily revealing how many of his leading ladies couldn't stand him.