Graham Norton

Graham Norton: why I refused £5m from the BBC

The BBC tried to recruit me for quite some time before I signed my first contract with them in 2005. As long ago as the autumn of 2000, I remember standing in a dark street outside a restaurant in Tokyo while filming a documentary for Channel 4, listening to a breathless agent on the phone telling me that the BBC had offered me £5 million.

Graham Norton: Drinking has got me into trouble

Graham Norton has told of his love of drinking and the scrapes it has got him into - from waking up in a stranger's bed to breaking his ribs before a West End show.

Graham Norton: 'When in doubt grab a drink'

Graham Norton reveals his relationship with alcohol in unflinchingly honest account of his love affair with the bottle.

Graham Norton: My drunken escapades

He has always been open about his love of alcohol. So much so that Graham Norton has dedicated an entire chapter to his drinking antics which once saw him fall asleep against a lamp-post following a night out.

Radio Times review

He's not actually made a romcom since 2009, but it's still impossible to imagine Hugh Grant starring in any other kind of film. Tonight he talks to Graham Norton about The Rewrite, in which he plays an anti-heroic cad akin to his roles in About a Boy and Bridget Jones's Diary.

Joining him on the sofa is Emma Thompson, who was persuaded to write a sequel to Beatrix Potter's story about Peter Rabbit when the publishers cleverly sent her a package containing a half-eaten radish and a letter from Peter himself. She couldn't refuse, she said, because "it was such a witty invitation".

If anyone doubts Graham Norton's position as chatshow king, a look at tonight's opening line-up should set them straight. While Alan Carr has the solid if unspectacular likes of Lionel Richie, Jessie J and Nick Grimshaw over on Channel 4 (10pm), Norton's sofa dwellers - Denzel Washington, Gemma Arteton and new Doctor Who Peter Capaldi - offer real big-name clout. Music, meanwhile, is provided by the endlessly emoting George Ezra, whose croaky folk has proved inescapable this summer.

Radio Times review

An evening on the Graham Norton sofa in the first of a new series might be just what Doctor Who Peter Capaldi needs, what with all the hoo-ha of recent months, and that huge world tour. Everyone's entitled to a little rest, surely?

Now we'll find out what Capaldi thinks of the reaction to his creation. And can Norton succeed where others have failed and prod him for clues as to the future of companion Clara? Doubtless listening closely will be Denzel Washington, star of a new film based on the fondly remembered 1980s series The Equalizer, and Gemma Arterton, star of the Made in Dagenham West End musical. The musical guest is George Ezra.

Graham Norton Show returns: 10 classic hilarious moment

Hoorah! The Graham Norton show is back to fill our Friday evenings with post-pub fun. We select a few of our favourite titbits from the show's last two series...

Graham Norton: 'Some guests don't get the humour'

He's been doing his BBC talk show for so long, it's hard to imagine Graham Norton gets excited about its return each September for another long run. But as the Irish sultan of chat prepares to settle back into his swivel chair for the start of next Friday's 16th series, he's thrilled to be back.

The genial host reopens his globe drinks cabinet as he returns for a 13th series. Years of chat and a bunch of other successful shows, radio gigs and stand-up tours now separate him from The Friday Night Project with Justin Lee Collins. What a long time ago that seems. He now stands alongside Graham Norton as the kingpin of British chat and rightly so. Among those confirmed for tonight are Jack Whitehall, talking about Bad Education, and the formerly hairy Kasabian, now smooth as a baby's bum.