Jonathan Ross

Jonathan Ross: will he be crowned king of chat on ITV?

Jonathan Ross returns to chat this Saturday with his new ITV show. But will it be a success? Industry experts - including Michael Parkinson - give their views.

Three short years ago, foppish motormouth Jonathan Ross was the undisputed champion of TV chat. How times change. He was suspended by the Beeb in the wake of the Sachsgate scandal and, a year later, announced that he was leaving the Corporation. After 14 months off the air, he returns on a new channel with a new-look show. Gone are house band Four Poofs & a Piano. Also gone, sadly, will be the host's repeated mentions of his beloved black pug Mr Pickle, who died this summer while the two were filming a travelogue. So will Ross's signature near-the-knuckle questions, risqué repartee and scabrous wit survive the move to a commercial channel and earlier time slot? And will he still be able to attract A-list guests? For this opening edition, the guestlist is solid but not stellar. Waiting in the green room are racing driver Lewis Hamilton, on a break from the current Formula 1 season; Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, whose new film I Don't Know How She Does It, adapted from Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson's novel, opens in a fortnight; and award-winning Brit singing sensation Adele, who performs the bluesy stomper Rumour Has It from her album 21.

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A quick chat with Jonathan Ross

Jonathan Ross, now 50 but still bursting with boyish enthusiasm, talks about his new show...

King of chat Jonathan Ross is back

As the furore following Sachsgate finally settles, Jonathan Ross speaks about his highly anticipated new ITV chat show.

Ruth Jones dips her toe into chat, something she's done before at Christmas and Easter. Let's hope it doesn't become more than a seasonal sideline: this show is 40 minutes of pleasing fluff, but I'd swap it for four minutes of her writing or acting.

First onto the cheery, retro sofa is Sarah Millican, who's a trusted guest because she's inoffensive without being bland. She gets away with discussing her attraction to gorillas while still seeming cuddly and safe. Animal-based innuendo becomes a theme thanks to Jonathan Ross, who's less cuddly but as always has a lot of wit behind the smut. Episodes star Stephen Mangan arrives last, offering a random but funny anecdote about an Israeli immigration official.

It all feels like an unfinished pilot, or a dream about a 1970s chat show with modern guests.