Julia Davis: laughing in the dark

Julia Davis is famous for creating some of the most uncomfortably bleak comedies of recent times. Now the star of Nighty Night is turning her dark powers to period drama in her new series Hunderby.

It's a good time for female-led comedy

Sharon Horgan and Julia Davis are among those with new series coming to screen - but why are women still so badly represented on shows such as Mock the Week?

Could Lizzie and Sarah make a comeback?

Julia Davis is eager to revive her axed comedy Lizzie And Sarah. 'I'd happily explore more,' she said. 'We have a lot more ideas and I would love to work with Sarah again.'

As the ticker tape settles over in the ITV studios, a drama will begin on Channel 4 that is so closely modelled on The X Factor that there is no doubting that its scheduling directly after this year's grand final was a deliberate one.

Black Mirror's second episode, 15 Million Merits, is co-written by Charlie Brooker's wife Konnie Huq, who presented X Factor companion show The Xtra Factor in 2010.

Brooker abandoned his TV criticism column in The Guardian midway through his wife's stint on the ITV2 show, prompting many to speculate that he felt his partiality had been compromised by Huq's involvement in the franchise. The plot thickens.
Like The National Anthem, the first in the Black Mirror series, 15 Million Merits' plot is not its strongest point. But the fine performances from its stars - who include Julia Davis and Rupert Everett - more than make up for some weak links in the narrative.

And in terms of capturing the terrifying, oppressive nature of The X Factor, Brooker has it spot on with his barely fictitious show Hot Shot, which plucks ordinary folk from their dystopian drudgery and bombards them with stardom.

For X Factor fans, it will serve as the perfect way to reflect on what has been a more sinister and contrived series than any other.
It is dark and disturbing, but is it any darker and more disturbing than the real X Factor we know and love to hate?

The second of writer Charlie Brooker's three comedy-horrors. Tonight's drama satirises the sort of shows that happen to be on the other channels this evening. In a sarcastic vision of the future, everyone is confined to a life of physical drudgery. The only way to escape is to enter the Hot Shot talent show and pray you can impress the judges. The star-studded cast includes Rupert Everett, Julia Davis and Downton's Jessica Brown Findlay.

Rob Brydon: Steve Coogan is a very unpleasant man

Comedian Rob Brydon talks to Metro about his ascent to fame, from starting out on The Shopping Channel to teaming up with Julia Davis for Human Remains, and why distancing himself from Steve Coogan was a great move.

Tonight, David Baddiel's swotty teenage self locks horns with Guinness Book of Records editor Norris McWhirter (an uncannily authentic Alistair McGowan). Next, we meet an equally uncool 14-year-old Julia Davis. Fortified with Dutch courage filched from her parents' house, young Julia isn't going to let flat chest, braces and frizzy perm get in the way of her first kiss. Or is she?

It's a girls' night out at London's Theatre Royal as Victoria Wood is joined on stage by some very funny ladies in aid of The British Heart Foundation.

While raising awareness about heart disease in women (see, the show's title makes sense now), the Queen of Comedy and her cohorts will tickle our funny bones with stand-up, sketches and music.

The line-up includes Nighty Night's Julia Davis; Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine from BBC Four's Getting On; Jessica Hynes of Spaced fame; rising star Andi Oshi; and the two Brands, Jo and Katy. Not Russell Brand's new pop star wife - the other one. The one with the Big Ass.