Marcus Brigstocke

If you've not encountered Giles Wemmbley Hogg in any of his previous incarnations on Radio 4 the best introduction is to say that this creation of Marcus Brigstocke is the closest thing we have to a modern version of The Goons. Each episode is driven by a particular situation at the start, which rapidly falls off down the left-field surreal slide. It's a bit hit and miss but still worth a listen.

Marcus Brigstocke: "I used to be Giles Wemmbley Hogg"

The comedian talks about his globetrotting comic creation and why he's taking time out from ranting.

Dave have decided to revive their panel show Argumental, but not to revive any of the regulars who appeared in the first three series, with John Sergeant, Marcus Brigstocke and Rufus Hound being replaced with Sean Lock, Seann Walsh and Robert Webb.

The main question with this change is, "Has it worked?" Well, in terms of banter between host and panel, it does seem to be better. I think that having a comedian rather than a journalist in the chair is going to increase the laughs, simply because Lock is more used to having to improvise on the spot, as well as being used to the panel show format as a captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats.

However, I've never really been keen on Webb's appearances on panel games. It doesn't seem to be his kind of format, unlike his comedy partner David Mitchell. I also think Walsh is the stronger performer, but despite this Webb won the first episode in the series...

The main highlight of the debut episode was guest Jimmy Carr having to argue that, "There's no place for women's sport on television," while standing next to Britain's only professional sumo wrestler, which is a rather terrifying prospect. You were just waiting for her to faux-lash out at him, but instead it was Walsh who offered to fight her.

I thought it was an OK debut, but it needs a few more episodes to bed in.

Rejoining the depressingly interchangeable comedy panel show circuit, the show returns for a fourth series on Dave. As the self-professed "home of witty banter", it should really be what it does best, as witty banter is precisely what Argumental hopes to synthesise. And when the insufferable Russell Kane isn't speaking, it has its moments. Sean Lock looks comfy, having replaced John Sergeant in the host's chair, while Robert Webb and stand-up Seann Walsh take on the roles of the new team captains, replacing the outgoing Rufus Hound and Marcus Brigstocke. Jimmy Carr also guests.

Kathy Burke's appearance on I've Never Seen Star Wars did nothing to dispel that notion that she is a national treasure (and made me think how good she'd be with her own show, just playing stuff she likes and chatting to people).

As the title indicates, the show - shunted off for this fourth series to the railway siding, relatively speaking, of Radio 4 Extra - exposes its subject to new experiences, and it always makes for a jolly half-hour. The studio-bound format is slightly frustrating, though: Burke had never been to Harrods, and judging by the account she gave the host, Marcus Brigstocke, it could have been a programme in itself. She clearly had some fun in the pets department, with the full-body grooms and blueberry and vanilla facials for dogs. And she wasn't put off by the general snootiness: at one point, she said, she asked one of the uniformed types hanging around, "Are you called a shop assistant?" He leaned over and said, "No, madam, we're sales associates."

Another thing she'd never done - true to the title - was see Star Wars, and it proved to be a revelation. "The parodies made sense all of a sudden ... I was in a French and Saunders sketch and I had these buns on - that's who I was supposed to be." Go on, you BBC suits - sign her up and let her loose.

Marcus Brigstocke: From Spamalot to stationmaster

Comedian and broadcaster Marcus Brigstocke has been described as a Jack of all trades, and with good reason...

There is no better place to seek out a little light relief than I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, now incredibly in its 55th series. Doubtless many long term fans of the show who still pine for Humphrey Lyttelton as chair, but Jack Dee does a fine job, especially when he throws in a few dry asides.

In the first instalment of the new series, recorded at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall, regulars Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor were joined by relative newcomer Marcus Brigstocke, the latter managing to impress his cohorts with a classy move during a round of Mornington Cresent. With Colin Sell at the piano and Samantha on the scoreboard, the endless nonsense and wit was still laugh out loud funny, my favourite moment on this occasion being Summertime sung to the theme from Jim'll Fix It.

The main problem I have with I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue as a reviewer is that it's impossible to review such a classic show, one which has been on the air for nearly 40 years. What can you say about it that hasn't been said already?

Well, let's start off with the guest panellist - first-timer Marcus Brigstocke. Out of the four panellists (the others being the three regulars, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden), he seemed to have the funniest bits. Maybe he was the funniest, maybe it's the show's view to make the guest look the funniest, I don't know. However, he did seem to have many high points in the episode I listened to - his rendition of "Common People" to the tune of "If You're Happy and Know It", for example, was great.

There was also the introduction of a new round in this show called "Heston's Services". This was akin to similar rounds such as "Book Club" and "Film Club", in this case coming up with meals that Heston Blumenthal would serve at a motorway service station.

The other main component of the show, of course, is host Jack Dee. I know that there are lot of people out there who won't accept him as host and won't be happy until Humphrey Lyttelton is exhumed, reanimated and blowing his trumpet in the chair for all eternity, but Dee does a good job as far as I'm concerned.

Marcus Brigstocke 'was suicidal' over weight struggles

"I was so obese I'd lie in bed trying to tear bits off my body." Comedian Marcus Brigstocke once weighed 24 stone and was suicidal but lives to tell the tale...

Video: Comedian Marcus Brigstocke on beards and accents

Comedian Marcus Brigstocke spoke to BBC Breakfast about his role as the station master, Mr Perks, in the stage version of the Railway Children.

The show originally started in York and has now moved to a specially built theatre at London's Waterloo train station.