Test your knowledge of 50 years of BBC2

Pointless star Richard Osman hosts our celebration of 50 years of BBC2 with (what else?) a quiz.

The Methuselah-like panel show begins its 47th series, with Jennifer Saunders in the host's seat for the first time. How she's never landed the gig before when the likes of Fern Britton and Jerry Springer have is a mystery. Elsewhere, Pointless chap Richard Osman will put his panel show nous (he's had a hand in creating 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Charlie Brooker vehicle You Have Been Watching) to good use as a guest panellist. It's years past its real peak, but still diverting enough.

Radio Times review

As the big beast of the panel-show genre rouses itself for a 47th series, we know what to expect. Nobody would pretend the show's satirical edge is as sharp as it once was or that the scripted gags supplied to the host aren't sometimes embarrassingly poor (you can often see team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton wince in sympathy). But it's still the best place to see the week's news given a going-over and it's good to have it back.

Jennifer Saunders takes the presenter's hot seat for the first time and Richard Osman, who generally raises everyone's game a peg or two, is a guest.

A new series of mock-Orwellian oratory hits Friday night, with Joan Bakewell, Roisin Conaty and Richard Osman attempting to sneak their bugbears past Room 101 bouncer Frank Skinner. Irritants in the dock of discontent tonight include customer-service surveys, greetings cards containing pre-felt emotions, and the less-heralded animals making up the numbers in zoos around the globe. Every bit as unchallenging as you'd expect from the panel-led revamp, but the game "leg-selfie or hot dog" does sweeten the pill somewhat.

The mighty Pointless fact file that is Richard Osman - all 6ft 7in of him in his size 14 shoes - reveals his distrust of shoemakers and disgruntlement with people who tell him he's tall as a new season of personal hates and bugbears checks in for business. Frank Skinner resumes his duties as arbitrary arbiter of banishing dislikes to oblivion, with broadcaster Joan Bakewell and comedian Roisin Conaty taking a pew alongside Mr Osman. Among the more contentious candidates for annihilation are gardening and Bambi. And watch out for a clip featuring a massive snake - it's a real shocker.

Radio Times review

Richard Osman of the quiz show Pointless is one of the quickest wits on TV. Fact. The guy is a giant of comedy, although actually he doesn't like people mentioning his height. Fellow panellists - writer and broadcaster Joan Bakewell and comedian Roisin Conaty - and even host Frank Skinner, don't stand a chance as he tosses bons mots and puns into the conversation with casual ease.

Of course, all the guests put forward suggestions for things to be consigned to oblivion - the pet hates tonight range from gardening to cobblers. Skinner, meanwhile, deftly choreographs the banter for maximum laughs.

However, it's Skinner himself who gets the best reaction when he tells the heart-warming story of how a little boy left his much-loved cuddly toy behind at his holiday hotel. The staff there then did something wonderful to persuade him that his toy was fine, but just extending his vacation.

Room 101 - TV review

I like Richard Osman (massive fan of Pointless), but I very much disagree with his views, on Room 101 (BBC One), about "zoo filler".

Richard Osman's head is stuffed full of Pointless knowledge, as any fan of BBC One's excellent early evening quiz will know. This should mean the presenter will wipe the floor with the opposition as he joins Victoria Wood, Jason Manford and Alan Davies to field Fry's questions.

Still, there are no guarantees in the QI world, which not so long ago revealed the quite interesting fact that many of its former facts are now considered to be fiction. Sometimes you just can't win.

Radio Times review

The interestingness goes into overdrive this week. Yes, it's funny too, but there are historical titbits here that will mildly blow your mind, as Stephen Fry dissertates on a kitchen-y theme. We learn about the 18th-century pets bred to be "turnspit dogs" during the week and footwarmers in church on Sunday. We learn about why kleftiko is so called. And we learn something about the phenomenon of the overbite that may be the single most interesting dentistry fact ever shared on TV.

Adding comedic spin to this obscure knowledge are Victoria Wood, Richard Osman and Jason Manford. Osman's speed of wit is as devastating as ever, and listen out for a great Barocca gag and some lovely teasing about turtles.

Sarah Millican's whole deal is being quite a bit ruder than she looks like she's going to be. This works well for a stand-up, but it's a modus operandi that makes her harder to place in a TV setting. This show has the visual trappings of an early evening, shiny-floor affair, but with a mild smut factor more characteristic of the end of the pier.

Perhaps Millican should just go for broke and unleash the full gobshite - she might have to shuffle back to a later spot in the schedules but she'd surely be more comfortable with the situation.

Tonight's third series opener includes some low-level Top Gear baiting, a slightly awkward interview with Bradley Walsh and an encounter with Richard Osman from Pointless ('You filled Anne Robinson's old slot'). Not dislikeable, but still a bit of a muddle.