Winnowed from more than 14 series of standup stalwart Live at the Apollo, this is the first of two half-hours celebrating LGBT comedy at the BBC. An unmissable showcase of the funniest bits from stars who have appeared on the show, it features sets from Desiree Burch, Alan Carr, Eddie Izzard and Zoe Lyons.

Full Live At The Apollo line-up revealed

The latest series of Live at the Apollo has just been filmed over the last three nights in Hammersmith and the full line-up can now be revealed.

Proof that crowd-pleasing comedy isn't solely the preserve of middle-aged men. Particularly interesting is seeing those people you generally spot behind a panel-show desk or on a sofa. The late Joan Rivers dispenses deceptively ad hoc brilliance, while Jo Brand is withering but actually oddly conservative.

The reasoning behind this female-only special seems spurious, but there's no denying the talent. Sara Pascoe and Roisin Conaty feature, but perhaps most exciting is US comedian Michelle Wolf, fresh from her Trump-baiting triumph at the White House correspondents' dinner.

Chris McCausland: the comic who can't see his audience

Comedian Chris McCausland makes his debut on the "Holy Grail" of TV comedy programmes Live at the Apollo early next year, but he hadn't planned on becoming a comedian at all. It was only after he went blind as a teenager, and then lost his job years later due to depression, that he turned to jokes.

Preview: Live At The Apollo, BBC2

When a show is on its thirteenth series it would be understandable if it was starting to look a bit tired and ragged around the edges. But Live at the Apollo has survived a move - some might say relegation - from BBC1 to BBC2 and established a format that works well and could last for some time yet. In fact judging by the first episode of the new series it is better than ever. Didn't it once feature grinning celebrities in the audience in the past? There is none of that in episode one, just wall-to-wall all killer no filler genuine laughs.

Comedy Central reprimanded for Christmas Day f-bomb

Josh Widdicombe said the offending swear word during a broadcast of Live At The Apollo which aired before the watershed.

Campaign to get Jeff Innocent on Live at the Apollo

A campaign has been launched to get BBC Two's Live at the Apollo to feature veteran comic Jeff Innocent.

Radio Times review

A lightly sparkling edition of the stand-up showcase, although without too much disrespect to the comics on the bill, a Christmas Apollo doesn't mean a host of bigger names. Josh Widdicombe, after a year of ubiquity that's included sitcom and topical comedy as well as stage work, gets a very warm welcome for a decent observational routine about going home for Christmas to a single bed. Before him are the ribald Tanyalee Davis and Hal Cruttenden, who's always a little edgier than his camp, cuddly persona suggests.

The host is ventriloquist Nina Conti, doing her now-familiar improvisation using audience members as dummies.

Nick Helm: I died on Live At The Apollo

Nick Helm has described his appearance on Live at the Apollo as 'the worst gig of my life'. His set, which was characterised by mass walkouts and heckles, was recorded in September, and airs on Monday on BBC Two.