Miranda Hart: I'm sick of people criticising my looks

Comedienne Miranda Hart has revealed that she has had enough of people calling her fat and criticising the way she looks.

It might not be to everyone's taste, but Miranda Hart's latest bout of broad slapstick silliness has been winning over a frightening number of viewers of late. You only have a few more days to catch the lot on iPlayer and, even if you've already seen it, it's probably the perfect fare for those too-full, slightly drunk, woefully inert, sofa-bound Christmas afternoons.

Miranda: love her or hate her?

As the second series of the BBC's comic sitcom Miranda ends, two virulently opposed critics argue about whether its star, Miranda Hart, is funny or a flop.

Miranda: 'I'm the friend you can laugh at'

Miranda Hart tells The Telegraph how she struck upon the formula for the sitcom of the year.

Miranda is very much an acquired taste. Some people think it's a skilful frolic through the campest excesses of physical comedy; others think it's a mindless collection of all things base and juvenile. The rest of us know that it's both.

The last in the current series was, naturally, a festive episode, which gave Hart the perfect excuse to indulge the gluttony and childishness that makes her so endearing.

An episode of Miranda can often be a mixed bag, but at this time of year, with everyone in a forgiving mood because they're so happy (and drunk), Hart got away with a lot of the more irritating qualities of her work, with help from the fantastic Patricia Hodge and Sally Phillips.

Tonight was also the first we saw of Miranda's father, played by Tom Conti, who filled most of the episode's falling-over quota, so that Miranda finally remained pretty vertical throughout the episode.

As she waited in for a package and then missed the delivery because of her intense dislike of carol singers, Hart proved that for all her larking about, she is a great observer of everyday dilemmas. Anyone who has ever come home to find the dreaded, 'Sorry we missed you' card in their hallway would have related to her frustration.

Best of all, she didn't fold and give us what we were hoping for in the form of a long-awaited kiss with Gary, leaving the door wide open for a will-they-won't-they third series of this excellent show.

The energetic misadventures of the knock-kneed naif conclude with family fallouts, a jumper party and a run-in with carol singers. Series two has been another rippingly old-school delight. Like its just-born giraffe of a heroine, Miranda Hart's sitcom is uncool and determinedly out-of-step with the world. In many ways it shouldn't work, but for her three million fans, it absolutely does. Miranda's childlike bickering with her bezzie, the confident slapstick (why is that such a dirty word?) and her knowing looks to camera are a joy, and the humour is good-natured. Add the obvious cast camaraderie and US-style audience involvement ("woooooh!") and Miranda could run and run before falling into a pond.

Miranda wishes you a Merry Christmas

Haaaaappppyyyy Chhrriiissstmassss! I LOVE Christmas. Can't get enough of mulled wine, a roaring fire, fairy lights, mince pies, even ice skating. I'm quite good - I can even go backwards. Oh yes, you heard it here first.

Writersroom Blog: Miranda

The writing process for Miranda begins with a vast amount of material.

Miranda's Half Hour

Hi, hi, hi. Hope you are well. So we're up to the penultimate episode and next week - Christmas ep - yay!

Is this the funniest woman in Britain?

She's as comedic as Tommy Cooper and as hilarious as Hattie Jacques. Now Miranda Hart has won the affections of Allison Pearson.