Axe for Shooting Stars is no joke

The Beeb's axing of Vic Reeves' and Bob Mortimer's bonkers TV gameshow has left fans stunned and angry.

Shooting Stars: why cancel this Reeves & Mortimer gem?

The show's history is peppered with standout comedy moments that you just wouldn't get on other panel shows.

Save Shooting Stars!

Welcome, whoever you are... A couple of years ago no one would have cared but cancelling Shooting Stars NOW, when it's back on top form, is crazy.

This week Tamzin Outhwaite's head is played like a bongo, we learn that Alan Sugar is 30 per cent Canderel, and Vic spits out a bird egg after Bob mallets him in the face. Barmy business as usual, in other words, as the circus of the surreal ends its current run.

It's the left-field material that works best, and Angelos Epithemiou the Shooting Stars scorekeeper (the most pointless job on television) certainly qualifies with a blast from his drum 'n' bass burger kiosk and a spirited little dairy-produce dance.

But it's a lumpy old comedy stew, with jokes from the late Pleistocene period and routines Benny Hill might have turned his nose up at. Bring back George Dawes and his Peanuts song.

The eighth series of the Reeves and Mortimer's cult panel show draws to a close tonight, having attracted respectable viewing figures of 1.5 m. Deadpan comedian Jack Dee appears to be at a disadvantage as he is joined by actress Tamzin Outhwaite and Primal Scream bassist Gary Mounfield, while Ulrika Jonsson gets stand-up Micky Flanagan and actor Charlie Higson for her team. But as the questions are nonsensical and the games bizarre, anything can happen.

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Vic and Bob: There's a need for something a bit stupid

The comedy duo reflect on their enduring friendship and the surreal appeal of Shooting Stars.

If you thought The Social Network told the definitive story of the birth of Facebook, Vic and Bob have other ideas.

Their film about Facebook's little-known roots in the 1970s is the highlight of another ­unpredictably mental half-hour.

On the receiving end of their surreal ribbing/bullying tonight are Waterloo Road's Mark Benton, the Mirror's own Tess Daly, Chris Packham and the fashionable Alexa Chung.

Conservationist Packham goes along with the joke - even after resident weirdo Angelos ­Epithemiou does ­something very unexpected to a robin.

Even team captain Jack Dee cracks a smile.

But poor Alexa looks like she wishes she'd stayed at home.

She might as well have done too - her contribution here is purely a decorative one.

How long can they keep making Shooting Stars? The answer to that poser seems to be: forever. As a game show, it's always been more show than game - the competition provides a frame for Reeves and Mortimer to hang a variety of jokes on. Tonight we get a nice "entertaining the troops" gag from Angelos and some familiar R&M characters such as Charity Peter, from their recent web shorts, and the return of some popular brothers. It's impossible to say you've seen it all before when dealing with a show that ends with a demonic exorcism performed on Tess Daly.