BCG Daily Wednesday 5th February 2014

How Shearsmith and Pemberton have revived a lost genre

The anthology series - a collection of individual, unrelated episodes - gave birth to some famous hit shows before falling into disrepute among commissioners.

Leicester Comedy Festival: from students to tourists

The east Midlands' foremost festival of funniness is 21 this year, and with a mouthwatering array of big names and one-off events it seems to have come of age.

The Chuckle Brothers: Life after television

The brothers are back in the spotlight - courtesy of the Dave Lee Travis trial.

Tom Stade takes a Stand at Glasgow comedy club

The Canadian comic moved to Scotland following regular slots at Edinburgh's Festival Fringe and since then has become a regular on various panel shows including Live at the Apollo and Stand Up For The Week.

Radio Times review

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith return. If their last macabre comedy drama, Psychoville, was slightly weighed down by servicing a tricky overarching storyline, there's no such problem here since this is a series of one-offs, set in a variety of homes that all happen to be number nine on their street.

The opener is confined not just to a house, but to one room in a fusty old family mansion. And mostly, we're in the wardrobe: two grown-up siblings who used to live here (Pemberton and Katherine Parkinson) are celebrating her engagement with a party - and a game of sardines. As more guests squeeze in, everyone gets less and less comfortable, until the bickering turns to bile.

It's a vicious little one-act, one-room play, deftly staged and superbly acted by a cast that also includes Anne Reid, Anna Chancellor, Timothy West and Tim Key.

Radio Times review

The Brockman household is rich in theories in this episode. Jake and Ben try out some of their ideas about human behaviour, and Karen continues following the cold, take-no-prisoners, 11-year-old logic that is putting her classmates off her. At swimming, she's graduated from sweet little kids' races to hardcore heats with sledging, instigated by her, at the poolside. Meanwhile, Pete is getting involved in his own inter-parental dispute with Fred out of Call the Midwife (aka Cliff Parisi).

Not surprisingly, now that the cast is older, this final series is calmer than previous ones, with the domestic chaos swapped for something closer to gentle unrest. But Ben can still be relied upon for some boyish levity, which this week comes from twin obsessions: psychology and Spartacus. He's got a net and he's not afraid to use it.

8 Terrible Reasons to be a Writer

You might want to be a writer. Or at least you might like the idea of being a writer. Or you might even like the idea of being considered a writer. There are all very different things. My advice? Don't be a writer.

Comedy Central looks to broaden UK offer

Louise Holmes says: "We want panel shows, gameshows, prank shows, hidden-camera shows - we're looking at all of them. Supporting that message through our own commissions and acquisitions is key."

QI: what stops an elephant from boiling to death?

A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind the quiz show. This week: QI puts in a trunk call.

Radio Times review

Mark Steel pitches up in Birkenhead and instantly gets the home crowd on side with a few jibes about the Mersey Tunnel toll and the town's more famous neighbour across the water. But the residents of the town on the Wirral are easy in their ability to laugh at Birkenhead's shortcomings. Steel's incredulous description of a night out in the town centre has them howling.

The comic is in rare form, displaying his mastery of accents with everything from Birkenhead to American redneck, and delighting in the quirky, oppositional nature of the town, from the fans of Tranmere Rovers to the First World War "Bantam Army" and the lyrics of cult indie band Half Man Half Biscuit.

Stephen Mangan: 'Episodes could go on and on'

Stephen Mangan has said that Episodes could go "on and on" as the writing gets richer with every series.

Making the transition from comedy clubs to theatre tour

There are plenty of reasons for flying the nest, as I found when I spoke to a couple of top comedians recently about their transition from club circuit to theatre circuit.

Nicky Clark: I went from carer to stand-up comedian

Being principal carer for two daughters with disabilities, and my mum, was hard - now I'm telling funny stories about it.

Frankie Boyle will not return to C4, says comedy boss

Phil Clarke says he is now after more narrative comedy with subtlety and nuance - and not comedy that is "shocking for its own sake".

Pope Francis meets Steve Coogan

Steve Coogan, along with Philomena Lee, whose young son was sold for adoption by nuns in 1955 and was the subject of Coogan's recent film Philomena, have met Pope Francis in Rome.

New interview: Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton

Be still my beating heart. Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith return to our screens with Inside No. 9, six self-contained comedies with some delicious shocks and surprises. They talk about the series, their other plans and the inevitable prospect of a League of Gentlemen reunion.

Brassed Off adaption goes on tour

A former Brookside actor is taking the baton in a touring stage adaptation of the modern classic British comedy, Brassed Off.

Inside No. 9, TV review

A top-drawer cast puts these twisted tales in a league of their own.

Why feminists need comedy if they want to win

Contemporary feminist comedy has already proven successful. A recently-launched website, Reductress, for instance, satirises the cynical types of articles often found in glossy magazines ("Is he eye-photoshopping you?"), and an Indian video satirising victim-blaming went viral. At last year's Edinburgh Fringe, comedian Nadia Kamil counteracted the rape-joke culture in comedy, wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan, "honk if you love feminism", and she was joined by others such as Mary Bourke and her show "Muffragette".

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror could return this year

Channel 4 head of comedy Phil Clarke tells RadioTimes.com that there could be one episode of the dystopian anthology series this year.... with three more planned for 2015.

Lesley Joseph hopes for another series

Lesley Joseph is keeping her fingers crossed for another series of Birds of a Feather following its phenomenal ratings success so far this year.

Inside No. 9, BBC Two, review

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's new comedy is a top-notch, twisted tale that couldn't have come from any other writing team.

Harry Deansway on Rediscover Trevor Lock campaign

Can a book and a new residency get Trevor Lock back onto your radar?

Rubberbandits - Continental Fistfight review

Easily the highlight of Continental Fistfight is the Bandits latest single, Dad's Best Friend.

Mark Thomas on his latest show

Mark Thomas hardly looks like a revolutionary. He's more ageing mod in his buttoned Crombie and polished Dr Martens. But when we meet on a Sunday morning he reveals that he's been out since 5am chipping away at the capitalist system.