BCG Daily Friday 7th February 2014

Radio Times review

Lee Mack is a past master at the panel show game, but his new show is a very different beast from Would I Lie to You? It's a much looser, far less competitive affair in which guests propose some unbelievable facts - eg touching anyone's upper arm will help you get what you want from them - which are then put to the test.

Today's guests are Dara O'Briain, Ruth Jones and Melanie C, whose suggestions afford Mack the opportunity to show off his quicksilver wit - as well as the obligatory gag about the Spice Girls, he also deduces that the inside of Jones's mind is like a Disney film.

The best bits are those impromptu moments: Mack riffing about the baldness of a stagehand and an unexpected camera shot a lesser man would have left on the cutting-room floor.

Radio Times review

Sometimes this show works a sort of reverse magic and normally witty guests come across as whingeing sticks-in-the-mud. There's something about having to explain why you hate some aspect of modern life that makes everyone into a variant of Victor Meldrew if you're not careful. Tonight even the reliably droll Lee Mack teeters on the edge of curmudgeonliness as he rails against cars and kids parties, but of course he recovers his wits.

Meanwhile, Ruby Wax's mother sounds maddening, but can you really consign you own mum to Room 101? The audience sound doubtful. Most diverting part of the show: the tale of Dave Myers' alopecia. No wonder he hates wigs.

Radio Times review

When you've clocked up as many great performances as Gary Oldman, you can afford a bit of silly stuff, and his new movie is silly with a cult twist. He stars in the remake of 1987's cyborg sci-fi RoboCop as Dr Dennett Norton, the creator of the freaky man-machine with a nipped-in waist and a surprising fondness for free will. In common with many of Oldman's characters, Dr Norton looks like he smells of old coffee - a nice match with Nick Frost, whose role as tubby wannabe Latin dancer Bruce in new British romcom Cuban Fury seems to be powered mainly by iced buns.

Graham Norton will bring them together in a frenzy of near-the-knuckle jokes and slyly clever questions. He'd do well, though, to avoid the subject of the one role they (almost) have in common: the antihero of Martin Amis's Money, John Self, who eluded Oldman but came to Frost with pretty dire results.

Radio Times review

It's a canny move, placing Stella's new antagonist Michael (Patrick Baladi) in the house next to hers. With Aunty Brenda and her new brood just across the road, not to mention those weird people with the donkey, the street's crowded with people and the farce is stronger. Tonight, delinquent young smoker Ben has a surprise when he breaks into Michael's place. Note to househunters: look in the attic to check half the party wall isn't missing.

Meanwhile, Brenda and Dai Davies hold open auditions for coach drivers, using a mop and a child's plastic steering wheel; the glut of corpses at the funeral parlour reaches bursting point; and Big Alan picks up the minicab fare from hell.

Babylon: Danny Boyle's return to TV

Danny Boyle has collaborated with Peep Show writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain on Babylon, an ambitious new cop show. Craig McLean went on location.

Happy Birthday! Leicester Comedy Festival

The party starts today as the event celebrates 21 years of laughs.

Babylon preview

I think it's a rather smart move from Channel 4 to choose to air a 90-minute feature length episode before launching the series.

Glee comedy club wins battle over trademark

A comedy club chain has won a "David and Goliath" legal battle against the makers of US television show Glee.

Jim Davidson 'had £761 in the bank'

Jim Davidson allegedly had just £761 in his bank account before his stint on Celebrity Big Brother.

Shearsmith and Pemberton interview each other

We listened in as these writer-actors became journalists for the afternoon. Pickled werewolf foetus, anyone?

Review: Duck Quacks Don't Echo, Sky 1

Lee Mack's new panel show about improbable facts needs more substance to support the jokes.

Alan Davies: I wish I could compete in the Olympics

I wish I could compete in the Winter Olympics. I first fell in love with the Games watching Franz Klammer hurtling down the ski run to win downhill gold at the 1976 Innsbruck games.

Lee Mack reveals the shows he's said no to

"There was one show I was asked to do where you had to jump off a diving board and into a swimming pool..."

Interview with Connor McDonough-Flynn

Stand-up comedian Connor McDonough-Flynn talks about his comedy career to date.

Danny Boyle-directed pilot of Babylon is underwhelming

New police comedy-drama from Bain & Armstrong shows no sign of becoming brutal and edgy satire.

Shearsmith and Pemberton's 'knock knock' jokes

In Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's latest series, Inside No. 9, each episode focuses on the murky characters behind a door marked 'number nine'. Hang on, isn't there an old joke format involving doors?