BCG Daily Tuesday 25th February 2014

Dara O'Briain hits out at BBC all-male panel ban

Mock The Week host Dara O'Briain has criticised the BBC all-male panel ban, saying female guests will now just be seen as "token women".

Jack Whitehall interview

He's played a student in Fresh Meat and a teacher in Bad Education, and now he's graduated to filling arenas. But has success forced Jack Whitehall to grow up, or is he still a big kid?

The internet interviews... Miranda Hart

You've been Googling Miranda Hart - but have you been getting the answers you want? We put your most common searches to the stadium-packing TV comedian.

Mark Thomas's top ten stand-up comedians

Mischievous political comedy maestro comic Mark Thomas is back in the West End with a brand new show, 100 Acts of Minor Dissent. But which stand-ups does he rate himself? He talks us through his top ten comedians.

Blowouts or bargains: 2014 comedy shows in London

Arena-sized comedy extravaganzas are coming to town. We highlight this year's biggest gigs and their budget counterparts.

Jason Manford launches UK-wide comedy nights

Jason Manford has launched a series of affordable comedy nights across the UK to encourage audiences to visit local comedy clubs.

Preview: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, BBC Two

Let's hope this series picks up some new fans as well as his usual followers who watch him with religious devotion. Well, I say religious devotion, but, of course, as I said, god doesn't exist.

Radio Times review

BBC Three has always struck me as the most unlikely home for this soft-centred, blandly pleasing sitcom. It's not particularly sweary, its characters are inoffensive and it even flutters on the outskirts of twee, so it's hardly up there with Two Pints of Lager or Bad Education.

As we reach the third series young, accidental parents Jamie and Laura (Sean Michael Verey and Scarlett Alice Johnson), who conceived a baby after a misguided one-night stand, have a polite relationship for the sake of their little one.

But their parents are fractious and in chaos - Jamie's feckless dad has spent the family's money and they are evicted from their home, while Laura's high-flying mum (Anna Chancellor) is still in New York, communicating bad-temperedly via Skype with her estranged husband (Angus Deayton).

Peter Serafinowicz, voice acting for game Dark Souls II

Best known for his appearances in Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Look Around you, actor and comedian Peter Serafinowicz will next be seen - or more accurately, heard - in forthcoming fantasy adventure game Dark Souls II. Here, the keen gamer discusses his role as mysterious character Pate, and his love for what many regard as the hardest video game on the planet.

QI: some quite interesting facts about penguins

A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show. This week: QI p-p-p-picks up a penguin.

Chris Morris's Blue Jam repeated after 17 years away

Radio 4 Extra to broadcast series one of programme which courted controversy with sketches, monologues and stings.

Spitting Image at 30: Steve Nollan interview

Steve Nollan, the voice behind some of Spitting Image's most famous faces describes what it was like to play Margaret Thatcher.

A tribute to Carry On star Bernard Bresslaw

Known for his stand-out roles in the Carry On series, Bresslaw was about more than just that - an extraordinarily gifted actor and an intelligent, deep-thinking, sensitive man...

Interview: Dara O'Briain

Dara O Briain has just finished working on a new series of School of Hard Sums in which he solves formidable mathematical problems with the help of kebabs, curries and cakes (and maths genius Marcus du Sautoy). Now he's working out a simpler equation. A couple of weeks ago, the BBC's head of television, Danny Cohen, announced a ban on all-male panels in comedy shows. The programme most regularly cited for being male-dominated is Mock the Week, the bear pit of panel shows that O'Briain has chaired for nine years.

Chortle Award nominees 2014

John Kearns and Bo Burnham lead this year's Chortle Award shortlist with three nominations apiece.

The top 5 Jonathan Creek episodes

To mark the show's return, and to divide opinion among fans, we put on our duffel coat and put together our Top 5 Jonathan Creek episodes.

Sharon Rooney continues to shine as Rae goes to college

I do feel that My Mad Fat Diary is going from strength to strength and tonight's episode demonstrated everything that's great about the show.

Spitting Image creators: Cameron & Miliband are too similar

David Cameron and Ed Miliband are too "alike" to inspire the type of satire that made Spitting Image famous, according to Steve Nallon, who impersonated the voice of Margaret Thatcher on the show.

Interview with Laurence Owen

An interview with musical comedian Laurence Owen.

Spitting Image exhibition focuses on Margaret Thatcher

Thirty years since it first aired, voice of Mrs T is still unsure whether satirical puppet show helped or harmed her reputation.

WitTank dig deep for their fully themed hour The School

"I'm starting to meet the teachers that they have been doing impressions of for years!"

5 Scottish comics of the year at Glasgow Comedy Fest

Keep your eyes open for Scott Agnew, Mark Nelson, Larry Dean, Jamie Dalgleish and John Gavin.

Bobby Mair is Obviously Adopted and clearly talented

"I don't class myself as a dark comedian, I'm sure other people might, but to me it's just normal"

Interview: John Kearns offers Sight Gags for Perverts

A show that's part confessional, part character comedy, but all very, very funny.

Leicester Comedy Festival 2014: 'Awesome' for audiences

The record-breaking Leicester Comedy Festival attracted thousands of people to hundreds of performances - from the famous names to the first-timers.

Review: Laughing Point, The Palace Theatre

At The Palace Theatre last night, a group of 11 stand-up comedians had the audience locked on every word as they stormed through a series of micro-sets.

Nick Frost interview

Actor and writer Nick Frost, 41, on house music, The Hobbit, and The Alcoholic's Guide to the Holy Land.