BCG Daily Monday 24th March 2014

Joanna Scanlan & Vicki Pepperdine on women in comedy

As they join the cast of BBC sitcom Rev. for its third series, Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine talk churches, their previous hit Getting On, and women's place in comedy.

Hallelujah! Why Rev is just heavenly TV

It's time to offer up some praise to the gods of TV because tonight Tom Hollander returns in his best small screen role as The Reverend Adam Smallbone, the long (long) suffering vicar with an inner city parish in Rev.

Michael McIntyre Chat Show facing axe

The Michael McIntyre Chat Show reportedly won't be returning to screens after its current run ends.

Comedy review: Paul Sinha, Glasgow

Paul Sinha is one of the most technically gifted comics on the British circuit. His manner and delivery are very studied, very crafted, and very, very Radio 4. While this means that you're in the safe hands of a consummate professional, it also suggests a cool distance.

Comedy review: Matt Richardson, Glasgow

There's a generation of comedians emerging now who've grown up believing that they can make a viable living from stand-up. The reality, as Matt Richardson explains, is more complicated than that.

Review: Jimeoin at Colston Hall

This is the third time I've seen Jimeoin, and the truth is I'd go again tomorrow if he came back to Bristol. Because he's hilarious - even when he's telling a joke he's told before.

Newcastle comedy night that traces its roots to 1817

Silly Billies is a monthly alternative comedy night at the Cumberland Arms in Byker. There's a common misconception that it's a relatively new night. The truth is that Silly Billies Comedy can trace its routes back, way before The Stand slid out of Scotland, long, long, long before Long Live Comedy and years before The Hyena was merely a glint in a bride-to-be-on-her-hen-do's eye. Organiser Jack Gardner explains.

Interview with Gatis Kandis

Gatis Kandis, a former Britain's Got Talent contestant, talks about gigging for four years.

Comedy review: Fern Brady & Stuart Mitchell, Glasgow

Stuart Mitchell has a wince-inducing medical history that most comics would give their right arm for, even if he's only missing a few finger tips. Denied his Unique Selling Point in comedy lore by Dave Allen's legendary missing digit, he's young to have a colonoscopy routine too, usually a rite of passage for middle-aged comics.

Doc Brown dissects comedy in Shanghai

British comedian Doc Brown described his China debut last week as "one of the greatest gigs of my career" and said he was keen to return to Shanghai because "anything is possible here".

MP: Why has comic who 'groomed' boy not been named?

An MP criticised the decision last night and said the public should be concerned if there are 'deals being done behind closed doors preventing basic facts coming into the public domain'.

Radio Times review

St Saviour's Church is under threat as we return to east London and the pastoral care of the Rev Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander), who's now dad to a sweet baby daughter. As he changes nappies, the new Area Dean and Diocesan Secretary (Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine) drop dark hints of closure.

There aren't any belly laughs in Rev., but that doesn't matter as there are plenty of smiles, because it's that rarity, a good-hearted sitcom without guile or meanness. Adam is a genial pragmatist (except when it comes to fixing the church's dangerously faulty wiring), devout, of course, but without any of that off-putting zeal. He wants to improve his community's grim children's playground and launches a fundraising campaign with the local imam (Fonejacker Kayvan Novak).

All of Rev's great characters are back, notably the terrifying Archdeacon (Simon McBurney) and the decrepit Colin (Steve Evets).

Radio Times review

The wedding/pregnancy storyline comes to a head in a riotous series finale. Nervy bride/mum-to-be Fidelma is sounding off at her inept dad, while young Martin senses a distinct cooling-off from his free-spirit girlfriend Majella. It's a tense time, then, and it only takes a spilt bowl of Coco Pops for disaster to ensue.

Anyhoo, there's a bounty of small comic riches from Chris O'Dowd's hand-picked ensemble (Mark Doherty has come into his own as Father Linehan), and the fact that it's St Patrick's Day has majestic significance for one extended gag.

The best kind of farce, ie it's funny.

Norman Lovett review

Ex-Red Dwarfer Norman Lovett's personality is attractive, but this show needs an editor.

Video: Rory Bremner on starring in a Noel Coward play

For his first acting stint, bar a few student plays in his past, Rory Bremner stars in the Noel Coward play Relative Values.

Jimmy Tarbuck will not face abuse charges

Comedian Jimmy Tarbuck has been released without charge after his arrest over an allegation of child sex abuse dating back to the 1970s.

Glasgow Comedy Festival: 5 shows that need explaining

Featuring 'Do Bananas Dream of Plastic Fruit Baskets?' and 'Zuma + King Rizzler: Bring Sum Beef'.

Interview: I Can't Sing co-writer Steve Brown

I Can't Sing opens at the Palladium later this week. Beyond The Joke spoke to co-writer Steve Brown while the show was previewing. Brown has been a regular musical collaborator with Harry Hill over the years - he was in Harry's Band The Caterers on their last tour.

Tom Hollander and Olivia Colman interviewed by vicar

Rev Dr Giles Fraser discovered one of the Rev characters is based on him...

8 reasons to welcome Reverend Adam Smallbone

The third series of Rev is back tonight and those who haven't opened their hearts and minds to the show yet, this is the perfect chance.

Rev, BBC Two, review

Hallelujah! Tom Hollander and Olivia Colman return in the ever-endearing BBC Two sitcom Rev.

Robert Lindsay: It took me years to lose the chip

Robert Lindsay has snubbed Margaret Thatcher, tussled with Harvey Weinstein and quit Line of Duty. Is the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels star still an angry young man at heart?

Eric Sykes left £485,794 in his will

Veteran comic Eric Sykes, who died aged 89 in 2012, left £485,794 in his will.

Terry Jones on his sci-fi comedy Absolutely Anything

The former Python reveals what Simon Pegg and company will be up to...

Review: A beautifully tragic episode

Tonight's episode of My Mad Fat Diary was definitely Jodie Comer's time to shine and she did so spectacularly with a performance to rival Sharon Rooney's.

Film review: The Double

The Double is a fascinating and clever film. It's also beautifully-shot and well-acted. But it's not an easy film to watch; it's awkward, dark and ultimately inconclusive. Well worth subjecting yourself to.

42 things you need to know about H2G2

In preparation for a live transmission of Hitchhikers on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday 29th March here's 42 things any H2G2 listener has to know.

Rev turns failure into divine comedy

Rev takes failure to the limit. Comedy this bitter is an acquired taste, which might be why professional comics are queuing up for cameos.