BCG Daily Tuesday 13th May 2014

Game of Thrones hides secret Monty Python reference

n the episode Breaker of Chains, the show's linguist David Peterson created the ultimate in-joke with series creator Dan Weiss, by translating Monty Python quotes into Low Valyrian, a language used by a clan on the show. More specifically, he took the insults hurled by a French soldier in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, such as "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries."

Review: Marcus Brigstocke, Soho Theatre

I'd like to see Brigstocke ranting again soon, but in the meantime his pissing about is pretty good.

Radio Times review

"New and daring projects" were what comedy exec Shane Allen promised with this season of comedy pilots. This showcase doesn't feel as daring as a sitcom set in a monastery might once have done - when, for instance, a previous version of this project appeared on Radio 2 in 2000 and in an unbroadcast pilot in 2008, long before viewers gave clerical sitcoms their blessing via Rev.

This is worlds away from Rev.; it's a traditional studio sitcom with broad characters and pleasantly cartoony storylines - a bell falling out of a bell tower, drunken monks, and so on. Seann Walsh plays Brother Gary, who fled to the monastery to escape a conviction for benefit fraud. Mark Heap plays the monastery's second-in-charge, a former air traffic controller fuming with pent-up anger, and Justin Edwards looks promising as Brother Bernard, who likes a tipple.

Radio Times review

It's Brewster's Millions on a budget, as pairs of celebrities (in this case David Baddiel and Richard Herring) are challenged to splurge eight grand in 24 hours on "entertaining experiences". In this edition the boys give Armenia's capital Yerevan a cash injection. In a city where a coffee costs just 30p, their task might not be as easy as it sounds.

It's a slightly dubious premise (it seems they're allowed to give anyone arbitrary amounts to do anything), but it's a fun exercise in vicarious frittering - despite the odd excursion into vulgarity. "It's quick, how money corrupts people and turns them into champagne-swilling, tiramisu-eating idiots," Richard comments, while reclining on a bed of bank notes.

Katherine Ryan webchat: live

She'll be answering all your questions on Tuesday 13th May at 12pm; ask her anything now.

David Coleman hated being lampooned for Colemanballs

Sports commentator David Coleman did not see the funny side of Colemanballs, the compilation of his best gaffes in Private Eye.

Freddie Starr case highlights plight of arrested journalists

The case of Freddie Starr graphically illustrates the toll an extended period on police bail can take on the suspect of a crime.

Toast of London series 2 teasers

Toast of London co-writer Arthur Mathews drops hints as to what to expect from the new series

Monks is hard to get Revved up about

Tonight, BBC One airs Monks, a comedy pilot in which Seann Walsh plays benefits cheat Gary who has joined a monastic order in an attempt to evade the fuzz. Co-starring James Fleet as the Abbott and Mark Heap - doing a good Mark Heap - as the Monk who hates Gary it's... it's... well it's OK. But it does seem to smack of a return to the bad old days of religious-based comedy.

Twilight's Taylor Lautner spotted filming Cuckoo

The US actor has swapped his role as a teenage werewolf for a part on UK TV. He joins BBC Three's comedy Cuckoo, which stars Greg Davies, and will play a mysterious stranger who turns the family's lives upside-down, after their unwanted son-in-law disappears while walking in the Himalayas.

My favourite TV show: Dad's Army

Dad's Army's ironising approach to national identity made me fall for Britain in a way that only Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony has done since.

Preview: Comedy Playhouse: Monks

It's a relief to say that they probably saved the best until last. They certainly saved the best cast until last.

Let's Talk About Money

Being a freelance writer is tough. Being a freelance anything is hard enough, with all its variables and uncertainties. But scraping a living with your jokes, word power and/or storytelling ability is doubly difficult.

Steve Pemberton interview

"I do love those shifts of gear you get as an actor, weaving a haunting dark drama with a bit of daft sunbed acting"

How Phil Tufnell spent £10,000 in 24 hours

Earlier this year, Phil Tufnell was tasked with a difficult mission. To jet to Iceland with comedian Susan Calman and blow £10,000 in 24 hours. It's a tough life, eh?

The birth of alternative cabaret

A look at the early days of alternative cabaret in London.

Henry Normal mulls the lack of adult cartoons

It is the most popular genre of comedy - but one British broadcasters have been reluctant to embrace.

Totally Tom in Waiting For Godot review

There are moments of pure physical pantomime as they monkey around, killing time, while their rhythms and emphasis wring laughs out of the script that Beckett may never have envisaged.

Jasper Carrott on touring with drummer Bev Bevan

When Jasper Carrott set out on a 20-date tour with his boyhood friend and legendary rock drummer Bev Bevan last year, the response was universally rapturous.