BCG Daily Sunday 24th December 2023
Features
Features
Press clippings
Frank Skinner on stand-up, rude jokes and what the kids got right
Frank Skinner is preparing to unleash his new stand-up show - and this time he says he's cleaning up his act.
Rich Pelley, The Observer, 24th December 2023
How Caroline Aherne changed comedy
A new BBC Arena film exploring the work of the co-creator and star of The Royle Family will air on Christmas Day, seven years after her death. Katie Rosseinsky speaks to the filmmakers about her comedy legacy
Katie Rosseinsky, The Independent, 24th December 2023
Gary and Martin Kemp: our verdict on Robbie, Beckham and more
The Spandau Ballet brothers bought a ticket to the world and struck gold - happily, they understand fame and ridicule better than other stars in their own celebrity documentary The Kemps: All Gold.
Hadley Freeman, The Sunday Times, 24th December 2023
Lee Mack: middle-class snobs are killing sitcoms
As Not Going Out celebrates its 100th episode, its star hits out at TV bosses and the newspaper critics of a beloved British tradition.
Stephen Armstrong, The Sunday Times, 24th December 2023
Ghosts star Ben Willbond on show's devastating Christmas finale
This piece is spoiler-free for the upcoming Christmas episode though it does contain spoilers for series five.
Rachel Charlton-Dailey, The Big Issue, 24th December 2023
Daisy May Cooper: 'Rehab was best thing I've done'
Daisy May Cooper on divorce, why she quit drinking and the man who changed her life.
Beth Neil, The Sun, 24th December 2023
Stephen Fry praised for 'poignant' Christmas speech about mental health and loneliness
QI host told viewers 'one doesn't want to be unhappy, one doesn't want to be lonely in a crowd or lonely on one's own'.
Isobel Lewis, The Independent, 24th December 2023
Not Going Out, 100th episode review
A hundred episodes is quite some achievement for any UK sitcom. But it also means Lee Mack's remarkably long-lived Not Going Out has come to feel like part of the furniture rather than appointment-to-view TV.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 24th December 2023
The Heist Before Christmas review
Timothy Spall's festive drama is a total triumph.
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian, 24th December 2023
The Heist Before Christmas review
This ambitious, anti-capitalist film could have been excellent.
Nick Hilton, The Independent, 24th December 2023
Antisemitism and Holocaust denial are rife, just look at Stephen Fry's X trolls
Backlash to Channel 4's alternative Christmas message is part of alarming rise in anti-Jewish hate since Hamas attacks on Israel.
Karen Pollock, The Observer, 24th December 2023
The Heist Before Christmas review
Timothy Spall and James Nesbitt lead strong cast in Christmas fairy tale.
Adam Sweeting, The Arts Desk, 24th December 2023
Not Going Out, 100th episode review
The second longest-running British TV sitcom is starting to feel repetitive - but it's still a pleasant farce.
Rachael Healy, i Newspaper, 24th December 2023Snooker Man review
This is a mockumentary that relies primarily on the amusing performances in order to have an effect and it is when it is about lookalikes and filmmaking that it is at its finest. On the minus side, when things are about snooker, viewers who do not have a particular interest in that cue sport might find themselves losing interest.
Jason Knight, UK Film Review, 24th December 2023TV & radio
7:15pm30 min
Stand Up Just William
Episode 1 - William's Truthful ChristmasWilliam, inspired by the Vicar's sermon, resolves to speak only the truth over Christmas. With unexpected results.
7:30pm90 min
Bradley Walsh's Comedy Legends
Episode 2 - Stand UpsBradley presents his thoughts and experiences on stand-up comedy before celebrating the routines and entertainers that influenced him as well as those that he simply terms 'genius' - from the funny bones of Tommy Cooper to the laser-sharp writing of Bob Monkhouse and Caroline Aherne and the impressive delivery of Lee Mack. He also explores the shock tactics of Jimmy Carr and the storytelling prowess of Billy Connolly and Victoria Wood. Bradley and his all-star cast get to the bottom of what really makes stand-up funny.
8pm90 min
The Heist Before Christmas
Twelve-year-old Mikey Collins finds two Santa Clauses in the woods, one has just robbed a bank and is on the run, while the other claims to have fallen out of his sleigh. Mikey's determined to get his hands on the bank-robber's cash, convinced that this is the answer to giving his poverty-stricken family the Christmas they all crave.
9pm90 min
Only Fools And Horses: Greatest Christmas Moments
A special programme celebrating all the festive editions of the evergreen sitcom. In a new and exclusive interview with Sir David Jason - Del Boy himself - the actor shares his secrets from the Christmas sets.
10pm40 min
Not Going Out
Series 13, Christmas Special - WilfredLee throws everything at creating the perfect family Christmas, agreeing to Lucy's wishes to do something charitable and having "a normal Christmas where nothing goes wrong." This moment of festive spirit sees the couple invite Wilfred, a lonely pensioner from the nearby care home, to join them for Christmas dinner. The only instruction is that Wilfred is not, under any circumstances, allowed to drink alcohol...
10pm60 min
Susie McCabe: Femme Fatality
The stand-up performs her Femme Fatality show to a sell-out crowd at the King's Theatre in Glasgow, with topics ranging from growing up gay in the 1980s and '90s to working on building sites and becoming a successful comedian.
10:15pm60 min
The Jonathan Ross Show
Christmas Special 2023 - Kevin Bridges, Romesh Ranganathan, Katherine Jenkins, Willem DafoeJonathan is joined by Kevin Bridges, Romesh Ranganathan, Katherine Jenkins and Willem Dafoe for this Christmas special.