BCG Daily Friday 31st January 2025
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Press clippings
Inside No. 9: Stage/Fright review
This dark double act mark 30 years of gruesome comedy.
Patrick Marmion, Daily Mail, 31st January 2025
Big knickers, bad decisions and old bats: Renée Zellweger on the return of Bridget Jones
Nearly 25 years after the first film, the actor, her co-stars and the writer Helen Fielding discuss the ultimate singleton, love and loss - and why Bridget Jones is the female James Bond.
Hollie Richardson, The Guardian, 31st January 2025
Lee Ridley on life as a disabled comedian and living through lockdown
Lee Ridley, aka Lost Voice Guy, is a disabled comedian with cerebral palsy. He talks to Disability Horizons about what motivated him to get into comedy, how his life has changed since winning Britain's Got Talent in 2018 and what life has been like since being in lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Zubee Kibria, Disability Horizons, 31st January 2025
Mat Ricardo writes a children's book
Comedy cabaret performer Mat Ricardo has written his first book, described as a 'self-help guide for children'.
Chortle, 31st January 2025
Rob Beckett's Smart TV gets spin-off podcast
Smart TV With Alison Hammond - a brand-new spinoff podcast to Rob Beckett's Smart TV television series - will launch on Wednesday 5 February, ahead of the series returning to screens later this year.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 31st January 2025
POV review
Radio 4 have admirable intentions in seeking out the best online comedy creators and giving them a mainstream platform. But by largely recreating their viral work, the new compilation programme POV lacks that crucial voice and personality of its own, however nice its sound design.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 31st January 2025
Richard Blackwood 'gives away' he is The Masked Singer's Bear
Richard Blackwood seemingly let slip he is The Masked Singer's Bear in an awkward moment during a live TV interview. However, Richard's name is not the only one in the mix for Bear.
Callum Wells, The Sun, 31st January 2025
Is Bridget Jones' Darcy based on Keir Starmer?
Author Helen Fielding has discussed bringing her heroine to a Gen Z audience, and whether Bridget Jones' Darcy was based on Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Charlotte Gallagher, BBC, 31st January 2025
GB News hit by guest boycott after host Josh Howie labels LGBT+ people 'Paedos'
A prominent trans campaigner and GB News contributor has announced she will no longer appear on the channel after one of its presenters linked LGBT+ people to paedophilia, amid growing pressure on the channel's advertisers to ditch the right-wing broadcaster. The controversy stems from comments made by presenter and 'comedian' Josh Howie on the channel's Headliners programme on 22nd January, as well as separate remarks by presenter Michelle Dewberry just two days later.
Josiah Mortimer, Byline Times, 31st January 2025Tim Harding's comedy diary
Sketch group Crybabies were recording two episodes of their upcoming radio series. It was the most I've laughed at anything for a very long time.
Tim Harding, Chortle, 31st January 2025Gavin & Stacey creators "never agreed" on what happened on the fishing trip
Robert Wilfort said: "The secret is, none of us know, nobody knows. Ruth [Jones] and James [Corden] have never agreed on what it is, me and Rob Brydon don't know, we've always been in the dark and I think that's the way it is.
Katelyn Mensah, Louise Griffin, Radio Times, 31st January 2025Bridget Jones may be 'problematic' but she's just as relatable in 2025
The perma-dieting, toxic man-loving heroine of Helen Fielding's books is easily written off as a product of her time.
Claudia Cockerell, Evening Standard, 31st January 2025Videos
Online
TV & radio
1:30pm30 min
The Good, The Bad And The Unexpected
Series 19, Episode 5Joining Mark Nelson are some of the country's best comedy actors. Still Game star Sanjeev Kohli commits the ultimate faux pas on a train, and The Dolls' Louise McCarthy tells the story of how their live show turned from disaster to a sell out smash. Completing the line up is Mammoth star Mike Bubbins, who celebrates everything to do with the 70s and admits his worst ever dating story that still embarrasses him today.
3:30pm10 min
Big Lizard
Episode 31 - A Medical EmergencyPlaying doctors, Cosima discovers an animal with no heartbeat! Can Cosima and Big Lizard save the poor creature with Dad's medical kit?
6:30pm30 min
The News Quiz
Series 116, Episode 4This week on The News Quiz, Andy Zaltzman is joined by Simon Evans, Athena Kugblenu, Susie McCabe and Hugo Rifkind l to unpack the week's new stories. In the week Keir Starmer set his sights on growth, the panel looked backing of a third runway at Heathrow, a shoplifting epidemic, and the decline of urban chess in the streets of Nottingham.
8pm30 min
Would I Lie To You?
Series 18, Episode 4Actor Cush Jumbo, artist Grayson Perry and comedians Judi Love and Tim Vine join host Rob Brydon and regular captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack on the offbeat panel show.
9pm60 min
8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Series 26 (C4: 27), Episode 5Jimmy Carr hosts as Jon Richardson and Amy Gledhill take on Richard Ayoade and Guz Khan. Sam Campbell joins Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner. With Rachel Riley.
10pm65 min
The Last Leg
Series 32, Episode 2Adam, Josh and Alex are joined by guests Brian Cox and Michelle Wolf.
10:40pm50 min
The Graham Norton Show
Series 32, Episode 17 - Renée Zellweger, Leo Woodall, Sterling K Brown, Anthony Mackie, Cyndi Lauper, Lola YoungRenée Zellweger says she was surprised to see Daniel Cleaver again, Leo Woodall admits he was too shy to say hello to Hugh Grant, Sterling K Brown says his new show felt like a homecoming, Anthony Mackie reveals how he found out he was Captain America, Cyndi Lauper talks about her farewell tour, and Lola Young performs live in the studio.