Ben Goldacre

Robin Ince's Nine Lessons to stage a 24 hour show

Robin Ince's annual variety night Nine Lessons And Carols For Curious People is going online this year, once again mashing up science, comedy, music and more.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 7th October 2020

Here's a tinsel-brandishing variety show for the rationally minded. Recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo in London before Christmas - or should that be Yule? - it features a motley collection of performers. Atheist-in-chief Richard Dawkins leads the cast which includes physicist Brian Cox, Ben 'Bad Science' Goldacre, writer Simon Singh, musician Robyn Hitchcock and comics Richard Herring, Mark Steel, Shappi Khorsandi, Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden.

Geoff Ellis, Radio Times, 23rd January 2010

Much as we dislike the cult of Brooker (not everything he says deserves to be parroted, you middle-class gits), his onanistic obsession and the use of his name in the titles of his shows, this is probably going to be the best show of the evening.

At least, unlike his Screenwipe 'isn't Wipeout stupid?' with Charlie Brooker, Newswipe with Charlie Brooker seems to have a purpose that's slightly above pointing, laughing and making a joke about self-love or monkeys flinging excrement. It mainly seems to be 'all a bit scary', but there's always a good film from Adam Curtis, Ben Goldacre or - in this series - anything-goes Yank stand-up Doug Stanhope to help matters along. And as we hypocritically say, there's a lot of annoying rubbish on tonight.

TV Bite, 19th January 2010