Benedict Cumberbatch

There's already been some positive early buzz about director JJ Abrams's massive, CGI-laden blockbuster Star Trek into Darkness (and particularly about its baddie, our own Benedict Cumberbatch), so Mr Spock himself, Zachary Quinto, and his co-star Zoe Saldana, who plays Uhura, will doubtless be warmly welcomed in the Ross studio.

Quinto is probably best known to television audiences as the wicked Sylar in Heroes, and latterly as a doctor in the brilliantly odd American Horror Story. Also on the show tonight are magicians from The Illusionists stage show, and music comes from Mr Radiohead himself, Thom Yorke.

Beaming into Graham Norton's starry ship tonight, Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch talks about venturing over to the dark side for a warp-factor adventure in Star Trek Into Darkness. Also in for a chat is Cumberbatch's co-star Chris Pine, who's stepping into the shoes of the legendary Captain James T Kirk. While Sex And The City's Kim Cattrall goes along for the ride, Bonnie Tyler tries to totally eclipse the lot of them with her rendition of Believe In Me, the UK's entry for Eurovision 2013.

Would we lie to you? - true or false celebrity quiz

As Would I Lie to You? returns to BBC1, we challenge you to call our bluff on stars ranging from Jenna-Louise Coleman to Benedict Cumberbatch...

The best sitcom on radio? John Finnemore's series about the four staff on a one-plane, tinpot charter airline - and it's just as silly and as tightly constructed as ever in its fourth run. Roger Allam stars as suave, incredibly untrustworthy first officer Douglas, with classy support from Stephanie Cole, Benedict Cumberbatch and Finnemore himself.

Light relief in the dreary first full working week of the year came from the return of Cabin Pressure to Radio 4. One of the station's few contemporary sitcom successes (more on that subject another week), it has lured Benedict Cumberbatch and Roger Allam back for a fourth run at playing odd-couple pilots Martin and Douglas. The pair man MJN Air: a tinpot, one-plane budget airline owned by middle-aged divorcee Carolyn, played by Stephanie Cole. It's an impressive cast - Allam does a great line in supercilious grumps and he is in his element as the snarky first officer to Cumberbatch's prissy, uptight captain. But perhaps the real star of the show is its writer John Finnemore, who also plays Carolyn's doofus air-steward son, Arthur.

"The code red is there to stop me being too helpful, and I can't stop being too helpful by being more helpful," he bumbled at his mum, in a script packed tight with superb lines. The crew had assembled for Birling Day, the annual jolly enjoyed by their stupidly rich (and often drunk) regular customer, who charters a flight each year to take him to see the Six Nations rugby final. Except this year, the match was taking place at Twickenham, a short drive from Birling's own house. No matter.

After a row with his wife and in a fit of pique, Birling ordered a trip to watch the match in Timbuktu. Miles of daft behaviour followed, the highlight being Allam's smug laugh - "Madame is a humourist?" - as Douglas bartered with Carolyn over a bottle of whisky.

John Finnemore: radio, comedy & Benedict Cumberbatch

We talk to the creator of one of Radio 4's funniest sitcoms about the new fourth series, and the show's unbelievably starry cast.

Hurray! Here's the fourth series of John Finnemore's splendid comedy made magical by the brilliance of its cast. Stephanie Cole plays Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, formidable owner of a one-plane airline. Benedict Cumberbatch is the sole Captain, Roger Allam as First Officer provides a one-man masterclass in timing and Finnemore himself plays the owner's cheerfully hapless son. There's enough here to banish the New Year blues, even if your electricity bill just arrived.

The Jonathan Ross Show was given a fairly low key launch last week given that it was the long-awaited return of a British talk show staple, and followed suit with a similarly muted episode.
Sarah Jessica Parker was candid and Adele as booming as ever but the line-up felt a little lacklustre for an opener.

This was rectified tonight however with an entertaining, albeit slightly random group of guests perching on the Jonathan Ross sofa.
Benedict Cumberbatch talked John Le Carre novels while The Saturdays were a little less prosaic with their insights into the pop industry, but Alan Carr proved the most interesting booking. An odd choice to invite a clear rival onto the show though perhaps, especially since the bespeckled comedian, along with Graham Norton, is arguably surpassing Ross in the talk show stakes at the moment.

With Friday Night With...'s pre-Jools Holland slot the BBC vehicle often saw some good live music and it was pleasing to see that this is to be kept up on ITV, with tonight's performance coming from legendary funksters The Red Hot Chili Peppers, sans departed guitarist John Frusciante.

Another new episode of a refined sitcom that bathes in a ridiculously good cast: alongside writer John Finnemore are Stephanie Cole, Benedict Cumberbatch and the man I refer to simply as 'The Guvnor', Roger Allam. This one's a bit special, boasting as it does the sort of tricksy, quadruple-crossing story that comedy writers often like to attempt but don't usually have the sheer plotting muscle to pull off. Finnemore has those chops. When Carolyn (Cole) entrusts Martin (Cumberbatch) to stop Douglas (The Guvnor) stealing some expensive whisky, a mystery worthy of Miss Marple unfurls. Sadly, Martin's investigating it instead.

I must admit that this is the first time I've listened to Cabin Pressure, despite all of the reviews and praise that has been lauded on it.

For those who, like me, still haven't got around to listening, this show is about MJN Air, the world's smallest airline, managed by Carolyn (Stephanie Cole) and flown by Captain Martin Crieff (Benedict Cumberbatch) alongside First Officer Douglas Richardson (Roger Allam). The service on the plane is provided by Carolyn's over-enthusiastic son Arthur (played by John Finnemore, who also writes the show).

The first episode of the third series saw MJN flying some people to Qikiqtarjuaq (near the North Pole) to look at polar bears, which got Arthur both excited and annoyed - excited about the bears, and annoyed about that none of the Q's in "Qikiqtarjuaq" are followed by a "U".

Elsewhere, the highlight for the show for me was Douglas making an announcement to the passengers while smuggling in as many Alfred Hitchcock references as possible. Also, Douglas forces Martin to pretend to be French and recount to the plane how he fought off a polar bear using nothing except an egg whisk and a pogo stick.

Having listened to the show I feel slightly ashamed by the fact that I missed the first two series and now feel a desperate need to catch up - which I'll have to do at some point in the future when I'm not writing these reviews.