Bill Bailey (II)

You'll never watch Sherlock in the same way after tonight's hilariously smutty episode. The start of series 10 is brought to you by the letter "J", an innocent-sounding letter that somehow lends itself to the most infectious schoolboy humour.

"I came on this show to talk about the Aztecs!" protests ­panellist Victoria Coren as Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr and even Stephen Fry dissolve into fits of giggles all around her.

A fresh selection of alliterative posers from quintessential inquisitor Stephen Fry. This opening episode of series J sees newcomer Victoria Coren join regulars Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr and Alan Davies to take on the world of jargon. While QI feels less of a rare treat now there's the option of watching old episodes 10 times a day on Dave, new episodes are still a welcome sight, if only to keep up to date on delicious trivial titbits such as the surprising etymology for several well-known txt-speak terms.

Bill Bailey reveals he was offered a live owl to eat

Bill Bailey has told of the strangest Chinese takeaway he ever ordered - a live owl in a restaurant in Beijing.

Comedy gold: Bill Bailey's Part Troll

Bill Bailey's ability to make music - and, more, make it the butt of his jokes - means you'll never listen to your favourite albums the same way again.

Interview: Bill Bailey at the Hay Festival

Bill Bailey is a veteran of the festival circuit - but he's wary of the erudite audience at Hay.

Doctor Who Christmas special: Bill Bailey interview

Comic Bill Bailey tells Neil Midgley that landing a role in Doctor Who was like getting a knighthood.

Bill Bailey and Arabella Weir in Dr Who Xmas trailer

A new trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas special 2011 has been released, showing stars like Bill Bailey and Arabella Weir in character ahead of the highly anticipated one-off episode.

Portrait of the artist: Bill Bailey, comedian and music

'I had a plan that Talking Heads would come to the West Country, think "Who's that guy?", and ask me to join them'

Bill Bailey hones his craft in Highlands

Bill Bailey - what a talented man! A few friends and I were lucky enough to have the directors' box at the Playhouse last night, where he wowed with his brilliant show, Dandelion Mind (Gently Modified).

The first of the three programmes is The Story of Music Hall, which explores the history of music hall, presented by Michael Grade - something he has an interest in as his Uncle Lou had a music hall act, which consisted of dancing the Charleston on a table.

This documentary was a mixed bag. There were several nuggets about how the music hall led to the creation of modern comedy. The early comedians were comic songsters. Strange to think that the most traditional comedians in this sense today come in the form of performers like Bill Bailey and The Mighty Boosh.

Also it's interesting to know that music hall acts still had the same concerns about class as later generations had, and some might say still have. The acts were also sometimes political, although they had very little impact as not many people who attended music hall could vote. My particular favourite piece of information was that the vast majority of music hall entertainers and audiences were conservative. Considering that now just about every comedian tries to be left-wing and avoids anything that is remotely Tory, it's a big change to the way things were.

However, much of this programme was also quite dull. Rather than concentrating on the performers the programme was often looking at agents or the businessmen running things. Grade doesn't come across as a great TV presenter, either. Not that he was the worst person on it. That dishonourable title goes to Dr. Oliver Double, who is a professor of stand-up comedy. How much money would you pay to avoid someone with a title like that?