Brian Cox (II)

Video: Dara O'Briain explains why he's going stargazing

Dara O'Briain, explained to BBC Breakfast why he's now going stargazing with the physicist Professor Brian Cox.

Jonathan Ross to co-present Stargazing Live

Jonathan Ross will join Professor Brian Cox and comedian Dara O'Briain on BBC2's three-day astronomy event.

Often in this show a panellist manages, through artful stumbling, to make everyone else think that a true story is made-up nonsense. Much harder is to pick up a card and read a fabrication you've never seen before, then convince the assembled wits it happened. There's a solid-gold example of the latter tonight, though to say who pulls it off would of course spoil the point. Aside from that, it's a slow starter, but takes off when David Mitchell cross-examines Kevin Bridges over a horse the latter supposedly bought by mistake in Bulgaria. Also taking part, Prof Brian Cox, a giggly Keeley Hawes and Stephen Mangan.

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.

A star-studded adaptation of a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, first shown last year, elaborates on the author's belief that fantasy is not only about wizards but also about "seeing the world from a different perspective". With some impressive special effects, the story tells of Rincewind (David Jason), a failed wizard, who acts as a guide to Discworld's first ever tourist, the naïve Twoflower (Sean Astin). It's a journey that has the pair battling druid mercenaries, bad wizards and trolls as Rincewind tries to get the better of his nemesis, Trymon (Tim Curry). Christopher Lee, Brian Cox and David Bradley also feature in the cast.