Catherine Tate

Radio Times review

This one-off looks good on paper. The idea of Catherine Tate and Miles Jupp as a married couple in a saucy farce should work, and the best scenes are when they spark off each other. ("I like sex! Is that so bad?" she cries; he says he does too, and she corrects: "I think you prefer Newsnight...")

They split up because she had an affair, but reunite by accident at the honeymoon suite booked for their tenth anniversary, because neither could bear to waste the deposit. From there, a heavy-handed script trades on crossed wires and coincidences involving escorts, a stag night and people not finishing their sentences.

Catherine Tate to star in new comedy stage musical

Catherine Tate is to star in a new comic musical, set in America's atomic age.

Sian Gibson interview

A call from her old university friend Peter Kay saw Sian Gibson go from answering phones to starring as Kayleigh in his latest hit comedy. In her first interview, she tells Alice Jones about hanging out with Kay, her new sitcom role with Catherine Tate - and why she still can't take herself seriously.

Billionaire Boy was a New Year's Day treat on BBC One. Adapted from the children's book of the same name by David Walliams, it told the story of Joe Spud, whose father becomes an billionaire overnight after inventing a new type of toilet roll.

It was very well done - funny, smart and entertaining in the best tradition of classic family comedy films such as Richie Rich or Home Alone, and packed with excellent lines: when Joe commits a minor misdemeanour in the Spuds' new mansion, his father responds with: "Go to your rooms!"

The cast were brilliant, especially Elliot Sprakes in the title role. Catherine Tate was hilarious as the celebrity hand model Sapphire Diamond, Rebecca Front and James Fleet were effortlessly funny as put-upon teachers at Ruffington school (motto: "Doing the best we can"), Warwick Davis was a butler and Walliams himself made an appearance as Mrs Trafe, the world's worst dinner lady, whose offerings included onion mousse, cold pilchard soup and kidney custard pie.

This past week saw Catherine Tate revive the character who first came to prominence for two self-contained episodes which to me felt like a bit of a test run to see if the public would take to a whole series. Based on the evidence of the two episodes that recently aired I would say a full series featuring Tate's Nan character would be extremely inconsistent. The stronger of the two most recent episodes saw Nan attend anger management classes after attacking a blind veteran who was collecting for charity. Although some of the insults Nan dishes out were fairly unfunny, the interplay between Tate and Warwick Davis' unfortunately named class leader Mr Fanee provided many highlights. The episode's final set piece also brilliantly brought together all the many elements of the instalment and was extremely funny. However there were very few highlights in the second episode Knees Up Wilmott Brown in which Nan found herself in a position of power when a property developer was keen to buy up all the flats in her block. Here the insults Nan gave were quite brutal and the constant references to Wilmott-Brown, a character who was in Eastenders over twenty-five years ago, felt very dated. Despite my reservations with both episodes I can't say I didn't laugh about Nan's obsession with Group On or the constant knockbacks she delivered to her amorous neighbour. Tate still gives her all to make the character as convincing as possible and when the gags are great, her delivery is top notch. However, there were too many times throughout the two episodes when the writers fell back on cheap cliches and petty insults which didn't appeal to me at all. Ultimately I do think there's room for a full series of Nan, however the writing has to be a lot sharper and the character needs to develop beyond just being a foul-mouthed, bigoted stereotype.

Catherine Tate served up too much of her sweary Nan

The foul-mouthed pensioner was as gloriously vitriolic as ever but the show ran out of steam by the end of the two-part special.

The BBC once again adapts a David Walliams novel for the festive season. Walliams owes a great deal to Roald Dahl, and this is another tale of a forlorn child in a world of cruel and stupid adults. Elliot Sprakes stars as Joe, whose factory worker dad Len (John Thomson) becomes a billionaire after inventing a new type of toilet roll. But as his dad embraces the bling and a glamorous girlfriend (Catherine Tate), Joe yearns for a normal life and friends. Reliable family fun, with Walliams himself co-starring as a dinner lady.

Review: Catherine Tate's Nan, BBC One

Nan is a brilliantly observed character, a game old bird who comes out with an occasional cracker.

Radio Times review

Hard times on Nan's estate: developers are circling, trying to evict tenants or buy off the luckier residents who, like Nan, own their flat. When the corporate vultures' oily representative Charles Willmott (Adam James) says she can make a bit of cash, she immediately moves to the dark side: "We're bringing in a new breed of residents. The fashionistas. Russian oligarchs. Frank Lampard."

But Nan and "Wilmott-Brown" are, of course, destined to fall out. It's so much more satisfying to see Catherine Tate's creation turn her ire on someone who deserves it: that, and a riotous scene where Nan farts luxuriously on live television, compensate for some gratuitously offensive jokes.

Radio Times review

David Walliams always manages to make his stories entertaining for kids and adults alike. They're not subtle - there are loads of bottom jokes, the message is pretty obvious and the characters are drawn with the delicacy of a sledgehammer. But they do make you smile and leave you with a warm glow around your heart.

In this one, poor, downtrodden, factory worker Len Spud's (John Thomson) life changes when he invents a new toilet roll and becomes a multimillionaire. He gets a new gold-digging girlfriend (Catherine Tate - terrific in a blonde wig with a Geordie accent) and a kind-hearted celebrity butler (Warwick Davis). But wealth can't buy the one thing his lonely son Joe wants - a friend. Walliams couldn't resist making a cameo appearance - as an unhygienic school dinnerlady.