Charlie Baker (I)

The nation's apparently endless appetite for panel shows might just be tested to destruction by this retro news quiz helmed by Griff Rhys Jones. It's not appalling as such; at the very least, you'll crack a smile at a few of the clips. But the format's beyond tired and the premise - remembering the news of the recent past - seems like little more than an excuse to ransack the vaults for lazy comic effect. Didn't the smug funnymen of Britain have their fill of taking the piss out of Swampy back in 1996? Haven't we been encouraged to laugh at the drunken hi-jinks of the 2005 Ashes winners often enough by now? Anyway, joining Griff for this opening episode are Marcus Brigstocke, Charlie Baker, Kirsty Wark and Mickey Flanagan. They do their best, but silk purses stubbornly refuse to materialise.

A Short History of Everything Else review

It's not quite as good as the 'Big Three' of quiz 'banter' - Have I Got News For You, QI, and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, but it's still early days. Marcus Brigstocke and Charlie Baker have yet to establish a comedic rapport as team captains, but this does take time.

It's about time that someone devised a lighthearted panel show involving a bunch of British comedians - and, thankfully, Channel 4 have stepped in to fill the gaping void with this new series. Hosted by Griff Rhys Jones, with Marcus Brigstocke and Charlie Baker as regular captains, it is, as Jones admits, a "nostalgia fest", in which the teams are presented with clips of archive news footage from decades past, with all their attendant horrors of industrial strife and terrible haircuts, and attempt to show off their memories of current affairs past - both momentous and trivial.

Ubiquitous Griff Rhys Jones hosts this new comedy panel show, in which players are challenged to give "a short history of everything else". If that sounds slightly vague, then it's appropriate for the programme's rather nebulous concept. Each week, team captains Marcus Brigstocke and Charlie Baker and their guests watch varied clips of archive footage, and try to prove that they remember more about the stories behind the films than the other team. But they're really competing for points which are nonsensically allocated according to the drollness of their observations. The guests for this week's opener are broadcaster Kirsty Wark and comedian Micky Flanagan.

The show's real strength is the footage itself - the researchers have done a great job mining the archives to provide what Jones describes as "a serious nostalgia fest". Tonight there's vintage footage of Peter York discussing Sloane Rangers - "my goodness, don't they look lovely" - and a meringue pie being squished into Jeremy Clarkson's face. It may be yet another panel show, but this offbeat trip down memory lane extracts lots of humour from our social history.

Lee Nelson, whose thunderously unfunny Well Good Show sank on BBC3 last year, gets another shot at the big time, acting as compere for gaggle of up and coming British comedians in the BBC's specially designed Edinburgh auditorium. Regular BBC3 viewers will recognise a fair few of the wide-eyed, hyperactive standups on show here, including Charlie Baker, David O'Doherty and Russell Kane, who seems to be on just about everything at the moment.

And the wedding band play - Charlie Baker

What's great about the Fringe is when people use it to try their hands at something new. Stand-up Charlie Baker is no stranger to acting, but this is the first time he's dabbled with writing a play, taking his short career in a wedding band as inspiration. We caught up with Charlie to discuss the show, what its like to be a playwright, and how his comedy career has helped his theatrical projects.

Interview with Charlie Baker

Comedian Charlie Baker shows Emma McAlpine the moves that won him the Comic Relief dance crown...

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Flamboyant funnyman Charlie Baker has put his music hall style to good use.