Charlie Brooker

David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr, Charlie Brooker and Lauren Laverne team up to produce a live, topical "comedy and current affairs" show. Think Newsnight with a steady laugh-track. Adrian Chiles is doing something similar for ITV in That Sunday Night Show but this is probably the one to watch.

There was always a risk in Charlie Brooker marrying a celebrity, particularly one at the lower, ITV2 end of television: that it would make him less willing to slag celebrities off.

The fact that he has pulled out of his weekly television column is certainly a bad sign.

The good news, however, is that Brooker is still making Screenwipe, in which he rants from a dark room that looks like it might smell vaguely of socks and takeaway pizza.

It's poking fun at television in the same way that Harry Hill does, except that Brooker is a bad, angry version of Harry; he's Harry with a hangover.

As usual, Brooker has chosen his targets well and this year he homes in on the extraordinary The Only Way is Essex, which, despite having watched it several times, I have still not been able to work out. What is it? Spoof? Reality show? If it's scripted, then I bow down to the scriptwriter, because he or she is a genius; if it's unscripted, then I despair at the empty ignorance and pointlessness of modern culture. It's just the kind of programme that Brooker loves laying into.

Another programme Brooker takes a look at this year is Sherlock, which promised so much but did the deeply illogical thing of changing Sherlock's character into an annoying, rude, know-it-all git, when anyone who has read the books knows that Holmes, despite being of infinitely superior intellect, was always polite to his inferiors (unless they were baddies).

Seeing Brooker bare his fangs and shake his fist over these programmes is always fun but there's a comforting element to this programme, too - that however nakedly hate-filled it gets, it doesn't matter, because it's obvious the hate comes from a good place: the desire for better television.

Charlie Brooker's 2010 quiz

Charlie Brooker has scoured through a whole year's worth of cultural detritus to test your knowledge of what was really important during the last 12 months...

As a regular and reliably funny thorn in the side of the mainstream broadcast media, Charlie Brooker's satirical round-up programme Screewipe (think TV Burp with claws) has amassed a devoted following on BBC Four. It transfers to BBC Two for this one-off programme, in which Brooker leads a wryly amusing tour through the big news and TV stories of the past year, including the Chilean miners' rescue, the Pope's visit and the ongoing saga of Ricky and Bianca in EastEnders.

Charlie Brooker's 2010

What with the coalition government, 3D entertainment overload and volcanic ash filling the skies, is it any wonder Charlie Brooker is still reeling from 12 months lost down the rabbit hole that was 2010?

Brooker's '2010 Wipe' to air on BBC Two

BBC Two will air a special edition of Charlie Brooker's show Screenwipe this year.

Jimmy Carr interview: stand-up comedy, 10 O'Clock Live

"I saw Charlie Brooker and David Mitchell the other night. We all independently said that it's going to be fine, I've got you two there! We've all done nothing, but are relying on the others."

Charlie Brooker interview

GQ interviews Charlie Brooker, the funniest man in print journalism and now the funniest man on TV.

Charlie Brooker: 10 of the best Screen Burn columns

Here are some of his most memorable TV columns from the past decade. Which are your favourites?

Charlie Brooker: Why I'm calling time on Screen Burn

TV stars can breathe a little easier: our uniquely grumpy critic has decided to call it quits.