Charlie Higson

The eighth series of the Reeves and Mortimer's cult panel show draws to a close tonight, having attracted respectable viewing figures of 1.5 m. Deadpan comedian Jack Dee appears to be at a disadvantage as he is joined by actress Tamzin Outhwaite and Primal Scream bassist Gary Mounfield, while Ulrika Jonsson gets stand-up Micky Flanagan and actor Charlie Higson for her team. But as the questions are nonsensical and the games bizarre, anything can happen.

Video: Charlie Higson hasn't got time for classic books

The author and comic, Charlie Higson, appeared at the Hay Festival to talk about his young Bond series of novels. Here he explains why he can't get on with Dickens and other classic authors.

Moving Down the Line (the creation of Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson) to TV sounded like such a bad and simply impossible idea, yet Bellamy's People - as the BBC2 spin-off series was called - worked superbly. "Nobody watched it," says Gary Bellamy (Rhys Thomas) in this new run of the radio show. Bellamy is as strong a character as Alan Partridge for how perfectly he captures a certain type of radio presenter - and that failed TV show adds to the character. You'll now hear a Partridge-like mix of deliciously misplaced ego and barely hidden wounds. "I prefer radio," he insists. "I wanted to come back to my roots." So he's back with the "live" Radio 4 phone-in and while not every call works, the majority do, and it's a treat to have the show back again.

When this comedy series began it went out late. It still fooled gullible souls like me into thinking it really was a phone-in and not an exquisite parody of one. Host Gary Bellamy is played by Rhys Thomas, the voices of all those nutters, fanatics, drunks and po-faced poshies come from Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Amelia Bullmore, Simon Day, Lucy Montgomery and Felix Dexter. And very funny they are, probably because they are not a million miles away from the real people who call Radio 5 Live's real-life late-night hosts Tony Livesey and Stephen Nolan.

Planet Jedward takes over the Buzzcocks studio tonight - a surreal experience that's as painful to watch as it is snortingly hilarious.

Jack Dee is the host as the pair, the type of act that could have been invented just for this show to ridicule, join Noel ­Fielding's team.

Despite prattling on 10 times as much as one normal person, John and Edward only count as one guest. Perhaps this was decided by a tally of their IQs, or, as team captain Phill Jupitus puts it: "You make Dappy from N-Dubz look like Stephen Fry."

The twins' machine gun chatter would test the patience of a saint and Jack Dee - as you may have noticed - is no holy man, although some of his crueller put-downs have sadly been cut out. Also trying to get a word in edgeways tonight are Eliza Doolittle, Katy Brand and Charlie Higson.

Whichever poor soul was given the task of having to edit this deserves a month on a sun lounger in the Maldives, wearing earplugs and an eye mask.

For a comedian, television can be both a blessing and a curse. Strike it lucky - land your own series, for example - and it can feel as though the sky's the limit. But stick around too long - or, worse, lose your cutting edge - and you can easily find yourself in the wilderness.

What's encouraging about the return of this sketch show, featuring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, is that it's brought the best out of two long-established comics who many may have felt were past their peak.

Not every sketch hits the mark - they never do - but by the end of the 30 minutes you'll certainly be forgiving Whitehouse for those appalling insurance ads. Well, almost. Look out for guest appearances from Charlie Higson, Simon Day and Timothy West.

Audio interview: Charlie Higson

I approached Charlie Higson with a request for a phone interview, and not only did he agree, he was extremely generous with his time.

This strange sketch show - featuring ex-Fast Show actors Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Simon Day being "interviewed" in a variety of different personas - continues. There is rather a lot of forgettable material with one or two edgily funny gems, such as a vociferous argument between a nationalistic British plasterer called Martin Hole (Whitehouse) and an African traffic warden (Felix Dexter) who wants him to move his van.

Bellamy's people aren't on fabulous form tonight. There are still lovely moments, many of them revolving around forgetful pensioner Humphrey Milner (Charlie Higson), but most of the sketches never quite achieve lift-off. When, for instance, Gary gets out of his depth with lairy good-time girl Tulsa Kensgrove and her gang of mates out clubbing in Watford, you keep waiting for the flash of satire to break through the squealing, but it never does. It's well performed, but shows like BBC3's Pulling have made women's drunken banter funnier. Paul Whitehouse is still on good form: his "sixties bad boy" Ian Craig Oldman tells a story of youthful debauchery that sounds like a racier, younger Rowley Birkin QC from The Fast Show. Then his patriotic plasterer Martin Hole gets into an argument with a parking warden (Felix Dexter) and the show breaks off in a whole new direction.