Christian Jessen

Stephen Fry slams NHS decision not to fund PrEP

Stephen Fry and Channel 4's Dr Christian Jessen are leading the charge against NHS England after it made the decision not to commission HIV-preventing PrEP medication last week (May 31).

Dr Christian Jessen from Embarrassing Bodies plants his enormous arms on the interviewee's desk and braces himself for Ms Millican's questions. He does OK until he has to refer to a certain part of the male anatomy and crumples. "I can't say that word in front of you!" Why not? He gestures to her floral dress: "Because you're dressed all nice!" "I'm dressed all nice but it all comes up and there's bits underneath," she points out, as their conversation takes the primrose path towards the saucy single-entendres she so loves. There's a funny section on Game of Thrones, too - can three of its stars explain what the series is all about? The answer is: "Boobs and death."

Vic & Bob: We blackmailed Simon Cowell

As part of Funny Fortnight, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer return to Channel 4 with an anarchic new show bringing together Eddie Izzard, Simon Cowell and Dr Christian Jessen. They kindly agreed to tell RT.com all about it, and left us more confused than ever...

So the bloke who replaced Matt Lucas on Shooting Stars gets his own show. With it comes a Vic-and-Bob-style sense of surrealism and anarchy as carrier bags float down from the ceiling and toy dogs bark songs. The jury's out on whether Dan Renton Skinner's speech-impaired, burger van-owning character works spun out over 35 minutes, though there are special guests to break things up: Dr Christian Jessen is the first to be humiliated.

A stuffed dog launches the show by barking the Match of the Day theme tune. So it's probably fair to deduce that Angelos Epithemiou, aka Dan Renton Skinner, has picked up a few presentational hints from his time as Vic & Bob's comedy scorekeeper. But can he make it on his own? Inevitably, the first episode of this new series is something of a mixed bag. There's an amusing encounter with Dr Christian Jessen which suggests Angelos has potential as a socially inept Mrs Merton-style celebrity-botherer. A few sketches with his best mate Gupta which, in all honesty, don't amount to much. A new, reluctant love interest in the shape of Gabby Logan (Ulrika presumably cries herself to sleep, pining for the days when Angelos lurked in the bushes outside her home). And some encounters with the studio audience which suggest that Angelos's greatest strength remains his gift for off-the-cuff, unscripted mischief. This probably isn't particularly good news in terms of sustaining a long, fruitful career. But for the time being, this is good, unpredictable fun.

Comedy prankster Angelos Epithemiou, real name Daniel Renton Skinner, who first found fame on Shooting Stars, returns with a new series of his dubious "entertainment" show. Tonight's guests include the host of fellow Channel 4 programme Embarrassing Bodies, Dr Christian Jessen, and teenage pop star Conor Maynard. Gabby Logan will be appearing throughout the series as Epithemiou's love interest.

Dan Renton Skinner's carrier-bag-toting alter ego stars in this new variety show. Epithemiou's trademark social awkwardness and tendency to lose interest in what his guests are talking about make him the perfect host, while sidekick Gupta adds to the chaos. This week, Embarrassing Bodies presenter Dr Christian Jessen joins him for a chat, and baby-faced pop star Conor Maynard competes for the chance to perform his single Vegas Girl. Love is in the air, too, as Gabby Logan pops up as the object of Epithemiou's desires.

The joy of this series is the way it veers into comic byways. For instance, when Gabby Logan claims she throws things across the room at night to remind her of things to do in the morning, the discussion spins off into the question of whether or not she has slept with her team captain, David Mitchell. (He's on masterful comic form, but then, when isn't he?)

The "This is my..." round is genuinely harder to guess than usual: is mystery-man Kevin an EastEnders superfan who changed his name to Albert Square, Christian Jessen's surgeon or Lee's bum double from Not Going Out? Other tangents include an impression of the Alien stomach-burst scene from Rob Brydon.

This new impressionism show started on Channel 4 this week as part of a big comedy line up on the channel (along with 8 Out of 10 Cats, Alan Carr: Chatty Man and Stand Up For the Week).

It features Morgana Robinson and Terry Mynott impersonating a certain range of people. In this first episode there's heavyweight political figures but instead that particular class of usually pointless celebrity - the likes of Gordon Ramsey, Amy Childs and Danny Dyer.

Now for me impressionism usually has one big problem, which is trying to get the performer to look like the person they are pretending to be as well as getting to sound like them. That's why I think the best impressionism shows are Spitting Image and the radio version of Dead Ringers, because in both shows you don't see the performers, only the image in your head, or the rubbery visage.

In terms of this show, I'm not the best to judge the quality of the impressions, although that's because I tend not to watch most of the shows that those particular people perform in. I've never watched The Voice or Embarrassing Bodies, so I don't really know what Jessie J or Dr. Christian Jessen sound like.

However, in terms of the ideas that were generated, I found them to be good. I liked the sketch in which David Attenborough was observing Frankie Boyle in his natural habitat, and Fearne Cotton's children's game show in which kids try to act like celebrities.

If I were to be more critical I'd say that the satire isn't as hard hitting as it could be. It's not as vicious as Spitting Image was, so it's more akin to Dead Ringers in that respect. But still, it's a decent enough programme and should do well in my opinion...