Christine Bleakley

The Christmas Special was possibly my favourite episode of the series, most notably as it featured the legendary Baroness Trumpington who famously appeared opposite Whitehall on an episode of Have I Got News For You.

She appeared here alongside Lee Mack, Christine Bleakley and Nigel Havers who I was incredibly surprised to learn was Jack's godfather. In fact a large portion of this episode was devoted to the fact that Jack believes that Nigel could well be his real father. This led Michael to recount, in quite graphic detail, Jack's conception and in one scene proved why he has been the star of this entire series.

Obviously the Christmas setting allowed Jack to get some of his worst Christmas memories off his chest and confront his father, who really wasn't that bothered. The only low point of this festive special was the weekly bonding segment, which is the sole part of the show which always feels forced. Here, father and son went to a hugging workshop that Michael inevitably bad-mouthed before later hugging Havers when he came onto stage. Thankfully, the appearance of Kris Akabusi as Santa, or Santabusi, more than made up for the slower parts of the episode and by the time Jack's mum came round with the drinks I had a massive smile on my face.

I personally feel that Backchat has only got stronger throughout its first series and this Christmas special proves that this probably won't be the last time we'll here from the Whitehall clan.

Last year's specstacular saw Alan do impressions taking the mickey out of easy targets Cher Lloyd, the Beckhams and Wills and Kate.

This year he'll be getting up to more festive fooling around, party games and sketches with the help of his guest mates.

Former Radio 2 pal Melanie Sykes, Jonathan Ross, Jimmy Carr, Jack Whitehall, Christine Bleakley, Gok Wan and Bruno Mars join in the New Year fun.

Then there's Rylan Clark - one of the few guests who can make Alan look butch by comparison.

The line-up might not be as A-list as Graham Norton's, but this is exactly the kind of party you'd want to be invited to.

Frank Lampard in Outnumbered Sport Relief sketch

Outnumbered's Brockman family are back causing chaos - this time with Dancing On Ice host Christine Bleakley and fiancé Frank Lampard.

Jason Manford & Alex Jones talk about The One Show

Christine Bleakley may have made enemies at the BBC after quitting The One Show.
But she's done wonders for the careers of stand-up comic Jason Manford and little-known Alex Jones.

David Beckham, Roxy Music, Mickey Rourke and Jackie Chan will be the last ever guests on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross which ends tonight. After the outcry over his £6million salary, and the prank phone call to Andrew Sachs that led to his suspension (and, ironically, jump-started Sachs' career) his position at the top of the BBC totem pole had become untenable. But it's not the end of Wossy.

He's already signed a deal with ITV for a brand new show which will appear towards the end of 2011, making him the third BBC presenter, after Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley to defect to ITV recently.

The move also means he'll have presented talk shows on three different networks, having made his presenting debut in the Last Resort With Jonathan Ross on Channel 4. It was that show which first shook up the staid and stuffy British chat show by injecting satirical comedy, irreverence and a fresh, American-style vibe. That style has now become so much the norm you couldn't imagine it being any other way.

Friday nights really won't be the same without him.

Jason Manford's dad tells of his pride in his son

Jason Manford's dad reckons that the new One Show co-host will be a hit with viewers and his fellow presenter, Christine Bleakley.

Meet Jason Manford

He's The One to make Christine Bleakley laugh.

Patrick Kielty gives out Christine Bleakley's number

Furious telly beauty Christine Bleakley has had hundreds of calls to her mobile phone - after the number was revealed on-air by Patrick Kielty.

Jon Culshaw (Dead Ringers) and Debra Stephenson (Frankie Baldwin in Coronation Street) join forces in this new sketch show featuring their range of almost flawless impersonations. With his brilliant George W Bush on Dead Ringers, Culshaw has already established himself as a John Sessions for the Noughties. It's remarkable, though, that Stephenson hasn't unveiled her impersonating skill until now. She does a mean (in both senses) Anne Robinson, and performs some impressive facial gymnastics as a hyperventilating Davina McCall getting so excited over a bedtime story she ends up upside down. As is eternally the way with these shows, the quality of the jokes lags behind the success of the impressions themselves. The sight of Culshaw and Stephenson as Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley on the sofa of The One Show is as banal as the original - though it's made up for by Culshaw's superbly dead-eyed Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall barbecuing a polecat on Autumnwatch in front of Stephenson's Kate Humble. Most impressively of all, Stephenson nails the voices of not just one but both Minogues - Kylie as an irrepressibly sunny little pixie, and Dannii a steely, glacial automaton.

Shooting Stars is back! Show us the scores, George Dawes! Isn't that great news? I think so. As always with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's surreal quiz show (Tuesday, BBC Two), I found about a third of it hilarious, another third perfectly acceptable, and the final third far too weird to comprehend for even a moment. Aside from last year's Christmas Special, the show has been away since 2002. Could it really have been so long? And how would it have aged?

Um, fine. I think. Or maybe it has just aged at the same speed as I have. Vic and Bob have become less like your weirdo neighbours and more like a pair of creepy old uncles, which suits them very well. Bob suddenly seems to bear a startling resemblance to Martin Freeman, although I suppose that might also have been the case last time around, and we just wouldn't have known. Ulrikakaka is back, and Matt Lucas, incredibly, is too. Does anybody know what has happened to Mark Lamarr? Is he OK? They've given us Jack Dee instead ("a sweaty moccasin!" said Vic), which seems perfectly respectable, and also a sort of delivery-man character comic, who might be a regular feature.

In part, I suppose, Shooting Stars was such fun because it was like meeting up with some old friends and hearing them tell all the same old jokes. Will new audiences find them funny, too? Or will they just be baffled and a little scared, like Christine Bleakley was when Vic started rubbing his thighs? Not a clue. Time will tell. I'd quite like to see them hit each other with frying pans in the next episode, though. I've missed that.