Claudia Winkleman

Claudia Winkleman to lead danceathon for Comic Relief

The Strictly Come Dancing presenter will be joined by a variety of famous faces at the event at London's SSE Arena Wembley on Sunday, March 8.

The tall stories (some true, some not) comedy panel show returns for an eighth series. Its longevity has much to do with the way host Rob Brydon, plus team captains Lee Mack and David Mitchell, get close to the knuckle without taking things too far for primetime, a tricky balancing act when Mitchell discusses the lead-up to an alleged vomiting incident ("There was definitely drinking, I think there might have been crisps ... "). First guests are Fiona Bruce, Micky Flanagan, Steve Jones and Claudia Winkleman.

Radio Times review

Host Rob Brydon and team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack return for series eight of the jolly panel show that tests the fibbing skills of celebrity teams. In this opening episode Micky Flanagan is the sole comedian guest, alongside TV presenters (of one form or other) Fiona Bruce, Claudia Winkleman and Steve Jones.

Did Flanagan liven up a hen do by taking his clothes off? Does Fiona Bruce dream about monkeys? And did Steve Jones once save rapper P Diddy's life? It may be inspired by elements from other panel shows (Call My Bluff and the mystery guest element from They Think It's All Over being the most obvious), but thanks in large part to the wit and repartee of the three regulars, the fun is infectious.

Claudia Winkleman: Leave panel shows to men

Claudia Winkleman, the Strictly Come Dancing presenter, says a panel show dominated by women would hold little appeal.

During the huge Comic Relief production Funny for Money (BBC One), the first segment was hosted by Claudia Winkleman and some guy. Try as I might, I couldn't remember Some Guy's name even after I wrote it down, but that could have been because I was so knocked out with the way Claudia looked. At first glance, she looked like a visitor from some planet where the women have beautiful legs and no eyes. But at second glance, I spotted that she did indeed have a pair of eyes somewhere behind her fringe, and at third glance I noticed that she was wearing a perfectly judged frock.

Here were the British showing the Americans how to do it. All we need now is a bit of confidence to go with the manifestly superior sanity. Unfortunately such confidence is hard to come by, because the Americans wield a heavy cultural influence over the rest of us even when they are doing something so glaringly wrong as to load an over-glamorous outfit onto an averagely glamorous woman. It's almost 70 years since the Second World War and the British are still in thrall to that postwar mentality by which it was taken to be self-evident that only the Yanks could build desirable cars.

Never knowingly underexposed, James Corden returns to host the sport quiz that you don't necessarily need to know a huge amount about sport to watch. Corden will have his work cut out to hog the limelight on this first show of the series, probably being confined to the long shadows cast by his Olympian guests. Chief among these will be the beaming Mo Farah, while gymnast Louis Smith ups the medal count still further. Among the regular celebs, Claudia Winkleman is onside, while Jack Whitehall continues to successfully balance the amiable and the mildly obnoxious.

Simon is set to appear on Radio 2 to promote his new play on Claudia Winkleman's show. That sets Grandma off on a critique of the Winkleman fringe ("Rrrgh, puts me right on edge... How can she see with such a fringe? It's dangerous, tell her.") Still, things are going quite smoothly until Auntie Liz arrives, whereupon Grandma's repertoire of things to offer houseguests at times of tension is put to the test.

This week, there are satsumas, Petit Filous and kitchen hardware ("What about a whisk? I've got two whisks!"). It's a lovely episode, full of painfully well-observed dialogue and cringe-making comic performances. Plus, the news that Clive is unexpectedly keen on Biffy Clyro.

Simon's new career as an actor continues to proceed like snakes and ladders. This week, everything seems to be on the up.

He's being ­interviewed on BBC Breakfast about his new play and after that he's going to be Claudia Winkleman's guest on Radio 2. But a jokey remark about another guest backfires and he's slithering down the snake of infamy once again.

The namechecks for actual famous people being mixed in with Simon's fictional family feels completely normal now. I love the idea, for instance, that Simon has borrowed a large sum of money from Derren Brown.

But as his auntie Liz demands that they finally get around to reading her father's will, most of this week's best lines go to Simon's mum, Tanya, played by Rebecca Front. After finally splitting up with Clive, she's decided she's off sex for good.

It's not the actual decision that's so funny, so much as all the colourful ways she and her family come up with to describe it.

Has Radio 2 missed the style train with its line-up today? Here's a celebrity-based panel show in which comedians and commentators vie to come up with gossipy quips about showbiz personalities.

Somehow all of those ingredients sound a bit past their sell-by date these days. After a decade of chitterchat by so-called entertainers about nonentities, not to mention public enquiries into the dodgy provenance of some of the gossip in the past, it all feels a bit stale. But, who knows?

Maybe Claudia Winkleman, hosting, can raise a little glitter from Andrew Maxwell, Katy Brand and Russell Watson.