Claudia Winkleman

Radio 2's Hot Gossip is a panel show hosted by Claudia Winkleman about celebrity tittle-tattle, but not in the shameless we-don't-care-if-you-think-we're-shallow sense. It is, in fact, propelled by shame.

Winkleman's job is to ask questions about the latest goings-on among the rich and famous to a gaggle of publicity-hungry comics who then spew damning one-liners about said celebrities whom they deem to be lower down the food chain than they are. It's less a case of scraping the barrel than tipping it sideways to see what is lurking beneath it. This explains why Winkleman shrieks and whoops at her guests' every utterance as if living in fear that a nanosecond of silence will bring the audience to their senses and prompt a stampede for the exit.

All on the programme seem to think they are above discussing the antics of bed-hopping footballers or reality television alumni, despite the fact that this is exactly what they have signed up for. This week, Jason Byrne was quizzed about a star of the TV series The Only Way Is Essex; he pleaded ignorance both of the show and its well-known acronym TOWIE, which he said he had assumed was "some sort of slang for a tramp". In another instance, Winkleman puzzled over the identity of the former X Factor singer Cher Lloyd. "Wasn't she in the singing thing?" she asked, making out as if she spends her Saturday nights working through her Tarkovsky collection. She wasn't fooling anyone.

Hot Gossip is for people who claim to loathe Hello! magazine, but make weekly dentist appointments so that they can inhale its contents in the waiting room. Why it exists remains a mystery. If the format seems tired, the people who appear on it sound positively knackered, their exhaustion presumably compounded by their round-the-clock schedule of appearances on identikit BBC panel shows.

Acerbic tongues have been licking up the lemon juice in preparation for the return of Claudia Winkleman's deliciously scurrilous take on celebrity life. Joining her to tell us things that are not necessarily true about events that probably did happen are Dom Joly, Nick Hancock and Jo Caulfield. A crack legal team are on standby.

It's rare to find impressionists whose material matches their talent but for most of this enjoyable half-hour programme Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson have pulled it off. Both find moments to shine. Culshaw nails fashion consultant Gok Wan's slangy lingo and makes a suitably narcissistic Elton John. Stephenson shows us what it would be like to be stuck in a forest with Kirstie Allsopp and excels with her uncanny take on a breathless squinty-eyed Claudia Winkleman.

The Impressions Show saw Debra Stephenson miss two open goals with Hilary Devey and Tulisa. But with her physique, her Mary Portas, Claudia Winkleman and Fiona Bruce were exactly like the real thing - only foxier.

Jon Culshaw on the other hand was such a car crash his impersonations were more fascinating. His 'Bruce Forsyth' was bang on - if it had been Alex Ferguson, while his 'John Bishop', was the spit of Laurence Llewelyn Bowen. Final score? Debra Stephenson 5 - Jon Culshaw 0.

Jon Culshaw might not be the best mimic to have graced the small screen, but he still knows how to serve up an enjoyable half hour of comedy as his Impressions Show returns for a new series. The real star here though is Culshaw's altogether more impressive co-star Debra Stephenson, whose take on Claudia Winkleman is worth tuning in for alone.

The ubiquitous Claudia Winkleman presents a third episode of King Of, the chat show with a difference. Not a very big difference, but a difference nonetheless. The idea is that the panellists pick who or what is the "king of" various things: the best cheese, the best Chelsea midfielder, the best whatever. Like Room 101, then, but backwards. Today's guests are Lorraine Kelly, daytime TV sofa-dweller, and the comedian Jack Whitehall.

Following 8 Out Of 10 Cats was brand new panel show King Of... hosted by the enormously pregnant Claudia Winkleman, who looked ready to pop if she so much as sneezed. Winkleman's become something of a cult in recent years, primarily thanks to her hosting of Strictly Come Dancing's irreverent sister show It Takes Two, where her brand of scatterbrained madness has endeared her to many. She's still very much a love/hate personality, similar to nutty face-puller Davina McCall, but King proves she's incapable of hosting what amounts to an optimistic version of Room 101.

The premise is very simple and, unfortunately, incredibly pointless and uninteresting. Winkleman's joined by two celebrity guests over the course of the show, who debate what the "king" (read "best") of any given topic is. King of snacks? King of holidays? King of music? King of pets? King of cities? You name. It's so trifling and inane that it would barely cover a column in Heat, and Winkleman's unable to spin any gold from the discussion.

The opener's guests were Geordie comedian Sarah Millican and presenter/DJ Chris Evans: the former a likable enough person who's extremely overexposed right now; the latter nowhere near funny enough to turn a tedious "what's the king of cheese?" question into comedy dynamite. Maybe it's my cynical British attitude, but there's nothing especially funny or interesting about listening to celebs state a case for something they adore, and essentially list favourites. It's radio's Desert Island Discs with wider topics of discussion, but without an soul. I'd much rather they bitch and moan about something they hate.

Winkleman's on record saying the show's "shit", thanks to a moment of candor a few weeks ago, and it's hard to disagree with her. What's the king of panel shows? Anything but this. I can only assume Winkleman needed the money to decorate her nursery.

This new chat show hosted by Claudia Winkleman has already been called by most critics a "reverse Room 101", in that Winkleman attempts to decide which are the best things in a certain category, with the help of guests.

In this case, Sarah Millican and Chris Evans helped Winkleman choose the king of holidays, jobs and cheese - a somewhat broad choice of subjects, but Winkleman claims she was to cover everything, and put it down in a book she intends to give to her children.

This made for an interesting watch. Seeing Winkleman and Millican talk was like watching a funny Loose Women, or to put it another way, a good Loose Women that I might be tempted to actually watch. I especially enjoyed Millican's line about her attempt to discuss the future with her boyfriend at Euro Disney.

There were some turn offs, though, for me. The audience were a bit annoying, seemingly cheering at any point, and I would disagree with some of Winkleman's choices (surely the king of jobs would by king?) - but it was an interesting first watch and I'll probably take a look at next week's offering, too.

You wonder how some shows get commissioned. It's not that Channel 4′s new Room 101-a-like King Of... is terrible - it really isn't, and its neat scheduling alongside 8 Out Of 10 Cats (now with added Jon Richardson) and Chatty Man means I'll probably end up watching it again - but it feels a bit... well, cable. Not primetime terrestrial, barely E4 even. One of those high channel numbers that you only get to on the EPG when there's *really* nothing on.

The premise, if you missed it, is pure pub conversation fodder: what is the best of everything? In this episode, we covered the best holidays, the best job and the best cheese. This is too many bests, people. The only reason these conversations are fun in the pub is because they go on so ruddy long; every angle analysed, debated and dismissed before a consensus is achieved. Here they just bashed through them, and came to ridiculously arbitrary decisions: Stinking Bishop was named king of cheeses because guest Chris Evans likes it, chocolatier got best job (yawn) because someone in the audience was one and the spa break won best holiday (what?!) because host Claudia Winkleman just took an executive decision.

It was fine. A penguin trainer came on with a penguin that chased Claudia around the studio. A mouse was given the choice of several different cheeses. Sarah Millican was funny. But that, I think we can all agree, probably isn't enough.