David Mitchell (I)

For his first dramatic acting role, comic Harry Hill was desperate to play the original Nutty Professor from Norman Hunter's children stories.

Swapping his trademark ear-skimming collars for Branestawm's multiple pairs of glasses, he's the perfect fit for the role in this one-off special penned by Charlie Higson - which we predict will be the first of many.

The Fast Show's Higson, a best-selling children's author, has added some modern touches of his own that should strike a chord with a brand new TV generation raised on sonic screwdrivers.

By far the most significant is the addition of a determined young sidekick called Connie (Madeline Holliday) who is fed up with being taught useless subjects at school.

Even though Branestawm may be the worst science teacher you could imagine, I practically cheered to hear Connie say that she wanted to learn about civil engineering.

As the Professor's inventions bring chaos to the village of Great Pagwell, Hill is joined by another Fast Show stalwart, Simon Day, as Branestawm's best friend Colonel Dedshott.

David Mitchell plays his nemesis, the officious councillor Harold Haggerstone who wants to shut down Branestawm's "Inventory" and Vicki Pepperdine is his housekeeper Mrs Flittersnoop.

It's all hugely silly, but perfect family entertainment nevertheless.

A nostalgic big-brushstrokes comedy, with Harry Hill's wide-eyed stare a good fit for the manic Professor Branestawm and his hare-brained Heath Robinson-style inventions: a machine for herding cats, a robot father and - "imagine that!" - a portable telephone device. David Mitchell and Ben Miller ham it up as the panto villains trying to put a damper on things.

Radio Times review

"Do you touch the frogs?" It's the kind of question you'd only hear in a David Lynch film or an episode of Would I Lie to You? Here, team captain David Mitchell dons a helmet with a light on it that he maintains is his "frog-lamp" for wearing on nocturnal trips to check on the frogs at the bottom of his garden. If that strikes you as a rattlingly daft claim, you're in good company, but stranger things have been posited on this show and proved true. At the bottom of Ray Winstone's garden, meanwhile, he wants us to believe he has a scale model of Stonehenge. A Winstonehenge, if you will.

Not every Christmas special needs a change of scene. Would I Lie To You? at Christmas was much like any other episode of the show, save for a few snowflake decorations, yet it still felt festive. It's at Christmas that this cosy parlour game comes into its own. Something else that hadn't changed was the gender imbalance. It's not unusual for a panel show, of course, but the fact that WILTY? can muster only one woman out of seven participants is still a shocker.

Judged by any other standard, however, this was a strong line-up. On Lee Mack's team, the lone woman, Countdown's co-presenter Rachel Riley, got in a good yarn about a cake-baking super-fan and David Mitchell's team, featuring actor Ray Winstone and The Last Leg's Josh Widdicombe, was balanced in other ways. "It looks like Ray's on charge for something, Dave is his flustered barrister and Josh is the child they're fighting for custody over," commented host Rob Brydon.

Winstone proved himself a formidable fibber, but the most spurious story of all came from Lee Mack: "I can write so well with my foot that to save time writing Christmas cards I simultaneously write one card with my hand and one card with my foot." Naturally, a demonstration was in order.

Radio Times review

As you would expect, Stephen Fry inhabits a different world from ordinary folk. So when Alan Davies tells him a preposterous nickname for the staff at Argos, he believes him. Let's assume he doesn't shop there. He's equally naive when it's suggested that the Earl of Sandwich is now appearing on Gogglebox. "Is he?" he asks politely and only slightly incredulously.

Among the musings on love handles, peshwari naans and composers, Fry's hilarious demonstration of how to make a lava lamp reminds David Mitchell of dreadful chemistry lessons. "Sir! I did what Alan said to do," he whines, waving his hand in the air. "And now I'm scared!"

Harry Hill stars as Professor Theophilus Branestawm in an adaptation of Norman Hunter's classic books. He's an absent-minded inventor, prone to left-field mutterings, which makes him an easy target for local businessman Mr Bullimore (Ben Miller) and councillor Harold Haggerstone (David Mitchell), who want to eject him from the village of Great Pagwell. Assisted by schoolgirl Connie, best friend Colonel Dedshott (Simon Day) and housekeeper Mrs Flittersnoop (Vicki Pepperdine), will he prevail?

A panel of top-drawer celebrities, including Richard Ayoade, David Mitchell, Mel B, Micky Flanagan, Sarah Millican and Kevin Bridges are grilled by Jimmy Carr to see which of them has retained the most knowledge of 2014. To win the crown, they'll need to recall who purred down the phone in September, why Bono issued a worldwide apology in October, and what sporting event was the most-tweeted-about ever in July. Providing assistance are a host of varyingly beloved celebs including Michael Palin, Rio Ferdinand and Lily Allen.

Radio Times review

Now in its 25th year, The British Comedy Awards remains that rare thing: an awards ceremony with the potential for something unpredictable and interesting to happen. Still, some things are guaranteed: Jonathan Ross will say something deeply off-colour, making the audience "Ooh" like mischievous schoolchildren. Leading the nominations with six is Matt Berry's shouty-voiced sitcom Toast Of London, while among those competing for the King Or Queen Of Comedy award are David Mitchell, Jo Brand and Greg Davies.

Interview: David Mitchell

David Mitchell talks the credit crunch, Footlights and saying fuck on BBC Radio 2.