David Mitchell (I)

How nice to see that, despite an increasing television profile for their sketch show, David Mitchell and Robert Webb have not turned their back on Radio 4. This new six-part series also includes something that was dearly missing from the last TV series - the effortless comic delights of Olivia Colman.

Would I Lie To You? Review

"I'm going to hate this aren't I?" bristled David Mitchell as new host Rob Brydon prepared to recite from the Cockney Bible. But raising the hackles of the amusing Mitchell is one of the conceits that Would I Lie To You? relies on to thrive and survive.

At its best, Would I Lie to You? (or, endearingly, WILTY for short) has a clever way of making us genuinely torn about whether the tales the panellists tell are bizarre truths or rank fibs. Increasingly, guests use the devious double bluff - stumbling over their story or adding details that sound absurd, when it really happened. I won't say who tries that ruse tonight as it would spoil the fun, but I will say that for some reason the tall stories are a bit more guessable than usual. No matter, the show is still enjoyable, with stand-up comedian Reginald D Hunter riffing nicely on the idea that the "D" in his name stands for "Delicious", while Ken Livingstone talks authoritatively about a frog he claims to have bred that had a "prehensile", ie grabby, part of its body that you really wouldn't expect to be grabby. The normally unstoppable David Mitchell is oddly subdued, until a contretemps with Lee Mack about throwing (or possibly not) a sausage roll off Blackpool Tower gets him riled. But did Mitchell have a bell he used to ring as a child when he wanted something? And was Stephen Mangan in a prog-rock band with mystery guest Gordon, or is he in fact Mitchell's local pet-shop owner?

There are a lot of food-based fibs in tonight's breezy show. There's Fern Britton's tea, Lee Mack with his sausage rolls, Stephen Mangan talking about a Mini-Cooper full of sweets and American stand-up Reginald D Hunter, who claims that the D in his name stands for 'Delicious'. Personally, I think it's more likely to stand for 'Deadpan' - this guy's poker face is better than Lady Gaga's.

Also on tonight's show, Ken Livingstone says the word "anus" a lot. Honestly. Host Rob Brydon and team captain David Mitchell look suitably shocked.

Would I Lie To You? is yet another comedy quiz show, this one inviting the usual assortment of stand-ups and guest celebrities to tell convincing fibs. It is Call My Bluff basically, replacing words with deeds.

It is very cheap and cheerful fare that depends almost entirely on the charm of those involved. Rob Brydon is the genial host, David Mitchell and Lee Mack the suitably contrasting captains, and they are do what is required of them with frightening efficiency. But the formula pokes through like the ribs on a starving man, and I found the whole show somewhat depressing.

One thing did intrigue me, however. In a show about deception how come nobody pointed out the miraculous reappearance of a full head of hair on the recently thinning Brydon?

Behind the scenes: Peep Show 6

PICTURE GALLERY: Sam Bain, co-writer of Channel 4 comedy Peep Show, reveals a sneak peek of the new series featuring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The sixth series, made by Objective Production, will air this autumn.

By and large, I'm allergic to TV comedy panel shows, a genre that seems populated by a back-scratching bunch of comedy circuit regulars who need precious little encouragement to demonstrate how amazingly witty they can be when following an autocue. But I'll make an exception for Would I Lie To You?, particularly now Rob Brydon has slipped cheekily into the chair's chair.

For one thing the format - basically spotting who's telling porkies - encourages embarrassment and absurdity rather than lame attempts at proving how cutting-edge and down with the times the panellists are. For another it allows team captain David Mitchell to be searingly sceptical with a dash of disdain for half an hour. That boy can wither for England.

Would I Lie To You 3.1 Review

Quietly becoming the best comedy panel show not called QI, Would I Lie To You? is back for a third series, complete with an unnecessary revamp. David Mitchell is particularly fantastic in gameshows of this ilk. The way he can amusingly pick apart sentences and deliver fun anecdotes is custom-made for WILTY, so he rescued this opener on many occasions.

Poor Angus Deayton has been dropped again. Rob Brydon steps into his shoes and very good he is too (much better than AD, who treated it as if he had somehow turned back time and was on the set of HIGNFY). Also good are the team captains: David Mitchell's natural habitat is the panel show and Lee Mack is naturally funny. Tonight's guests are Jo Brand and Russell Howard, providing back-up laughs, and Carol 'whaat now?' Vorderman and Larry 'do something about your son' Lamb are the straight men. It's never hilarious but it's always funny and less annoying than Mock The Week, so everyone should be glad to see it back.

Team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack return for a third series of this engagingly funny panel game. Rob Brydon takes over the hosting duties from Angus Deayton, which should improve the laugh quotient even more. But can there be any more humorous skeletons in Mack and Mitchell's respective closets? I'm sure there will be. A bigger mystery, though, is why this has been shunted into the post-news slot, when it should surely be better off in a 9pm or 9.30pm point in the schedule.