Frank Skinner

George Orwell has provided TV producers with plenty of concepts; but we can only hazard a guess at what he would have thought of them. In this panel show, based on the idea of a room in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four where prisoners are subjected to their worst fears, guests must discuss their pet peeves with host Frank Skinner and compete for his approval to banish them to Room 101. Tonight's guests are BBC presenter Bill Turnbull, who hates low slung jeans and people who hog the middle lane on the motorway, comedian Ben Miller who can't abide homoeopathy, and comedian Jo Brand, who thinks personalised number plates and high-heeled shoes should make the cut.

Glamping is an unlikely TV theme tonight, cast in two very different roles. Over on Great Night Out, it's a positive holiday option, but here in Frank Skinner's domain, it's being proposed for disposal in Room 101 by actor/comedian Jack Whitehall. It's what bugs him most about the great outdoors, while for The One Show's Alex Jones, it's seagulls. But the controversial choice for presenter Clive Anderson is Bambi's extended family - until meeting special guest Arthur changes his mind.

If Frank Skinner's ad libs are the real thing and not carefully pre-arranged, then they're little comedy gems.

There's a moment tonight when Clive Anderson has proposed consigning British deer, or a large proportion of them, to Room 101 and in the process he points out that there are three million deer in Britain now. To which Jack Whitehall quips, "All they need is a leader!" It's a nice idea - of the deer rising up as one in a horned rebellion. Then Skinner chimes in: "Maybe the Dalai Lama?" It's quick, silly and typical of his ability to juice up the joke quota.

Not that he needs to much this week: Anderson, Whitehall and Alex Jones make a great panel. It's the sparkiest episode yet.

Mel Giedroyc takes a break from cake to reveal her personal nightmares - including pretentious types who pronounce spaghetti with the full Italian accent - in the hope that Frank Skinner will consign them to the oblivion of Room 101. But there's tough competition from her fellow guests: actor Hugh Dennis is lobbying for Las Vegas to be wiped from the face of the earth, while Cilla Black has a lorra lorra laffs trying to trash modern technology. And knickers.

There often comes an awkward moment when the guests outline their pet hates and you wonder if the audience will applaud at the end of the pitch. Sometimes they don't, and it leaves the celeb stranded, because the line between righteous yes-we-all-hate-that anger and ranting about minutiae is a hazy one.

Luckily, host Frank Skinner usually rides to the rescue with a well-observed quip. Tonight, he tops Mel Giedroyc's gripe about people who overpronounce Italian words in restaurants ("spag-HAY-tee") by observing that if you tried the same in a Chinese restaurant, it would be dreadful. Meanwhile, Hugh Dennis hates leaving cards, and Cilla Black believes there's a conspiracy surrounding knickers.

All the obvious targets were shunted off into the vault of shame a long time ago, so the attraction of Room 101 these days is the window that it gives into the bizarre minds of celebrities.

Without a script, and without anything to plug, what are they really thinking? This week it's showbiz legend Cilla Black who provides some of the most unexpected moments, as ­comedian Frank Skinner invites his guests to nominate their pet hates concerning people and modern life, plus their wild card entry.

"When I used to watch you on TV I used to wonder what we'd talk about if we ever met," Frank admits. "I never expected this." His other guests, Outnumbered star Hugh Dennis and Great British Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc, can only stare in wonder as Cilla explains her gripe with one particular gadget.

But Frank has also got an old clip of Cilla that's odder than the rest of the show put together.

Frank Skinner seems uncharacteristically star-struck at having Cilla Black on the show, perhaps because so many of his guests have been distinctly underwhelming (even boring) so far this series. Cilla's professional sparkle certainly jollies along some fairly morose contributions from comedian Hugh Dennis and TV presenter Mel Giedroyc as they discuss their competitive dislikes of, among other things, pompous celebrities, office leaving cards, Las Vegas and knickers.

Frank Skinner pulls back his magic joystick to reveal another set of extreme dislikes. While the delightfully offbeat Paloma Faith would give Ugg boots the boot and merrily accuses Skinner of voting Tory, she's disconcerted by the tendencies of her fellow guests, blokey comedian Jason Manford and Dragons' Den moneybags Deborah Meaden, who can't bear it when she has to wait behind people rummaging for change in a shop. Like she does her own shopping.

Frank Skinner on his TV choices

"You may claim that Merlin and Doctor Who are children's television but not I. To me, Merlin seemed to cover all the great themes of humanity..."

The best bit of this comedy panel show has to be the ingenious 3D models that illustrate the pet hates of Frank Skinner's guests. What will they come up with for Extreme Fishing With Robson Green, which gets Janet Street-Porter's goat? Among Ben Fogle's bugbears is the suitcase on wheels, while skyscraper comedian Greg Davies - The Inbetweeners' stern head - really, really, really hates pointless TV interviews with members of the public. Let the squabbles commence.