Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner is going to regret this episode for the rest of his life. Days after the announcement of the comedian's impending fatherhood, he puts "children" in the bin. OK, so he's aided and abetted by Alistair McGowan, who made the suggestion in the first place, but this is going to become top-class emotional leverage for Skinner Junior later on in life.

McGowan does warn us that he's morphed into a latter-day Victor Meldrew, but it's surprising just how angry he seems (perhaps the wind changed when he was filming Grumpy Old Men). Skinner's other guests are Dragon Hilary Devey and singer/songwriter Josh Groban, who can't compete with McGowan's glower.

Gruff-voiced businesswoman and Dragons' Den regular Hilary Devey, impressionist Alistair McGowan and American singer Josh Groban are Frank Skinner's guests on tonight's edition of the comedy panel show. As ever, there are no shortage of pet hates to be discussed, with particular vitriol reserved for supermarkets, the smoking ban and Valentine's Day.

Germaine Greer takes a pop at computer pop-ups (she has no idea what they are) and fun runs, but reveals she's so out of touch with public opinion she gets heckled. Just as well comedian Ross Noble and pop star turned businesswoman Jamelia have more of a common touch as they aim health & safety and txt spk at Frank Skinner's sparkly chute of oblivion. But they're all upstaged by a stonking turn from folk street dancers Time Gentlemen Please!

Four episodes in and the panel format is working so well it's hard to remember Room 101 in its previous incarnation. Frank Skinner's consummate ease with a one-liner helps. And it's Skinner's quick-witted to-and-fro with Ross Noble that propels the show as the panel discuss Noble's beefs with folk dancing and health and safety measures: "The reason we have danger is to get rid of idiots," claims Noble.

Also up for dissection are Jamelia's dislike of text speak and Germaine Greer's hatred of computer pop-ups and fun runs: "Why don't they just write a cheque?" she asks. We think she has a point, but will Skinner agree?

Free-wheeling Geordie comic Ross Noble, award-winning R&B singer Jamelia and the academic and journalist Germaine Greer are Frank Skinner's guests on tonight'' edition of this long-running comedy show. They give good value for money, campaigning for a wide range of items to be sent to their doom in Room 101 - including health and safety, actors, text speak and folk dancing.

The celebrity booker's net trawls and catches Ross Noble, Jamelia and Germaine Greer - who might just be the first recipient of a Room 101 audience heckle. A bland heckle, but for a couple of vaguely seditious seconds it wobbles the cosy carapace. As does host Frank Skinner's unexpectedly serious and prolonged defence of English folk dancing in the face of Noble's lame and obvious put-downs. That said, Noble's observation of recumbent cycling seems pretty spot-on: "Handy, cos you're already in the coffin position."

For anybody wondering how comedian Kevin Bridges bagged himself a whole BBC1 series, tune in and the answer will reveal itself as the 25-year-old Scottish funnyman splices clips from his stand-up show with visits to some of the key figures in his meteoric rise to fame. These include his mother, father, Frank Skinner and a chap called Chad Hogan - a fictional character with a real-life namesake.

A little like Billy Connolly's early travelogues, this lazily formatted affair dispatches the young Scottish comic - the most recent beneficiary of the small-screen stand-up boom - back to Glasgow to tell us about the roots of his comedy, interspersing the nostalgia with stand-up clips. The latter is sound, unsurprising observational fare, although Bridges has great stage presence for one so young, and his foul-mouthed bonhomie covers a few cracks. Off-stage too he seems a nice chap, getting some mileage out of a chat with Frank Skinner (who inspired him to go into comedy) and a trip to Utah to meet a real Chad Hogan (the source for a popular skit), but a contented guy with a secure upbringing and a happy life rarely makes compelling television.

Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges has had a rapid rise to stardom, and he's now a regular on the panel show circuit, as well as stuffing venues across the land. But as far as the tortured upbringing and that string of crap jobs most standups endure, there's not a great deal to go on. He was 17 when he first gave it a crack, inspired by Frank Skinner's autobiography, and it all went pretty swimmingly. So it's no surprise this look at his career is a tad slim on backstory, and heavy on clips of his assured stagecraft.

The best bits are generally not the guests railing against things they hate - insurance adverts, parrots, and so on. The best bits are when host Frank Skinner disagrees or tries to win them over. Tonight he comes to the defence of reality TV stars, Chris Moyles ("I see him as a cheeky Jabba the Hutt") and Jedward. The finest moment comes when guest Alice Cooper tries to condemn balloon sculptures and our host introduces a man with a riposte so jaw-droppingly impressive, even Cooper has to bow in mock-worship.

Also airing his peeves is Chris Packham, revealing an unexpected resentment - in the series' broadest swipe yet - of the entire human race.