Frankie Boyle

Frankie Boyle will not return to C4, says comedy boss

Phil Clarke says he is now after more narrative comedy with subtlety and nuance - and not comedy that is "shocking for its own sake".

This is the show that started out as a late-night sidebar to the 2012 Paralympics and proved so popular it took on a life of its own.

This is also the show that says it's OK laugh at disability provided, that is, those jokes are made within the parameters of a fiendishly sensitive, unwritten set of rules with question one being: "Are you Frankie Boyle?" And question two being: "Is your name Jim Davidson?"

As a rule of thumb, if you can count up to 20 using your fingers and toes, don't even think about trying to join in yourself.

With regular panellist Alex Brooker out in Austria presenting The Jump, comedian Micky Flanagan joins host Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe for the start of the new series.

Last year, Adam ­memorably remarked: "Getting angry at Jim Davidson because he doesn't know how to talk about disability is like getting angry at a dog for not knowing how to use the internet." There's a good chance the show might work up a nice head of steam about Davidson winning Celebrity Big Brother.

When I spoke to Carl Cooper, the producer of this series, I asked how much of the material for this edition - Kevin Bridges interviews fellow Glaswegian comedian Frankie Boyle - had to hit the cutting room floor. "It was a tricky one, content wise," he conceded, but you'd never know it from this brilliant edit.

All right, you might have an inkling when Boyle starts talking about beaming porn onto the outer walls of primary schools - not a practice he supports, takes part in or suggests, I should add, before the green biros come out to start an "appalled from . . ." letter.

For the most part, the conversation is on why the controversial performer has decided to stop - spending time with his family became more appealing than being under constant scrutiny for every word he said or wrote. There's an interesting section on why Boyle hates comedy panel shows where he reveals how scripted and planned they are, and how much he liked to drop a grenade into such proceedings.

He's certainly not lost his precocious comedy gift and shows like this are evidence that he can be put before a microphone without bringing a broadcast company into disrepute. I'd like to go on record now that he should be a guest editor on The Today Programme next year.

Opinion: Frankie Boyle's jokes go missing

recently took part in the British Comedy Guide's comedy conference and one of the pieces of advice I gave to aspiring stand-ups was "always carry a notebook with you. And also a pen."

Opinion: Comedy gets tied up - with ties

Lots of comedians seem to be getting tied up at the moment and I don't mean in a Fifty Shades of Grey way. John Bishop wears a tie. Jack Whitehall wears a tie. Frankie Boyle might come out with controversial jokes but there is nothing controversial about his tie. I think I've even seen Seann Walsh wear a tie.

Frankie Boyle angers with 'sick' Nelson Mandela tweet

Frankie Boyle has once again provoked the ire of the nation with comments made on Twitter following the death of Nelson Mandela.

Comedians support Manchester demos against NHS cuts

Francesca Martinez, Robin Ince and Frankie Boyle were amongst those supporting yesterday's protests in Manchester against cuts to the NHS and disability aid.

Is Frankie Boyle cleaning up his act?

Were my ears deceiving me? On Tuesday night I turned Radio 4 on at 6.30pm and heard a familiar Scottish accent being unfamiliarly reasonable. Frankie Boyle was one of the guests on the first edition of a new series of It's Not What You Know.