Graham Norton

Radio Times review

The path from comedy to chat show is a well-trodden but perilous one. Alan Carr and Graham Norton have both skipped down that route with ease but now Michael McIntyre finds out whether his bouncy style of humour will work in the static format of a chat show.

Stand-up comedians don't always find it easy to allow someone else into the spotlight so he'll need to rein in his boisterousness a bit. If he wants pointers, two of his guests have been in the hot seat themselves before: Terry Wogan and Lily Allen (although the latter was widely panned for her efforts). It'll be interesting to see how Michael copes with his other guest, too - Lord Sugar doesn't suffer fools gladly, so he's not always the easiest interviewee.

Does the world really need another chat show? Decide for yourself as irrepressibly perky comedian Michael McIntyre tries to remind himself to shut up long enough to let his guests get a word in edgeways. Graham Norton, Alan Carr and Jonathan Ross will scarcely be quaking in their boots at McIntyre's opening guest list: Lily Allen, Lord Alan Sugar and Sir Terry Wogan can all be relied on for a jolly anecdote but it's a pretty safe choice for an opening gambit. McIntyre will need something a little edgier if he's going to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

It's a clash of the titans of TV entertainment as multi award-winning Graham Norton plays host to multi award-winning TV hosts Ant and Dec in the last hurrah of the current series. The cheeky banter will be on overload between a trio never lost for words, so will the rest of the guests - supermodel Naomi Campbell (right), Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, The Fall's Jamie Dornan, soon to star in Fifty Shades of Grey, and Brit Award-winner Ellie Goulding - be able to get a word in edgeways?

Alan Davies Après-Ski review

Sadly, Alan Davies doesn't possess the wit to bounce off them like Graham Norton, if this evidence is anything to go by.

The Graham Norton Show tops Friday ratings with 4.38m

The Graham Norton Show was Friday's (February 14) highest-rated show outside of soaps.

Radio Times review

When you've clocked up as many great performances as Gary Oldman, you can afford a bit of silly stuff, and his new movie is silly with a cult twist. He stars in the remake of 1987's cyborg sci-fi RoboCop as Dr Dennett Norton, the creator of the freaky man-machine with a nipped-in waist and a surprising fondness for free will. In common with many of Oldman's characters, Dr Norton looks like he smells of old coffee - a nice match with Nick Frost, whose role as tubby wannabe Latin dancer Bruce in new British romcom Cuban Fury seems to be powered mainly by iced buns.

Graham Norton will bring them together in a frenzy of near-the-knuckle jokes and slyly clever questions. He'd do well, though, to avoid the subject of the one role they (almost) have in common: the antihero of Martin Amis's Money, John Self, who eluded Oldman but came to Frost with pretty dire results.

Hollywood comes to Graham Norton's sofa as Matthew McConaughey - Golden Globe-winning star of the Oscar-nominated Dallas Buyers Club - joins Julianne Moore, whose new action thriller, Non-Stop, touches down in Britain at the end of next month. There's also a US vibe to the music with Sheryl Crow, while keeping the Union flag flying is Alan Davies, whose comedy career takes a quite interesting sporty turn this time next week when he hosts a Winter Olympics chatty guest show.

Radio Times review

It's not long ago that Matthew McConaughey had become a byword for lightweight romantic comedies and going shirtless at every opportunity. But the role that recently won him a Golden Globe was lightweight in the literal sense: McConaughey shed three stone to play a rodeo cowboy dying of AIDS in The Dallas Buyer's Club.

The award put the icing on a remarkable return to the Hollywood A-list and tonight he discusses his comeback with Graham Norton while Alan Davies provides comedy cover and Sheryl Crow provides music.

They'll be rolling out the red carpet tonight as a stellar cast of talent drop by for a chat. Michael Fassbender talks about his role in 12 Years A Slave, Idris Elba reflects on stepping into the shoes of a legend in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom and there's a chance to get the inside track on punchy comedy drama Girls from US actor/writer Lena Dunham. Completing one of Graham Norton's most diverting line-ups are national treasure Olivia Colman and rockers Keane.

It's been another winning year for Graham Norton - great guests (his New Year's Eve line-up this year was extraordinary) and great audience figures. Even if you saw every episode of the most recent series these best-bit compilations are always worth a look. So prepare to relive the good and the bad.

The good include Lady Gaga forging an unlikely, instant friendship with EastEnders' Dot Cotton, June Brown; the two Doctors Matt Smith and David Tennant taking fan questions; and Paul McCartney talking about his collaboration with Michael Jackson. And the bad? Michelle Pfeiffer and a very unforthcoming Robert De Niro looking bored and baffled as Cher and Jennifer Saunders stole the show. And Harrison Ford seemingly very unimpressed by Jack Whitehall.