Harry Hill

Harry Hill settles £1m legal fight with his old agent

Harry Hill and his former agent have finally settled a year-long High Court battle.

Pictures: Harry Hill receives his Doctorate

Here are a selection of photos from Harry Hill's doctorate presentation at the University of Kent.

One of the biggest decisions an up-and-coming stand-up comedian can make is to give up the day job and concentrate on performing. It means farewell to the career as a teacher (Greg Davies), doctor (Harry Hill) or sales rep (John Bishop) and suggests a belief that a job telling jokes is going to pay the mortgage instead.

Alfie Moore spent 18 years on the Humberside police force before he turned to stand-up comedy, but if It's a Fair Cop - his first series for BBC Radio 4 - is anything to go by, it was definitely the right move.

The formula for the show is that Moore swears his audience in as police officers for one night, and takes them through a real-life scenario to see what kind of decisions they would make in the same circumstances. Theft was the theme of the first instalment, with the focus on 80-year-old Maureen and a stolen tin of salmon.

This approach was clever because the laughs, and there were plenty of them, came from two different directions. For a start, there was Moore's great patter, in which he managed to mock his previous profession at the same time as demonstrating a deep respect for it. Plus his rapport with the audience/temporary officers ("Don't do the crime if you can't do the time," said one less than sympathetic volunteer) was equally entertaining.

Harry Hill to host Stars In Their Eyes?

Harry Hill could be the new host of a revival of classic singing competition Stars In Their Eyes.

To celebrate BBC2's 50th anniversary, the channel exhumed an hour of so-called hidden treasures from The Comedy Vaults, including un-aired pilots, cult classics and first television appearances from comedy legends such as French & Saunders, Steve Coogan and Billy Connolly. There was even rare archive footage of Harry Hill with hair.

Monty Python's Eric Idle was also on hand to puncture the general air of self-congratulation, suggesting BBC2 should actually be charged with crimes against humanity for losing or wiping so many tapes containing classic comedy episodes and performances.

One tape the station would have done well to lose featured the band Madness, starring in an eponymous sitcom written for them by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. It would be hard to pick out one band member for opprobrium, as they were all so dreadful.

I Can't Sing: why X Factor musical was voted off

The popularity of Simon Cowell's TV talent shows peaked a couple of years ago. Harry Hill and Steve Brown's show was staged too late - and felt conflicted. We were asked to laugh at the vacuousness of it all yet also care about the characters.

What's next for Harry Hill?

A new idea would seem to be needed. However, it is not as simple as that.

Why 'I Can't Sing!' was voted out of the West End

After a year of thunderous hype, Harry Hill's Simon Cowell-produced X Factor musical I Can't Sing! has been voted out of the West End by the ticket-buying public - despite decent reviews, it'll end its run on May 10, scarcely two months after it began previews.

X Factor musical I Can't Sing! to close early

A West End musical based on The X Factor is to close after just two months. Co-written by Harry Hill, I Can't Sing! pokes fun at the talent show and its creator Simon Cowell.