Heston Blumenthal

Radio Times review

Comedian James Acaster kicks things off nicely with his first pet hate, which is simply: geese. They are "the worst of all the animals," he argues via a nice routine on their lairy attitude. Which naturally is topped by host Frank Skinner, who goes off at a tangent with a story about geese and Rod Stewart - and as we know, Skinner's tangents and flights of fancy are what hold the show aloft, when it would otherwise be little more than "Gripe Idol". His routine about his tea-making approach is wonderful and leaves Heston Blumenthal spluttering in despair. Also on tonight: Kirsty Wark, who really doesn't like plastic flowers.

If his chat show is anything to go by, Graham Norton could keep up his chirpy line in celeb quizzing in his sleep. Which is just as well, for tonight he embarks on a mammoth six-hour chat-athon in a Guinness Book of World Records bid to pose the most questions asked on a TV chat show. All in aid of Comic Relief. Our Graham's not flying solo, though - Frank Skinner and Terry Wogan are on the subs bench and there's music from Example, Paloma Faith, Hurts and Laura Mvula. Celeb guests chatting along include Louis Smith, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, Heston Blumenthal and Sarah Millican.

Norton foregoes the usual physical challenges beloved of Comic Relief for a more sedentary affair: attempting to set the Guinness world record for most questions asked on a TV chat show, which should see him broadcasting into the wee hours of Friday morning. We can only hope that Graham also dispenses with his usual tipple of wine with guests, otherwise this chatathon is going to get very messy.

So far guests announced as appearing on the sofa include Ronnie Corbett, RT's Sarah Millican, Martin Freeman, Elle Macpherson, James Nesbitt, Louis Smith, Heston Blumenthal, Warwick Davis, Russell Tovey and Jimmy Carr, though you wouldn't bet against an American superstar or two turning up, too. Music acts will include Example, Paloma Faith, Hurts and Laura Mvula.

Graham will be assisted by co-hosts Terry Wogan, Frank Skinner and Nick Grimshaw, and viewers can help, too, by submitting questions via Twitter and Facebook. And by donating money.

Affable Rob Brydon's light-hearted chat show is pleasant enough but has little to distinguish it from others of its kind. Tonight he's joined by Barbara Windsor who shares a delightful Amy Winehouse anecdote and has fun sending-up her EastEnders alias Peggy Mitchell's banshee-like behaviour. Chef Heston Blumenthal also drops by to discuss barbecuing etiquette and sleek doo-wop band The Overtones provide the music.

New Year's Eve is a tricky one for TV: lots of us stay in through necessity, bloating or an aversion to contrived parties, yet nobody's ever really cracked the question of what we want to watch.

The big channels stick with Big-Ben-and-fireworks jobs. Channel 4 doesn't try to compete at midnight, firing its big light-entertainment gun earlier (9pm) with Alan Carr's New Year Specstacular. Jonathan Ross, Kirstie Allsopp, and Heston Blumenthal are among the likeable Carr's comic foils, with music from JLS and the Ting Tings.

Bespectacled funnyman Carr hosts a party-themed special, with guests including Jonathan Ross, comedian Micky Flanagan, and Strictly's Alesha Dixon, who proved herself fond of a tipple when she appeared on Carr's chat show a few weeks ago and later apologised for a string of indiscreet comments. Also popping up are Channel 4 colleagues Heston Blumenthal, Gok Wan and Kirstie Allsopp, while there's live music from JLS and The Ting Tings. We're promised themed sketches including a Royal Wedding spoof with Carr and David Walliams as the newlyweds.

The main problem I have with I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue as a reviewer is that it's impossible to review such a classic show, one which has been on the air for nearly 40 years. What can you say about it that hasn't been said already?

Well, let's start off with the guest panellist - first-timer Marcus Brigstocke. Out of the four panellists (the others being the three regulars, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden), he seemed to have the funniest bits. Maybe he was the funniest, maybe it's the show's view to make the guest look the funniest, I don't know. However, he did seem to have many high points in the episode I listened to - his rendition of "Common People" to the tune of "If You're Happy and Know It", for example, was great.

There was also the introduction of a new round in this show called "Heston's Services". This was akin to similar rounds such as "Book Club" and "Film Club", in this case coming up with meals that Heston Blumenthal would serve at a motorway service station.

The other main component of the show, of course, is host Jack Dee. I know that there are lot of people out there who won't accept him as host and won't be happy until Humphrey Lyttelton is exhumed, reanimated and blowing his trumpet in the chair for all eternity, but Dee does a good job as far as I'm concerned.

Telegraph agony uncle Graham Norton's usual guest mix of American A-lister, British TV star and comedian is repeated tonight, because why fix what isn't broken? Ashton Kutcher, an actor (and star of new movie No Strings Attached) as well as the young husband of Demi Moore, joins experimental chef Heston Blumenthal on the sofa. The line-up is completed by unnervingly tall stand-up Greg Davies (he of E4's sitcom The Inbetweeners). Norton's combination of chumminess and sarcasm is idiosyncratic, but he gets the best from his guests.

Gayle Tuesday makes a welcome return to the screen in Gayle Tuesday: The Comeback. Oh come on, you remember Gayle, the page three stunna and uber-bimbo who graced TV screens back in the nineties?

It was Gayle who memorably introduced the phrase "Oi, tits first! I'm not a slag", to British television.

A decade on we find Gayle, the comic creation of actress Brenda Gilhooly, in denial of middle age and intent upon a return to the world of celebrity.

It is all highly enjoyable and consistently funny, but at an hour in length each episode rather over stretches itself.

Toyah Willcox, Paul O'Grady, Ainsley Harriott, Harry Hill and Heston Blumenthal are among the famous faces sending themselves up, with Toyah winning the acting honours.

Gayle Tuesday, a (spoof) Page 3 girl who had her own series in 1996, is ready for a comeback. And Living is there to mock-ument her every move. As a show about fame, it picks easy targets, but there are moments of flair. It gets a lot better when it shifts towards Gayle's grotesque ambition and oneupmanship (a Toyah Willcox family funeral is particularly Partridge-like). Good fun, with game guest roles from Harry Hill (who script edits), Heston Blumenthal, Paul O'Grady and Ainsley Harriott.