Ian Wolf

Channel 4 has acreated a band new panel game, hosted by former Doctor Who star David Tennant.

The idea of Comedy World Cup is an interesting one, as the theme of the show is comedy itself. It's a team game, with different teams each episode, consisting of one current comedy star as captain, with a younger comic and a veteran. This week, Captain Jo Brand with Dave Spikey and Shappi Khorsandi, played against Jason Manford, who lead alongside Paul Chowdhry and Nicholas Parsons.

The episode lasted an hour, which some might seem as being excessive for a panel game - but I disagree. For starters, it still isn't the longest panel show in terms of episode length, as that title goes to The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (not counting David Walliams and his 24-hour long panel show marathon for Comic Relief). You also have the ad breaks too, so the show is broken down a bit. Put it this way; an extended repeat of HIGNFY or QI is between 40-45 minutes long. Comedy World Cup is 45 minutes long, plus 15 minutes of advertising during which you can make a cup of tea. So it's nothing new. Some might say it's an improvement to have a break in the middle.

The show consisted of seven rounds, many of them reminding me of other panel shows and game shows. For example there a "What happens next?" round (see A Question of Sport), and one where children act out stand-up routines (see The Big Fat Quiz where they get kids to act out news stories).

Now, I admit that this show wasnt 'the funniest panel show I've seen. But to me, this isn't the point. For someone like me who is really into their comedy, it's like a pub quiz themed especially for me - and if you're a comedy buff then this is the show for you. But it's best watched with other like-minded people to see who really is more knowledgeable on these matters...

QI, the cleverest comedy on television, is back on our screens this week. It's now in double figures series-wise, (tenth series and not eleventh, as has been advertised in some quarters); although in terms of the alphabet it's only up to "J".

This first episode of this series covers the subject of "Jargon" - and words beginning with "J" - and featured Jimmy Carr, Bill Bailey and newcomer Victoria Coren on the panel alongside regulars Stephen Fry and Alan Davies. Topics included dictators and their hatred of jazz, the first use of "OMG", and a lot of jizz.

In fact, the opening episode was rather smutty. Following on from a question about jizz (a bird-watching term for recognising a bird from a long distance by its shape), the panel, mostly Carr, performed quite a lot of rude material. I know that some people on the QI forums hated this, saying it was too rude for such a programme. But these critics should bear in mind that only a little while ago QI tried to be less rude when it was pre-watershed on BBC One and it failed miserably. People didn't like it, so now it's back in its old post-watershed slot on BBC Two - and now people are complaining about the show being too rude. Whenever the questions are lewd someone suggests it's 'dumbing down'. Yet whenever the questions are clever someone says it's not 'being funny enough'. I wish some people would make their minds up...

Series J is becoming notable for reasons other than perceived rudeness. For starters the "General Ignorance" round has been scrapped, because the panel were getting too wise to it and not going for the klaxon answers. Now the General Ignorance questions are spread out more to catch people out. I'm a bit worried about that, to be honest. It's a bit like Have I Got News for You getting rid of "Missing Words", Mock the Week scrapping "Scenes We'd Like to See", or Celebrity Juice getting rid off... well, whatever they have on Celebrity Juice (I can never bring myself to watch). However, it's best to wait and see after a few episodes if the re-shuffle works.

The other notable thing about this series is the guests. There are more women appearing on it. Next week's episode will be the first in which all the guests are women, which I can't remember happening on another panel show...ever. And some of the new guests are pretty experimental; they haven't even appeared on British TV yet. New Zealander Cal Wilson appears in a fortnight's time. She was on The News Quiz this week and seemed to cope alright, so hopefully she will put in a good performance.

I know some people will complain it's too rude, or it's dumbed down, or the guests are not good enough, but you can't please everyone. In the end, so long as it keeps being interesting and surprising QI will be good enough for me.

There are several problems with this show, chief amongst them being what on Earth I can say which hasn't been said already in the past week.

For those who have not seen this show, the series revolves around a British-Pakistani family from Sparkhill, Birmingham. The head of the family, Mr Khan (Adil Ray, who also co-writes the series), a pompous community leader trying to control his family in his own way as well as the local Muslim population. Part of his problems comes from the new Mosque manager, a British-born convert called Dave (Kris Marshall).

Following the broadcast of this first episode, it seems that just about no-one likes it. There are reports of at least 700 people complaining to the BBC claiming the show is guilty of racist stereotyping. Meanwhile the critics have been attacking the series for being old fashioned.

Speaking as someone who knows very little about the Muslim community (I even learnt a little bit about Islam during this opening episode) I am not in position to say if it's racist or not. However, I can give an opinion on how funny or unfunny it is. Given that it's a studio sitcom with a live audience it's no surprise the critics don't like it. Having watched it, the thing that sprung to mind was trying to compare it with similar shows. With his pompous, domineering nature to me Mr Khan shares similar traits to Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping up Appearances, which was one of my favourite comedies as a child.

However, some of the gags were just so predictable. When you saw him in the Mosque with a microphone who just knew he was going to say (on indeed sing) something stupid into it, unaware that he was broadcasting from a minaret.

In the end it'll come down to the public vote, so to speak, and Citizen Khan will probably be axed. It's for the best, really...

So, last week the BBC broadcast The Revolution Will Be Televised and Channel 4 went with I'm Spazticus. Now ITV has hit back with its own hidden camera show, and brought in the genre's most famous name: Dom Joly.

However, Fool Britannia is a much tamer programme. It's being broadcast in a pre-watershed slot, for starters, in another attempt to make-up for the shortfall caused by the end of TV Burp. While it's a nice idea to try and make a more family-friendly prank show, the show appears to be suffering a bit in its slot.

You can tell that Fool Britannia goes out after You've Been Framed - and they share two key traits. A voice over, which for a prank show doesn't really work, and a laughter track. To make it worse, I happen to know that this is canned laughter. Genuine canned laughter, in this day and age! Shocking.

Admittedly, there are some genuine laughs to be gotten out of the show. My personal favourite was Joly's health and safety officer character Ian Yard trying to prevent coffee from being too hot by using a mini electric fan. It has some potential, but it needs to cast aside some of the more troublesome features of the programme.

Another show in Channel 4's Funny Fortnight, Lucky Sexy Winners appears to be an attempt by both the channel and surreal double-act Reeves and Mortimer to replicate the success of Shooting Stars.

In this show the contestants, stand-up Eddie Izzard, This is England actor Thomas Turgoose and Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey, have to answer a series of "questions" based on a series of Vic's bizarre drawings. There is no "Dove from Above Round", or indeed rounds at all. It is just answering questions before the time runs out. The time and "The Kingdom of Prize" are guarded by the scorer, another character created by Dan Renton Skinner, who came to fame as Angelos Epithemiou. This time he's John Meringue, a proud yet somewhat mundane Viking warrior.

There were several moments of mirth, such as one of prizes being Katie Price's memory foam mattress and the duo performing martial arts on a kid. However, when I watched the show all I could think of is, "I've seen it all before." The panel show mocking has become stale now. There were also moments that I recognise from earlier Vic and Bob vehicles. At one point Bob falls over pathetically, which goes way all the way back to Big Night Out.

Overall, a bit of a disappointment. It's probably time for Vic and Bob to try something new.

The Revolution Will Be Televised is quite possibly the most intellectual show BBC Three has ever broadcast, which is odd seeing as this is a hidden camera show, a genre not know for its challenging material.

Created by Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein, the series revolves around various satirical pranks and stunts. In this first episode the duo attempted to clamp ambassadors' cars for not paying the congestion charge (they try to claim they don't have to because of diplomatic immunity); try to enter the London 2012 Olympic stadium wearing shirts with protest slogans on them; and pretend to be sadomasochists asking MI6 to send someone somewhere for some "fun".

BBC Three has had much success with satire in the past. After all, arguably its most successful comedy is Russell Howard's Good News. However, these two shows are the different ends of two funny extremes. Good News mocks all the weird and odd stories that somehow filter into our papers and news channels. It's admittedly not that satirical, but it is fun. TRWBT however is much more vicious and subversive. It tells you things you need to know. It has a huge nerve to go and do the things it does. And I'm surprised that Prowse and Rubinstein haven't been arrested yet.

Following on from the surprise that Jack Whitehall can actually act (Fresh Meat), we now get the chance to see if he can write in this new BBC Three sitcom, Bad Education. Judging by this opening episode, the jury's out.

Whitehall also stars in Bad Education, as a feckless secondary school teacher, surrounded by a mixture of odd staff and bosses, as well as somewhat cliché students. You can't help but think that Whitehall is trying to cram every minority and stereotypical student into his classroom, ranging from camp, bullies, unfit fat kids, wheelchair-bound, flirtatious, and intellectual oriental.

He seems to have fallen into the trap of making his own character the number one priority, while almost forgetting to flesh out all the others. The headmaster, played by Mathew Horne, comes across as an over-progressive idiot; Whitehall's love intereste (Sarah Solemani) is a bit too innocent; and the stern and frightening deputy head (Michelle Gomez) is like a less surreal - and less funny - version of Sue White from Green Wing.

There were odd moments of mirth, like Whitehall's Pearl Harbour history lesson, but I think the only reason this could possibly get a second series is because of the star name attached to it.

Gigglebox weekly #53 - Britain's Oldest Stand Up

This week there was documentary hidden away in the schedules on More4. Part of their "First Cut" strand, it covered the return to stand up comedy of Jack Woodward, the oldest stand up comedian in the country, at the age of 90.

One of the longest running comedies on Radio 2 has made its return for the Olympics, as David Quantick presented a guide to the games for people who may not know that much about it...

The Blagger's Guide to the Games is full of information and rapid fire gags, cut in with sound effects and music left, right and centre. This is a four-part series, so it's longer and more informative that The Sinha Games, and covers certain aspects of the games further in depth. For example, there's an entire section about the austerity games in 1948 (when London last held the event), as well as a gymnastics guide.

The main aspect of this programme, for those who haven't listened to previous editions of The Blagger's Guide, is that it's so full of gags and material that often you miss some bits and have to listen to it again. My highlight of the show was a sequence about the austerity games, which featured impressions of Ben Elton, Kenneth Williams and Michael McIntyre all rolling into one. Excellent.

However, in the same section I was less keen on the rationing routine which featured a Dad's Army skit between Lance Corporal Jones and Mrs. Fox after the end of the war. It wasn't so much the lack of humour that was the problem, but my own pedantry. I'm a huge Dad's Army fan, and I know that in the final episode Mrs. Fox becomes Mrs. Jones. But that's just me...

There's much to enjoy from The Blagger's Guide..., though it's one of those shows that needs your full attention.

On Radio 4, doctor-turned-comedian Paul Sinha presented a one-off show about the Olympics, which serves as a sequel to his 2011 cricket programme, The Sinha Test.

In this half-hour, Sinha talks about his own obsession with the games and how he has collated so much Olympic trivia over the years, perhaps the most interesting being about the 1956 water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary, which took place when the former country was invading the latter country...

Then there's the story of the world's least known Olympic gold medallist from Team GB, Andy Archibald, a reserve member of the 1976 pentathlon team, who also just happened to by Sinha's House Master at school.

There's quite a bit of interesting material to this one, but I can't help but feel that this could've been a bit longer. If it was a full hour, like a normal live stand-up show, it might have been able to get through some of Sinha's funnier material. Still, it was decent half-hour show from the comedy doctor.