Jack Whitehall

Jack Whitehall - sud-denly nude

Jack Whitehall covers his modesty with a mallard in Cosmopolitan's annual 'Naked Centrefolds Special' magazine.

Unlikely to get an extended run is The Secret Census, in which comedian Jack Whitehall asks: how honest is Britain? For example: would people lie in court to save ex-Hollyoaker Gemma Atkinson? (Not surprisingly, more men than women would.) The only twist was that none of those taking part in the "poll" knew they were taking part. As a barometer of the state of the nation, it's pretty simple stuff, and Whitehall can do better than this.

The Comedy Lab strand showcases up-and-coming comic talent, allowing comedians the chance to experiment and the right to fail. But, my goodness, it's a hit-and-miss affair. Take tonight's two sketch shows. You would be well advised to give iCandy a wide birth, but the second, Happy Finish, is a much funnier affair and showcases show fresh new comedic talent. On Wednesday the Flight of the Conchords star Kristen Schaal stars in the very silly Penelope Princess of Pets, before Jack Whitehall carries out a Secret Census to find out how honest Britain is. Filth (Thursday) is a crude comedy set in the offices of a lads' mag and stars James Buckley from the The Inbetweeners and Danny Dyer. On Friday, MovieMash spoofs film magazine programmes, while Hung Out follows four friends newly arrived in London from Bristol.

For this two-hour bonanza in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, Channel 4 recently assembled 24 of Britain's best comedians to perform in front of a live audience at the O2 arena in London. So - deep breath - Jack Dee, Andy Parsons, David Mitchell, Fonejacker, Jack Whitehall, Jo Brand, James Corden, Jason Manford, John Bishop, Kevin Bridges, Kevin Eldon, Lee Evans, Mark Watson, Michael McIntyre, Noel Fielding, Patrick Kielty, Rich Hall, Rob Brydon, Ruth Jones, Sean Lock, Catherine Tate and Shappi Khorsandi take turns on stage to make it the biggest live stand-up show in British history. If that's not enough for you, Alan Carr and Bill Bailey perform with Stomp and Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Johnny Depp provide additional sketches.

Charity gigs come in all shapes and sizes, from a bunch of stand-ups passing the hat round in a room above a pub to this, a Channel 4-backed night to benefit Great Ormond Street which features one of the most celeb-heavy lineups you're likely to see anywhere this year. As Peep Show is unequivocally the network's biggest comedy hit in recent years, it's all the more fitting to have David Mitchell as one of the main attractions, doing a relatively rare live turn. Among those joining him at the O2 are Channel 4 regulars like Sean Lock, Jack Whitehall and the Fonejacker, but the net's also been spread wide enough to include the likes of Jonathan Ross and Gavin & Stacey stars Ruth Jones and James Corden. And given the charity involved, you can't rule out a last-minute cameo from Sir Alan Sugar. If you can't get a ticket, you'll be able to see the whole thing on TV next month.

After the high of last week's hilarious opener, I thought this episode was very flat overall. None of Sean Lock's flights-of-fancy left the ground, Jason Manford seemed to struggle for material, and the choice of guests wasn't very good. I'm not a fan of young standup Jack Whitehall, and while I find Josie Long strangely beguiling (it's her grinning, just-rolled-out-of-bed cuteness), she wasn't very funny here.

Peter Jones from Dragons' Den was subdued to begin with, but he warmed up in the second part -- and in doing so gave comedy ammo to the others about his millionaire lifestyle anecdotes. Fay Ripley wasn't a total loss because she got involved, but this episode was definitely slack and its content has already melted from my memory. You know it's a weak episode when a clip from the US version of Wife Swap (an irritating fat kid being denied junk food by his "swapped" mom) proved to be the highlight.

Don't Set The Video: The TNT Show

Comedy is notoriously difficult to get right. The hosts, Jack Whitehall and Holly Walsh have been given the task of filling the imagined void left by The 11 O'Clock Show. In Holly Walsh, there are at least glimmers of potential. However, in Jack Whitehall, we've effectively got Nick Grimey Whatshisface off the radio with a fistful of recycled cracker jokes with crude penises drawn on them.

If they conducted a national poll to find which panel show the public thought best bridged the gap between Have I Got News For You and Family Fortunes, this would be the hands-down winner.

Host Jimmy Carr returns to deadpan his way through an eighth series of more current affair-based quipping.

The show's traditional opening round to try and guess which headlines have been exercising the public jawbones this week should be pretty easy. And you can bet team captains Sean Lock and Jason Manford have spent the week happily polishing ad-libbed one-liners about Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle's meltdown, The Apprentice and the Big Brother launch.

As with HIGNFY, the only flaw in this format is that the panelists then have to patiently EXPLAIN these hot topics to us as though we've just recently touched down from Mars. "She was this woman with bushy eyebrows who lived with her cat in a village in Scotland and then she became the most famous woman in the world and it all went a bit wrong..."

Chipping in with their two-pence worth this week will be Johnny Vegas, Ulrika Jonsson, Jodie Kidd (not known for her rapid-fire humour, but she may surprise us) and Jack Whitehall, who'll be secretly hoping that the nation will be talking of nothing other than what a shame it is he won't be hosting Big Brother's Big Mouth this year.

New series of the topical quiz show - that's so hot C4 would only send us a preview disc to get here on Monday. Presumably because it is so topical it is filmed after it's shown. It's funnier than it has any real right to be, because of Jimmy Carr's well crafted one-liners, Jason Manford's likeable nature and Sean Lock's occasional bursts of genius. The guests tonight are the posh 12-year-old comic Jack Whitehall, who did a nice line in flirting with Ken Livingstone last time he was on and Johnny Vegas, who we saw trawling around a north London bookshop last week looking rather svelte.

And the prize for most innovative programme of the week goes to this offering, hosted by Jason Manford. Among those featured are consumer conspiricy theorist Steve Lipschitz, teenage telly addict Ollie and investaigative reporter Jack Whitehall.