James Corden

Have you been watching ... The Wrong Mans?

Will James Corden and Mathew Baynton survive their wickedly funny crime caper involving Russian gangsters, MI5 and the Berkshire town planning office?

Everyone loves sparks flying on the chatshow circus and the best chance of a meltdown tonight looks likely to come from the wayward Britney Spears as she drops by for a chinwag with Alan Carr.

Will he ask her opinion on twerking Miley Cyrus? Also making merry with Carr are Olympic hero Mo Farah and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, plus music from Jake Bugg, while Graham Norton has landed Paul McCartney, Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, James Corden and Katy Perry.

As usual, Norton's bookers have activated their tractor beam to draw in the best celebrities. For a start, Paul McCartney is on the couch! Our greatest living songwriter (discuss) will talk about his new album, helpfully entitled New, and give us a sample - most likely the Beatles-y title track, which sounds like a breezy relative of Got to Get You into My Life.

At the other end of the pop spectrum is Katy Perry - she has a new album out soon. And let's not forget the actors: Natalie Portman talks about her role in Thor sequel, The Dark World and if that wasn't enough star wattage, James Corden drops by.

Today's fan poll: if you had to choose between James Corden and Mathew Baynton being mistaken for a rent boy and forced to perform a boy dance for the pleasure of drunken Russian gangsters, who would you plump for?

Right answer. It was Baynton's Sam, the little of this little and large combo, who lost a last remaining shred of dignity as The Wrong Mans (BBC Two) cranked up the thrilling element of its comedy-thriller plot.

It was just one memorable moment in an episode that also involved Corden getting mugged by an airbag. Visual comedy doesn't often do it for me but The Wrong Mans gets it spot on.

Described memorably as 'a scrawny hobbit and a male Clare Balding' - now you come to mention it - Baynton and Corden have fast developed into a winning double act, the latter resisting the temptation and letting Baynton's befuddled straight man set the tone. Thus far, The Wrong Mans is getting it totally right.

Sitcoms usually reset to zero at the end of every episode, but this is not a sitcom. Every episode of The Wrong Mans sends our antsy heroes Sam and Phil several miles further away from normality. The danger is that the twisting storyline will strangle the comedy - and if this episode had an inch more plot, it'd have too much plot and not enough jokes. But it works because we're never too far from a big, silly visual gag or just a nice bit of interplay between creators Mat Baynton (Sam) and James Corden (the bolder but stupider Phil) - and beneath the pratfalling, the story has been carefully constructed.

Most of this episode takes place at an eastern European gangster's party, where Sam must dance for his life.

Video: James Corden has 'One Chance'

James Corden talks about playing Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts in the film One Chance.

Mid-year review: The Wrong Mans

I didn't expect to be enjoying The Wrong Mans as much as I am, but it's doing something incredibly well: the thriller aspect is effective, while the humour is present without overshadowing the drama. It's a very difficult balance to get right, but writers James Corden and Mathew Baynton have managed it.

The accidental crime-fighters negotiate an end to the bungled hostage situation they are caught up in, but instead of returning home the pair are drawn deeper into a strange criminal underworld. James Corden and Mat Baynton's comedy is reminiscent of the high-concept farce of The Comic Strip Presents, with its inept baddies and hopeless protagonists. (Comic Strip alumna Dawn French cameos as Corden's overbearing mum.) Far slicker than its 1980s counterpart, it's just as charmingly silly.

James Corden and Michael McIntyre watch football

James Corden and Michael McIntyre were seen enjoying a spot of male bonding as they watched the Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United game on Sunday.

Peep Show meets the Coens in this noirish comedy, as two office workers (Mat Baynton and James Corden) are drawn into a testy gangland conflict. A slightly unlikely mish-mash of genres, but one that comes off as both stylish and fun.