Jason Manford

The topical panel show returns for a new series. Host Jimmy Carr, who delivers his pre-scripted waspish remarks with perfect timing, is joined by team captains Sean Lock and Jason Manford, with pop singer Jamelia and the perennial quiz show guest Claudia Winkleman.

Cats are supposed to have nine lives and if that really is the case, time could be running out for the smuggest man on the telly - because Jimmy Carr's comedy panel show is nine series' old today. Well, technically it will be nine whole series old in six weeks' time, at the end of the latest run. But that would ruin the intro to this preview!

As usual, each show sees the teams - captained by Sean Lock and Jason Manford - guessing what the British public thinks about the week's most talked-about subjects. And as usual, being correct will come second to who can give the funniest answers.

Comedy is undeniably a booming business again. Though it may never reach the fever pitch of rock n'roll, a legion of related book and DVD releases and a plethora of live tours suggest that it's in rude health. It may be too rude for some at times but 2010 promises no let-up.

Laura Solon and Dan Antopolski both hit the road this month. Solon, who won the Perrier in 2005, will air her 2009 Edinburgh show, 'Rabbit-Faced Story Soup', a tour-de-force of characterisation and tightly-written one-liners. Antopolski is no slouch when it comes to one-liners either and he'll be aiming to show that he has more to offer than the hedgehog joke ("Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?") that won him, via a public vote, Dave TV's Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award this year.

The ever more recognisable The Thick of It and In The Loop star Chris Addison goes on tour in February with his first brand new show for five years. Mock the Week host, Dara O'Briain has announced a massive 60-date nationwide tour from March to June culminating in dates at the Hammersmith Apollo. And, though he once told me that he didn't fancy the idea of "Leamington Spa on a Tuesday evening", the Irish comedian, and a former Edinburgh comedy award nominee, Andrew Maxwell is finally going to be unleashed on UK audiences for his first regional tour from April. Though many up and down the country will already know this dexterous comedian from his club sets, this will be the first time that his full-length excellence will have been witnessed outside of Edinburgh or of his native country where he has always been guaranteed large turnout.

Other tours to watch come from Mark Watson (from October) who recently gave a good account of himself in the chair of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, sketch troupe Pappy's and Jason Manford from June. And, watch out, the comedian that people love to hate, Frankie Boyle starts his 'I Would Happily Punch Every One Of You In The Face' tour at Glasgow's Kings Theatre in March. Perhaps he'll seal the gig with a kiss.

Jason Manford Interview

Jason Manford talks about Christmas: "Whoever decided to include sausages wrapped in bacon was a big fat heart-attack-waiting-to-happen".

Bafta-nominated comedy-fest, Live At The Apollo, returns for a fifth series and it opens with a bang. Northern funny man Jason Manford hosts with special guest, 2009's comedy sensation, Michael McIntyre.

McIntyre's most recent telly series Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow pulled in a huge five million viewers a night and it's easy to see why. He has an astonishing talent for turning the humdrum into the hilarious, with a laser-sharp eye for everyday silliness.

There aren't many people, even comedians, who could have you weeping with laughter over hoovering techniques, the charade of ordering restaurant wine or the contents of your spice rack. And you'll never watch a snooker game in quite the same way again. It's an added plus, in this cynical day and age, that his humour is also entirely humane.

Manford copes gamely with his man-of-the-moment guest and provides plenty of laughs to match.

My one complaint - what possessed the people in suits to cut the show to a mere half hour? Still, well worth watching. Even if you haven't had a rubbish week, it'll cheer you up no end.

Michael McIntyre, eh? He does a lot of observing, doesn't he? And he's quite pleased with himself, isn't he? You know when you go to France and see posters for stand-up comedy and they look like clowns? That's what his pictures look like. He exudes over-the-top ludicrousness. So much so, some people might find it irksome. Still, he's very popular. Partly because he's benefited from the huge ratings of Live At The Apollo, which gives stand-ups longer to build routines rather than spit out one-liners in bearpits like Mock The Week. Anyhow, the reason to watch this is host Jason Manford, one of our favourite comics, a lovely, sensible man when you meet him, who has exceptional taste. He's going to give up stand-up to start writing soon, so catch him while you can.

It could have been one of those dry, worthy, predictable tributes. Instead, comedian Jason Manford injects this lively look at the lugubrious-faced Northern comic Jimmy Jewel with tremendous verve, and a few dreadful jokes. For those who don't know, Jewel was a hero of the music hall, was one half of a double act with his cousin Ben Warriss, made Hylda Baker look good in the TV sitcom Nearest and Dearest and ended up a remarkable character actor, as his stage role in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys attests. By the end of the programme, you can't fail to agree with Manford: Jewel was one of comedy's true greats.

There were more than 750 comedy shows on at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Even if you think you've heard quite enough already on Radio 4 and read too much about them everywhere you have to admire the steely determination of Jason Manford (of Eight Out of Ten Cats) and his producer, Julia Mackenzie, in boiling the lot down to two half-hours. This is the first, featuring Kevin Bridges, Mick Ferry, Sarah Millican and Mike Wilmot, all of whom may have their own shows this time next year. You never know, they might even make you laugh.

Readers of a certain age will have fond memories of Animal Magic, the highlight of which was always Johnny Morris doing comedy voiceovers of zoo animals. I dimly remember his camel voice being hilarious to my six-year-old self. This new teatime series follows the same principle, but with the likes of Stephen Fry and Jason Manford putting funny voices on footage of animals in the wild. Fry plays a languorous panda reflecting on fame as he chews bamboo. There are dancing badgers and puffins singing Chas & Dave songs. There are ants trying to mug a beetle, a seal waking from a bad dream, and a crime-fighting hawk chasing down bad-guy lizards ("No-one's above the claw"). Some of it's silly, some of it's a bit lame, but parts are oddly brilliant. It's not necessarily the ideas that look good on paper that work best: a rodent repeatedly shouting "Alan!" is very funny, as is a bug hopelessly trying to climb a sand dune. It's simple, innocent fun that grown-ups and kids can laugh at together.

We can't be completely certain where Auntie Beeb got the idea for this rib-tickling wildlife show, but we did see her down Our Price buying a DVD of Animal Magic... In fact, this mash-up of astounding animals with a comic voiceover owes a huge debt to the much-missed Johnny Morris, though it's a darn sight cheekier thanks to the vocal talents of Jason Manford. Smashing family fun.