Jeremy Clarkson

Radio Times review

The hit-and-miss lunacy is all hit in this episode. What makes Vic and Bob's Young Ones-style madhouse so great is that we can never be sure what's coming next. Most comedies are more or less predictable: not this one.

Lothario Beef (Matt Berry) has to hide from an angry husband? Naturally he takes cover in the washing machine, and emerges a tiny shrunken version of himself. What is Vic drawing on Bosh's back with the tattoo gear they stole? Why, a picture of Jeremy Clarkson of course, which then forms the basis of a madly ingenious visual gag involving a lampshade and some bongo drums.

It's all violently daft and childish, and that's entirely the point.

Review: Eric and Little Ern at St James theatre review

In a decade oversubscribed with crude comedy, courtesy of the likes of Dapper Laughs and Jeremy Clarkson, it's soothing to remember the innocent humour of British double act Morecambe & Wise.

Radio Times review

A slumbery round of the gently filthy information exchange, livened by a shake-up in the scoring system. We're playing Lucky Losers, this being Series L, which means klaxons are good, clever right answers are to be avoided and Alan Davies has to find a new way to come last.

With L also standing for lavatory this series, the best banter focuses on bottom-wiping: there's a terrifying lesson on which leaves to avoid when caught short in a Queensland forest, while Jeremy Clarkson and Sandi Toksvig bond over the impermeability of boarding-school loo roll. If that all sounds a bit vulgar, wait until you hear what Lillie Langtry once said to Edward VII.

Paul Chowdhry, Leicester Square Theatre - comedy review

Despite a reputation for being edgy, Paul Chowdhry seemed to prefer routines about Jeremy Clarkson and Michael Jackson which felt way past their tell-by date.

Kate Smurthwaite interview

Kate Smurthwaite talks about how she would shake up the political system, and reveals a perfect new job for Jeremy Clarkson.

HIGNFY tops Friday ratings for third week

The BBC One panel show, which was hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, was Friday's highest-rated show outside of soaps, attracting 4.46 million (20.6%) viewers at 9pm.

Chat shows can sometimes throw up guest lists that read like a particularly demented dinner party and that's certainly the case with Mr Norton tonight as Hollywood hell-raiser Colin Farrell, Top Gear motormouth Jeremy Clarkson, X Factor matriarch Sharon Osbourne and comedian Jo Brand find themselves parked next to each other on the sofa. At least we get a rare chance to sample the live delights of chart-topping Arcade Fire on terrestrial TV.

QI's trademark blend of improving silliness is in full flow, as the teams absorb (or occasionally, recall) obscure facts on the subject in hand - inventions. It's a rich seam: jerry cans, electric jock straps ("Why have they gone out of fashion?" wonders Jeremy Clarkson), ear-dryers, windscreen wipers, and so on. In the section on the Slinky spring-toy, each panelist gets a mini-staircase and their own Slinky to experiment with, though Alan Davies is almost wilfully hopeless with his, and Sandi Toksvig wants to keep the staircase to reach shelves in her kitchen.

It's all as amiable and informative as ever: Toksvig tells us that it was a woman who invented both the windscreen wiper and the rear-view mirror. Clarkson has no comment.

Dave Allen was a genuinely funny man, not because his jokes were great - some missed and some hit - but because he had a combination of charm, timing and delivery that made you want to laugh anyway. God's Own Comedian was a respectful appreciation of the writer and performer who courted controversy in the 1970s with his mockery of religion, particularly of the Catholic variety.

It's hard to imagine a comedian being allowed to make fun of religious piety on the BBC now, partly because we've become more "respectful" (aka fearful) of religious sensibilities and partly because the BBC is institutionally terrified of giving offence. The other notable thing about that period in British television, going by the various contributors who knew Allen, is that it produced a generation untouched by dental vanity. I haven't seen such fabulously bad teeth on view since I interviewed Shane MacGowan.

Before he sat on a bar stool, signature fag in one hand and a glass of whisky (apparently ginger ale) in the other, Dave Allen hosted a chat show. Not long ago anyone who had any kind of success on or off TV - Jeremy Clarkson, Davina McCall, Richard Littlejohn - was rewarded with their own chatshow, with mostly disastrous results.

Tonight's line-up has the potential for all kinds of off-kilter brilliance - Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal, caustic comic Joan Rivers and Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson and James May. Makes you almost feel sorry for Gyllenhaal, a serious actor, surrounded by that lot. His sister Maggie was a Norton guest two years ago and looked terrified.

He's here to talk about his latest film, the police thriller End of Watch. Rivers will be triumphant after a sell-out British tour, while Clarkson and May have a Top Gear DVD to plug.