Jonathan Ross

Why Comic Relief is still a cunning plan

It should have been a car crash. But despite some grinding gear changes, the risky format proved to have lots of fuel in the tank.

Jonathan Ross on 25 years of Comic Relief

Having seen what is planned for this year the ability to forge unforgettable collaborations and sketches is still very much alive and well.

Ross & Brand reunited post Sachsgate was fun & fearless

Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's first TV appearance since Sachsgate was fun, fearless, energetic and a little subversive - everything Saturday night TV should be, writes Katy Brand.

Russell Brand cracks tasteless jokes about Jimmy Savile

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross have told of their regret and embarrassment over the Sachsgate scandal. But Brand couldn't help but cause yet more controversy by cracking tasteless jokes about the Jimmy Savile sex scandal.

Lenny Henry remembers the first Red Nose Day in 1988

The comedian recalls presenting the final sketch of the first ever Red Nose Day with Griff Rhys Jones and Jonathan Ross.

Jonathan Ross left with the last resort

I'm sure there are many soul-destroying jobs in the world right now. But I'm struggling to imagine anything worse than being a guest booker on ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show.

Ross and Brand re-unite for first time since Sachsgate

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross will appear together next week for the first time since the "Sachsgate" scandal.

Jonathan Ross - who, depending on your taste, is either likeably energetic or irritatingly garrulous - is tonight joined by Australian actress Rose Byrne (Damages, Bridesmaids). She'll be discussing her role in the new British romcom I Give It a Year. In the studio, too, are comedian Adam Hills, whose news review show The Last Leg has become a cult hit, and entertainer Jools Holland. Music comes from Alicia Keys.

Reviewing this programme's a bit of a problem because it's been in the newspapers all week, so it's hard to try and think about something new.

For those who might have been living in a cave since the year began, on this year's edition of the two-hour long panel game hosted by Jimmy Carr (cue jokes about him tax dodging), one team, consisting of Jack Whitehall and James Corden, supposedly got into trouble after drinking some wine on the set, getting tipsy, writing a random phone number on the screen which lead to people phoning some random member of the public, and making some rude jokes about the Queen which I'm not going to repeat. If you want to know what they are, watch the programme on 4oD and see it in context.

Concerning the phone number, it should be obvious that if you write just about any sequence of numbers down it will be someone's actual phone number and some idiots will ring it up. That was a bit stupid, and Channel 4 could have made an effort to do something about it. You know, like blur it out.

To be honest, though, I've no objection to the jokes about the Queen. Everyone knows that the Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells and Daily Mail brigades would get up on their high horses because, frankly, they enjoy draining the passion out of anything that isn't a repeat of Last of the Summer Wine - while at the same time complaining that they're too many repeats on TV. Since the "outrage" that the Mail has failed to stir up in the same way as it did with "Sachsgate", people have been fighting back in their own way, generally annoying the rag.

But I suppose the main reason why I personally didn't mind the jokes about the Queen is that over the past few years I've become sick of all the royal events on the box. First there was William and Kate getting married, then the Diamond Jubilee, now there's going to be a baby, and you just know the TV channels are going to give months and months of tedious analysis about the whole thing.

I've just got this nightmare vision in my head of Nicholas Witchell and his camera-crew trying to bribe a midwife so that they could get the BBC live exclusive access to the birth from the Duchess of Cambridge's private maternity unit, in which he will try to talk for about 18 hours straight with experts, while a camera will film Kate's most private parts constantly as they wait for the baby's head to come out the royal CENSORED.

Other than that however, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year was mostly enjoyable, except for some tedious reality TV guests - and the lacklustre Jonathan Ross. Shame Whitehall and Corden didn't try to get him drunk.