Judi Dench

Norton hosts a James Bond special tonight when 007 himself Daniel Craig, his boss Judi Dench ("M") and his latest adversary, Javier Bardem, make themselves comfortable on the sofa.

The trio star in the eagerly anticipated 23rd Bond movie, Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes. A brief trailer released on the internet whetted appetites of Bond fans across the globe, and not just because it featured a brief shot of Bond in his trunks emerging slick from a swimming pool.

So there is much to talk about, and not just the film. Here's hoping we hear Craig talk about that unforgettable little moment back in the summer when Bond strode through the carpeted corridors of Buckingham Palace to escort his employer, the Queen, to the Olympic Games opening ceremony. For many her short greeting - "Good evening, Mr Bond" - was the highlight of a momentous evening.

The 007 publicity machine has parachuted in a special line-up for a Skyfall-themed episode tonight. Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench and new baddie Javier Bardem join Norton for a chat about the latest Bond instalment. Lacking a comedian on the couch to contribute jokes, Norton may have to work overtime to get the best from Craig, but we're confident that a bit of gentle teasing and perhaps a martini will loosen him up.

I recently attended a Graham Norton Show recording, so I can bear witness that it's a brilliantly slick operation and Norton is a master of audience-wrangling, winning us all over immediately and making us feel a big part of the show - though not bigger than the array of guests, who we'll see again in this end-of-series compilation.

Remember Madonna, being her usual steely and scary self, despite Norton's efforts to try to get her to loosen up a bit? And what of the great Sir David Attenborough, all soft and mooning, not over a gorilla, but a comely young woman - actress Cameron Diaz? Just watch his face as he hangs on her every single word.

We also see again Dame Judi Dench, Hugh Grant, Katy Perry and the voluble, unstoppable force that is Will Smith.

Graham Norton's best bits are trotted out for another viewing in a compilation episode, and there are plenty of them. The BBC's king of chat (and Telegraph agony uncle) has managed this series to enjoy light-hearted badinage with an increasingly impressive array of A-listers. He even managed to loosen Madonna up. Also worth revisiting tonight are chats with Judi Dench, Hugh Grant, Will Smith, Cameron Diaz and Katy Perry. It's a long time and a lot of sport until October, so enjoy the banter.

Judi Dench's 'Graham Norton' appearance draws 4.1m

The Graham Norton Show drew 4.1m (26.9%) viewers on Friday as Judi Dench and Dev Patel dropped by to promote their new film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

National treasure Dame Judi Dench may bring an unfamiliar air of gravitas to Norton's saucy sofa as she snuggles in alongside Slumdog Millionaire Dev Patel, one of her co-stars in new big-screen comedy drama The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Music comes from Will Young, whose continuing success is an itch Simon Cowell just can't scratch.

"She just likes working so if someone offers her a job, she takes it. She's crazy," says Geoffrey Palmer affectionately in an attempt to explain why Dame Judi Dench has had so many disparate roles during her lengthy career. Having started out as a Shakespearean actor, she cornered the market in gritty TV drama before becoming the queen of middle-class British sitcoms.

Then Hollywood caught up and cast her as M in the Bond films, since when she's played Queen Victoria, Elizabeth I and Iris Murdoch, among others. Her peers, including Simon Callow and Samantha Bond all talk fondly, telling stories of her mischievous side, illustrated by the occasional outtake that'll bring a smile. "You always wanted to be in Judi's gang because they had the most fun," says As Time Goes By's Philip Bretherton. And you can absolutely see why.

Dame Judi Dench may be a Hollywood superstar now, but to say she's paid her dues is a bit of an understatement. This documentary, which spans her 50-year career, shows her first TV appearance in Z Cars and her time in gentle sitcom-land with A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By. But it wasn't until she became "a newcomer in her 60s" playing M in Goldeneye and bagging awards for Mr Brown and Shakespeare In Love that she was unleashed as an international star. Friends and fans Michael Parkinson, Geoffrey Palmer and Simon Callow bow down.

Judi Dench talks situation comedy

Let me just start this off by, again, saying that I think Dame Judi Dench is about ten shades of brilliant.

It would take more than a waistcoat full of explosives to kill off Psychoville's cast of grotesques.

Series two opens with a funeral for a clown, but as we say RIP to Mr Jolly - the children's entertainer-turned-suicide bomber - a new mystery arises concerning a missing locket belonging to the Ravenhill Mental Hospital's sadistic Nurse Kenchington.

Fans of Psychoville will know better than to expect this plotline to be solved in any conventional sense.

Instead, just gorge on the details as Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith carry on twisting the horror genre into unexpected shapes like so many balloon animals.

So we welcome back serial killer David Sowerbutts, angry clown Mr Jelly, Dawn French's bonkers midwife and toy collector Mr Lomax.

Imelda Staunton's secret agent returns too, chanelling the spirit of Judi Dench in the Bond movies and there's a new character to populate your nightmares: The Silent Singer.