Kevin Bishop (II)

Kevin Bishop to take on Ronnie Barker role in Porridge

Comedian/actor Kevin Bishop is to take on the lead role in a modern remake of prison sitcom Porridge, which originally starred Ronnie Barker as repeat offender Norman Stanley Fletcher.

Retro 80s nostalgia delivered in a distinctly modern format: The Rack Pack, a comedy-drama reliving snooker's heyday, debuted this week as an iPlayer-only film. "I think snooker is going to be big - bigger even than wrestling," a geezerish Barry Hearn (Kevin Bishop) told a meek Steve "interesting" Davis (Will Merrick) as he signed him up and unleashed his plans for a baize of glory, taking the sport from smoke-filled snooker halls to, er, smoke-filled tournament halls and massive TV-ratings success. Opposite the milk-loving Davis, Luke Treadaway sunk his teeth into the Alex "Hurricane" Higgins story, bringing just enough warmth and pathos to nudge the film past a cartoon portrait of the hard-living People's Champion. "I'm a snooker player - in the end, you're always on your own," he admitted.

The Rack Pack brilliantly brings alive 1980s snooker

"Snooker," thunders Kevin Bishop's fabulously mouthy snooker promoter Barry Hearn in new BBC film The Rack Pack, is going to be so popular it "could even be bigger than wrestling."

Kevin Bishop interview

Kevin Bishop talks to us about A Few Best Men, getting sacked from Grange Hill, and working on Muppet Treasure Island...

Watching television that makes you cringe can be inspirational - if you work as a comedian that is. Kevin Bishop was sat at home one weekend and caught Noel's HQ on Sky1.

This series was full of stories about people who'd been ripped off or mutilated or were desperately ill. Edmonds and the team would sort their lives out and, in publicising the show, noble Noel called upon the public to take matters into their own hands and help fix broken Britain.

Bishop felt a stirring in his funny bones. What if he were to meld Mr Edmonds with another TV host who was there to right the wrongs of "ordinary people" - by which, of course, he meant Jeremy Kyle. Working with comedy producer extraordinaire Bill Dare - the man behind such successes as Dead Ringers, The Now Show and Spitting Image - they created Les Kelly.

"He's a complete idiot," explains Bishop of his creation. "He's very right-wing, has lived an entirely sheltered lifestyle and he really wants to put right everything that he sees as being wrong in Britain."

The result is this superbly observed comedy, driven by strong character performances, at the centre of which is the utterly flawed Les Kelly. To say there is something of Alan Partridge about Les is a heartfelt compliment.

This series deserves to be huge. Don't miss it.

The comedy panel show will be addressing one of the very biggest questions in sport this week: Does Andy Murray have a sense of humour?

As series four begins, the tennis star takes his place on the red team where he shows off his unexpected talent as a rapper and also gets the chance to serve a tennis ball straight at James Corden's head. It's an attempt to recreate a William Tell-style stunt by Roger Federer that's been a massive viral hit on YouTube, so no pressure.

Also feeling the heat this week are panellists Freddie Flintoff, Kevin Bishop and Corden himself. They were given a masterclass in penalties from Matt Le Tissier and then got the chance to do it at Wembley at half time during the Manchester derby ­Community Shield game.

For Scouse comedian Bishop, taking a penalty in front of 80,000 Mancunians is no laughing matter.

Alan Davies's depressed head chef, Roland White, becomes even more downcast tonight when a celebrity chef, Shay Marshall (Kevin Bishop) turns up at his restaurant and highlights the disparity in their fortunes. Since Marshall is little more than a caricature, however, it's hard to take White's animosity towards him seriously.

Channel 4's award-winning spoofs of celebrity lives arrive on Dave. Star Stories could be vicious, surreal and downright daft, as if half-cut tabloid journalists were acting out Spitting Image's for a panto. No programme since has punctured the public images of celebrities with such childish glee. Tonight's first episode, from December 2006, probably isn't the best. It retells the love story of David and Victoria Beckham, with Kevin Bishop giving a brilliant turn as a besotted Alex Ferguson. Look out for Sporty Spice's moustache.

Kevin Bishop Show to return

There is good news for fans of The Kevin Bishop Show, as it looks like a new series is coming our way.