Lee Mack

Radio Times review

This show's teams are so quick and on-the-comedy-ball, some guests barely get a look in. In this edition, it's Adil Ray - of Citizen Khan - who takes a back seat as the likes of Bob Mortimer and Lee Mack steer the WILTY charabanc to unlikely places.

Mortimer is on great form, making out that as a teenager he was banished from Castle Douglas for frightening the locals. As he piles on implausible details (a friend called Steve Bytheway, latex masks, and so on) with a straight face, you can't help feeling he's taken his flight of fancy too far. Or is it the old trick of elaborating an anecdote to make it sound ridiculous?

Also peddling tall tales are Kian Egan from Westlife, who may or may not have bid for his own waxwork, and Mel Giedroyc with, suitably enough, a cake-based story. It involves David Bowie.

Review: Lee Mack: Hit The Road Mack

Lee Mack, who paces the stage with an impatient urgency, is unapologetic in his showmanship. He's a gag-man, too, with a generous supply of quotable one-liners, normally prefaced by a disingenuous assertion that what you're about to hear is 100 per cent true.

Lee Mack show prompts angry mum to demand age limit

A mum wants age restrictions brought in for comedian Lee Mack's shows after she took her 14-year-old daughter to see him at The Hawth and his warm-up act started cracking jokes about paedophilia.

Review: Lee Mack - Hit the Road Mack

Pacing the stage like a caged animal, it wasn't hard to see why he's among the best comedians working in the UK today. Lee Mack does a great job of creating comedy waves, and then surfing the crest.

Lee Mack review

Lee Mack has many good gags but gives little of himself away.

The tall stories (some true, some not) comedy panel show returns for an eighth series. Its longevity has much to do with the way host Rob Brydon, plus team captains Lee Mack and David Mitchell, get close to the knuckle without taking things too far for primetime, a tricky balancing act when Mitchell discusses the lead-up to an alleged vomiting incident ("There was definitely drinking, I think there might have been crisps ... "). First guests are Fiona Bruce, Micky Flanagan, Steve Jones and Claudia Winkleman.

Radio Times review

Host Rob Brydon and team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack return for series eight of the jolly panel show that tests the fibbing skills of celebrity teams. In this opening episode Micky Flanagan is the sole comedian guest, alongside TV presenters (of one form or other) Fiona Bruce, Claudia Winkleman and Steve Jones.

Did Flanagan liven up a hen do by taking his clothes off? Does Fiona Bruce dream about monkeys? And did Steve Jones once save rapper P Diddy's life? It may be inspired by elements from other panel shows (Call My Bluff and the mystery guest element from They Think It's All Over being the most obvious), but thanks in large part to the wit and repartee of the three regulars, the fun is infectious.

Lee Mack does his bit to fill the chronic shortage of panel shows with this new series, in which obscure facts are put to the test before celebrities. Tonight, it's Stephen Mangan, Davina McCall and, of course, Paddy McGuinness. Some cheap gags aside - early round "Fact Off" sees the resemblance between fact and another word starting with f pointed out - this is a pretty entertaining concept, exploring, among other issues, methods of blocking tickles and why men's mental skills go to pot after meeting attractive women.

Lee Mack interview

"In television, making a sitcom, you have a team of people around you, and there's a bit of structure in your life," Lee Mack admits. "Touring live means you're driving round eating a pasty at four in the morning at a service station. It's a little bit less conducive to family life."

Final episode of the series for the Lee Mack-fronted panel show, which looks and feels a bit like QI with a dollop of How 2 chucked in for good measure. As if to prove that comparison correct, this week's guests include former How 2er Carol Vorderman who, along with Jimmy Carr and Terry Wogan, will be hoping to put to bed an argument older than the cosmos itself: are women better than men at remembering directions? If you can get past the migraine-inducing set dressing, it's diverting enough viewing.