Marcus du Sautoy

Marcus du Sautoy interview

It may have Dara's name all over it, but Professor Marcus du Sautoy is the true headmaster at the School of Hard Sums. We caught up with him for a natter about numbers, stand-up comics and highlights of the second series.

The stand-up comic and celebrity rationalist probably gets as close here as TV can to making maths fun. Fellow egghead Professor Marcus du Sautoy sets O'Briain a series of puzzles couched in accessible, practical terms, but which get progressively harder and need real sums to answer.

Maths graduate O'Briain squeaks out attempted solutions, often rather impressively, on a Waking the Dead-style glass board. Joining him is the obligatory weekly comedian guest - David O'Doherty tonight - cast in the role you're probably playing at home: shouting answers that might, if you're lucky, be half-right.

The race to find the next successful comedy panel show format hits a low with this inoffensive, low-rent Dave exclusive focusing on the topic of - yes! - maths. Dara O'Briain is his usual avuncular self in the host's chair, solving a series of problems set by TV brainiac Marcus du Sautoy while being stymied at every turn by a dimwitted comedy guest, in this case David O'Doherty. There's nothing wrong with the show other than that it's just not very funny. Du Sautoy is something of a joke vacuum, while O'Doherty's shambolic presence leaves him in the unfortunate position of looking like a cut-price Alan Davies. It's also impossible to know who the target is: adults will find it patronising, while much of the humour is too strong for kids.

Dara O'Briain is actually a dab hand at maths: he has a degree in it (and theoretical physics) from University College Dublin. And he wastes no time in showing off his flair in this new series, which sees numbers genius Marcus du Sautoy set him and another guest comic problems that can be solved by the tricky, seemingly pointless bits of maths we never bothered to learn properly in school. Tonight it's all about 'positioning', which takes in 3D planes and angles, with O'Briain's fellow Irishman David O'Doherty playing the guest doofus. Heart-cheering TV with brains.

A peculiar new show from the Irish funnyman and front of Mock The Week. Based on the assumption that - because he studied maths and theoretical physics at University College, Dublin - he must be quite clever, O'Briain attempts to solve questions and conundrums set by Oxford professor Marcus du Sautoy. The puzzles are the kind of things that made you grimace as a child (the quickest route across two rivers) combined with some tomfoolery (how to get the most kisses at a dance). A comedy guest - David O'Doherty this week - acts as a foil to Dara's logical mind; the equivalent of the kid acting up at the back of the class.