Mark Lawson

Channel 4's dilemma: Frankie Boyle & the Paralympics?

The Paralympics may be changing perceptions of Channel 4 - but does that mean the broadcaster must also ditch Frankie Boyle from its line-up?

Citizen Khan: who was offended by it, and why?

The Muslim sitcom supposedly generated a lot of controversy - but do bloggers and tweeters represent all viewers?

Will Channel 4's new takeoff show take off?

How will the broadcaster's new impression show compare with the classics of the past - and how will it deal with modern social sensibilities?

Just a Minute needs a format deviation to succeed on TV

The Radio 4 show is currently airing on BBC2. But it needs more than some snazzy shirts and gurning guests to make it a good watch as well as a good listen.

Gigglebox weekly #42 - Mark Lawson & Frank Skinner

There was very little in the way of new comedy on TV this week, but there was an hour-long, in-depth interview with Frank Skinner on BBC Four.

Mark Lawson on TV commissioning

What's occurring? Does David Cameron really want 236 episodes of Gavin and Stacey?

Audio: Millican surprised at what she can get away with

Award-winning comedian Sarah Millican has admitted she is surprised with how much she has been able to get away with on her first television show.

Speaking to Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, she said she knew she would have to clean up her risqué comedy to transfer it to TV, but said she did not have to tone it down as much as she thought.

Millican also spoke of her "irritation" at audience members filming her stand-up shows.

Room 101 is reducing the numeral of its network, moving from BBC2 to BBC1, while increasing the number of participants. Whereas previous hosts Nick Hancock and Paul Merton quizzed a single celebrity about their little list of things to be eliminated, new chairman Frank Skinner has a trio competing to delete. Friday's first panel is Fern Britton, Danny Baker and Robert Webb.

This is a big alteration - a chat-show becoming a panel game - and the presumable justification is a move to a more mainstream panel, although the obvious risk is that a show which had a distinctive premise and form has been made to look like several others. Rather inconveniently, Webb will have been seen 48 hours earlier on BBC1 in the now structurally similar Would I Lie To You?

Audio: Absolutely Fabulous characters 'more desperate'

Absolutely Fabulous is to return to BBC One later this year with three specials to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary.

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley will return as Edina and Patsy along with other original cast members.

Saunders told Mark Lawson on Radio 4's Front Row that Edina and Patsy are "more desperate" as they age.

TV matters: Variety shows

It was designed as a transitional format in the early days of mainstream TV. But variety has proved strangely resilient.