Mark Lawson

Eventually, there will surely be a reality TV show in which commissioning executives have to guess which of the reality TV shows being pitched to them is actually a satirical send-up of the genre. Meanwhile, we have this second-tier ITV offering in which a hen weekend or wedding party has been infiltrated by an actor playing an "over the top" character who the bride insists is a long lost-friend or family member. Only the bride and the imposter know what is going on until the end, when the mayhem is explained, although, writing this, it seems increasingly probable that ITV has slipped in a fake press release to test us.

Shows involving pranks and hidden cameras (Candid Camera, Beadle's About, Trigger Happy TV, Fool Britannia) frequently become fixtures in the schedules. This latest version adapts the concept to the increasingly interactive technology employed in supermarket checkouts, "intelligent" road signs and websites. Users discover that devices are suddenly answering back or misbehaving before the revelation that a jokey ghost has been placed in the machine.

Bridget Christie interview with Mark Lawson

Two years ago she delivered her standup routine to 10 people in a strip club. Now she's a star of the Edinburgh Fringe and touring the country. She talks biros, big families and why the new pope is 'bloody marvellous'.

Christie's show is a bold campaign against FGM

Christie's material about yoghurt-advert rape fantasies and female genital mutilation is astonishingly complex and uproariously funny.

Sit down with the Goodmans for a new series

Channel 4's real-time family sitcom is timed to perfection: an enjoyably silly break from the football overload.

The new series of Episodes proves how illogical TV is

How can well-loved and critically acclaimed shows struggle to get a second run, while those that no one much cares about keep coming back?

Ricky Gervais' Derek: has he toned it down for series 2

The controversial sitcom about a mentally disabled man in a care home is back for another series. But are there signs that the creator has taken on board the vociferous criticism?

Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense review

This clever PG Wodehouse tribute reproduces the manners of the Edwardian English upper classes, while cunningly sending them up.

The Trip to Italy: Britain's best ever improv comedy?

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's culinary travelogue comedy The Trip to Italy may well be the most sustained and successful example of genuine ad-libbing that Britain has ever produced.

The Michael McIntyre Chat Show: where did it go wrong?

The producers of the comedian's ailing show are clearly trying to revamp it to play to his strengths. What do Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross have that he doesn't?