Miranda Hart

Miranda Hart plans Christmas special

Miranda Hart, the comedian, is planning to write a Christmas special of her BBC sitcom Miranda this year.

Best of 2014: Comedy preview

Previews of Miles Jupp, John Robins, Miranda Hart, Russell Kane, Michael Che and Lee Mack.

David Walliams's 2011 children's book, his fourth, has sold more than 430,000 copies, which means there are at least that many imagined versions out there of Ben's adventures with his surprisingly acquisitive grandmother. The team behind last year's Walliams adaptation, Mr Stink, now turn their attention to Gangsta Granny, with Julia McKenzie as the titular lawbreaker.

Schoolboy Ben (Reece Buttery) is bored rigid by the soup 'n' Scrabble regime at Granny's house until she reveals that she was once an international jewel thief. Like many career criminals, she's haunted by the audacious heist she never pulled off, and together Ben and his grandma - aka the Black Cat - decide to complete it.

A child's-view of adult quirks is part of what makes David Walliams's stories special, and he appears here as Ben's dad, with Miranda Hart as Ben's mum. Obsessed with Strictly Come Dancing, they're the ultimate source of mortification for any 11-year-old.

David Walliams stars in this likeable adaptation of his best-selling kids' book about Ben (Reece Buttery), a neglected, plumbing-mad boy, and his seemingly boring gran (the brilliant Julia McKenzie) who's not what she seems.

Ben's selfish, ballroom-dancing-crazed parents, played as hideous comic creations by Walliams and a glammed-up Miranda Hart, drop Ben off at his gran's every weekend, where he's subjected to cabbage soup, painful silences and endless rounds of scrabble. At breaking point, he discovers valuables in her biscuit tin and forces her to confess her sideline as an international jewel thief. Their shared secret leads to an ambitious heist, but hot on the tail of gran's mobility scooter is nosy neighbour Mr Parker.

Although it takes a while to warm up, there are moments of real humour, especially in the hospital breakout and ballroom scenes. Expect to see more Robbie Williams on our screens too - he holds his own rather well as the faux-Italian Flavio. It's a slight story with a big heart, and it's surprisingly poignant when the Queen (Joanna Lumley - who else?) makes a plea for the young to respect the old.

Comedians who battle with serious mental health problem

Miranda Hart's admission that success made her 'quite lonely' is a reminder that once off screen or stage comedians can be a very serious bunch.

The spirits are high but the japes are deliciously low-down and dirty as Rob Brydon twinkles with seasonal cheer for this Christmas helping of tall tales. Did Stephen Mangan's Bedlington Terrier get its name by wagging its tail at the gravestone of a man called John Samuels? Lee Mack tries to dig up the truth, alongside Barry Cryer and Miles Jupp, while Mangan's partners in guile are David Mitchell and Miranda Hart.

"This is my cape," proclaims David Mitchell - words we've always wanted to hear him say. "I used to put it on to pretend I was Doctor Who and head into my Tardis, or as my parents called it, the airing cupboard."

Ahh, it's all too believeable, the kind of absurd but just-plausible-enough claim this series loves to tease us with. Equally tricky: does Miranda Hart begin every Christmas Day with a cigar in bed? Did Stephen Mangan name his puppy after a gravestone?

As usual, the panellists' festive fibs are great excuses for repartee, cross-examination and stories with more embroidery than a Downton dressing gown. But it's beautifully, stupidly funny, not least because everybody looks like they're having such a blast, so we do too.

Miranda Hart interviews Graham Norton

Miranda Hart turns the spotlight on our agony uncle Graham Norton to talk work, onesies and national-treasurehood.

David Walliams calls in a lifetime's worth of showbiz favours to create this talent-strewn version of his bestselling children's novel. Young Ben (Reece Buttery) is dispatched to stay with his grandmother, who runs a tight ship based on nights in, Scrabble and cabbage soup. He is, understandably, bored out of his tiny mind. Until somehow it transpires that gran was once an international jewel thief and she needs her grandson's help to tie up some unfinished business. Cue a crazy romp that takes in a meeting with the Queen (played by Joanna Lumley) and the unwanted interventions of a nosy neighbour (Rob Brydon). Walliams himself appears as Ben's Strictly-obsessed dad, opposite Miranda Hart as his mum. 
What japes.

Miranda Hart tells of struggle with fame

Miranda Hart has spoken of loneliness and struggling with fame in an interview for Desert Island Discs.