Miranda Hart

Ronnie Corbett - the pint-sized national treasure, retired comedian and arguably the finest anecdotalist of the last century - is now 80 years old and as sharp as he ever was. Disregarding a slight limp, he also doesn't appear to have aged much in the last 20 years - proof that laughter is indeed the best medicine. Tonight, feeling that it's time for "a new adventure", he embarks on the first leg of a two-part tour through the history of British comedy.

It's basically a victory lap, in which Corbett meets up with a variety of comedy luminaries - from John Cleese to Stephen Merchant to Miranda Hart - and chortles about the good old days. In the hands of a less charming figure this could easily have been a piece of self-indulgent schedule filler, but Corbett has a wonderfully light touch and the programme skips along. The first leg is dedicated to double acts, touching upon Morecambe and Wise, Mitchell and Webb, Matt Lucas and David Walliams and, needless to say, The Two Ronnies. Jokes, anecdotes and clips from the archives abound - look out for the story of how Corbett and Barker made the TV big-time, thanks largely to a power outage and some clever ad-libbing.

Olivia Lee hails Miranda Hart for boosting women comics

Dirty Sexy Funny star Olivia Lee has hailed fellow comic Miranda Hart for giving women comics a boost.

BBC bans Miranda Hart from joining cast of Dr Who

Comedy star Miranda Hart's hopes of joining forces with Doctor Who have been dashed - by the BBC.

Stephen Fry lends his voice to talking bench

Benches that can 'talk' are being set up at eight beauty spots across the UK, voiced by celebrities including Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart.

BAFTA TV special / Miranda Hart: Heart to Hart

She's the undisputed comedy queen of the small screen. But what's Miranda Hart like in real life? Does she fall over as much? Does she have so many tiny friends? Here, she talks about class, looking for love and being a "ghastly" late developer.

Radio head: Miranda Hart and Jon Holmes

Sharp, funny and properly disgusting, Hart and Holmes are an instant presenting yin-yang hit.

The start of a second series for Frank Skinner's topical comedy show, which consists of Frank and two comedians chatting about the week's news.

It must have been a good idea, because ITV almost replicated it (minus comedians) when they enlisted another chap from the West Midlands, Adrian Chiles, to front That Sunday Night Show which finished last month.

Frank's guests this week are Lee Mack and Miranda Hart who have both done the show before and can be relied on to squeeze laughs out of almost anything.

As with all panel shows, the best stuff doesn't come out of the news itself but from all the chat in between - and with world events being a mixture of doom, gloom and apocalypse that's probably just as well.

Miranda Hart pays tribute to 'My Family'

Miranda Hart has said of My Family: "After 10 or 11 years, it's not a slight to be taken off air - it's an amazing achievement. And I think it's done a lot for studio-audience sitcoms."

Audio: Miranda Hart on news of My Family being axed

Long-running BBC One sitcom My Family, starring Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker, has been axed. Comedy actress Miranda Hart gave her reaction.

Frank Skinner's heyday might have been during the lad-mag Nineties, but as the first series of this topical comedy show reminded us, he is a more interesting and in some ways more old-fashioned entertainer than that. He has matured into a witty and surprisingly wry host, and the BBC has signed Opinionated up for two more series, the first of which begins tonight. His guests, Lee Mack and Miranda Hart, are likely to be gently amusing but solidly uncontroversial.