Mo Farah

Preview - The Jonathan Ross Show

Jonathan Ross returns with his ITV chat show inviting Hollywood stars, famous sporting names and music stars to take a seat on his sofa.

This second run of Coogan and Brydon's semi-scripted comedy has seen the pair amble around Italian gastronomic hotspots while coming to terms with saggy middle age. Not that it's morose: the two sparring with competitive impersonations and childish musings - such as a back-and-forth about eating Mo Farah's legs - form the backbone of the show. At its best, it's quite possibly the funniest thing on telly.

Everyone loves sparks flying on the chatshow circus and the best chance of a meltdown tonight looks likely to come from the wayward Britney Spears as she drops by for a chinwag with Alan Carr.

Will he ask her opinion on twerking Miley Cyrus? Also making merry with Carr are Olympic hero Mo Farah and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, plus music from Jake Bugg, while Graham Norton has landed Paul McCartney, Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, James Corden and Katy Perry.

Jogging into the studio for a chat we have the Olympic gold medal-winning legend Mo Farah - shouldn't he be getting an early night ahead of Sunday's London Marathon, even if he's only doing half?

Also in the running are Not Going Out main man Lee Mack and Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow - who's doing the promotional rounds for Iron Man 3.

All three guests are game for a laugh, so it's just as well synthpop duo Hurts are on hand to calm things down with their music.

Series six of the comedy sports quiz that wasn't on air during the Olympics, but became a nice footnote in the Team GB story. When Mo Farah triumphed, people asked how he came up with his "Mobot" celebration. The answer was that he'd had it created for him: when he'd appeared on A League of Their Own, fellow guest Clare Balding had invented it and host James Corden had named it. Farah is back on the show tonight alongside gymnast Louis Smith and team captains Andrew Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp.

Never knowingly underexposed, James Corden returns to host the sport quiz that you don't necessarily need to know a huge amount about sport to watch. Corden will have his work cut out to hog the limelight on this first show of the series, probably being confined to the long shadows cast by his Olympian guests. Chief among these will be the beaming Mo Farah, while gymnast Louis Smith ups the medal count still further. Among the regular celebs, Claudia Winkleman is onside, while Jack Whitehall continues to successfully balance the amiable and the mildly obnoxious.

Doubtless the cheers of the studio audience will be as deafening as those from the thousands in the Olympic Stadium when national hero, all round good bloke and charity fundraiser Mo Farah joins Jonathan Ross. Farah passed into legend after those two brilliant, epic races where he won gold medals in the 10,000m and 5,000m. It seemed that the whole nation was on its feet as the shouts of "Come on, Mo!" ricocheted around living rooms across the land - before we all did the Mobot in triumph.

Another national treasure, Gareth Malone, is on the show to talk about plans to make The Choir for American television. The evening's music guest is Plan B.