Nick Robinson

The Kemps: All True, BBC Two review

pandau Ballet-boys show willing but spoof rock-doc misses the point.

The Kemps: All True review

Gary and Martin Kemp gleefully send themselves up in this one-off mockumentary - though it's never as funny when celebrities are in on the joke.

The Kemps: All True review

Spandau Ballet mockumentary may not be indestructible, but some of it is gold.

The Kemps: All True, review

The Spandau Ballet bros strike spoof documentary gold.

EU referendum: cartoonist Gerald Scarfe sketches Brexit

Cartoonist Gerald Scarfe joined the BBC's Nick Robinson to sketch some politicians post-Brexit. He said "Farage is wonderful material", while portraying David Cameron[ as a pear.

Nick Robinson: My beef with Russell Brand

Firstly, can I just say as loudly and clearly as I can - "They're not!" All the same, that is. Politicians, I mean. Secondly, no, really, they're not... all in it for themselves. And thirdly, yes it does... make a difference whether you vote or not and who you vote for. Are you listening, Russell Brand, and admirers of the man with the most manicured chest in Britain?

Nick Robinson: Russell Brand is wrong on not voting

The BBC's political editor also says he'd rather quit than be impartial about democracy.

Poor James Blunt. Ever since he shuffled onto the music scene with his pre-pubescent twang and feminine looks, he's become something of a pop-culture hate-figure. His name is not only a by-word for a wet blanket, but cockney rhyming slang for the rudest word in the English language.

It can't be easy for comedians and TV presenters lumped with the singer - who's currently promoting a new album - to resist the temptation to mock and berate the singer. Astonishingly, Graham Norton managed to restrain himself when Blunt appeared on his Friday-night show, but surely the acid tongues of Ian Hislop and Paul Merton wouldn't show him such mercy; surely, they would lay into Blunt and rip him apart, ruthlessly mocking his every word?

Well, perhaps they would have done, were they given the chance. But Blunt proved to be the funniest panellist on the programme last night; perhaps even the funniest off the series so far. As he regaled stories of dinner with Bill Clinton and Cher and joked about his army days, he outshone even Merton, who was on excellent form himself.

When Hislop called him a "cool dude", he snapped back: "Thanks, Dad" and the audience roared with laughter, delighted by yet another Blunticism. It was actually fellow panellist Nick Robinson who found himself the butt of his teammates' jokes, most notably when footage of his recent outburst at a protester's banner was shown.

Even Blunt's appalling leather jacket went unmentioned; such was the distracting sophistication of his humour. He might have trouble shaking that rhyming slang from his name, but perhaps "James Blunt" will now be a by-word for "self-deprecating wit of the first order".

The satirical news-based panel game has been running since 1990 and is now in its 40th series. The first guest host to face the crossfire from Paul Merton and Ian Hislop is the Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch; later in the series, Jeremy Clarkson and Martin Clunes will take the chair. The first guests to join them tonight are writer and presenter Victoria Coren and comedian Jon Richardson. We can also expect to see James Blunt, Nick Robinson and Ross Noble later in the series.