Reece Shearsmith

The stars who got their big break at the Fringe (Link expired)

Here are just some of the actors and comedians who made their name in the capital.

A quick chat with... Steve Pemberton (part two)

In A Quick Chat With... Steve Pemberton (Part One), Steve talked about getting started in the business and gave a wealth of practical tips for newbie writers. In part two he discusses Inside No. 9, creating empathy for monstrous characters, what keeps him motivated and more...

A quiet night in with Reece and Steve

Bristol was treated to a rare appearance from Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton at a special event organised by Slapstick Festival.

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton on Series 3

"We've done quite a dark series this time around," says Steve Pemberton. "There's two or three episodes where we've pushed the horror element."

Rewind: Vic and Bob's "Catterick" revisited

From Big Night Out and sketch shows in the 1990s, to Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in the 2000s and House of Fools in more recent years - as well as their anarchic quiz show Shooting Stars - Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are one of the UK's most successful comedy double acts. But Catterick has been largely forgotten. As the pair announce more dates for their Poignant Moments tour, celebrating 25 years since they started performing together, we revisit their underrated 2004 comedy-drama...

Peter Kay is a natural heir to Ronnie Barker

Ahead of BBC1 tribute series, Peter Kay's Comedy Shuffle, friends and collaborators Sian Gibson, Danny Baker, Reece Shearsmith and Jason Manford tell TV Times what makes Peter Kay a comedy great.

DVD review: Alan Partridge Mid Morning Matters series 2

Alan remains a great comedy creation, often sympathetic (unexpectedly bringing out the softer side of a loathsome opinion former played by Reece Shearsmith) but just as often sickeningly egotistical, politically incorrect and tyrannical, this format (which never sees Alan leaving the radio studio) works well.

TV preview: Stag, BBC2, episode 3

It is so hard to write about this excellent comedy thriller without giving something away. Needless to say the final episode in which the loose ends have to be tied up - probably around one of the cast's necks - is the toughest to discuss. One slip and the game may be given away.

Created and written by Jim Field-Smith, the creator of the wonderful The Wrong Mans, alongside George Kay, Stag follows the exploits of a boisterous gang of men on a stag party. Stumbling along as a late arrival to the hunting weekend is Ian (Jim Howick), a mild-mannered geography teacher who is totally different to the other stags celebrating the last weekend of freedom of Johnners (Stephen Campbell Moore). Ian's weekend gets off to a bad start from the get-go as he's left at the side of the road by the rest of the party before being landed with a bar bill from the local pub's stern waitress (Sharon Rooney). Events soon take a dark twist when the men are abandoned by the local gamekeeper (James Cosmo) and forced to fend for themselves in the wild. Quickly some of the party are picked off and are thought to be killed whilst the rest start to turn on each other with suspicion quickly falling on outsider Ian. I have to admit it took me a while to adjust to Stag which has none of the charm or quirky British humour which made The Wrong Mans such a joy to watch. The majority of the characters in Stag, with the exception of Ian, are initially unlikeable toffs who are described by the mild-mannered Aitken (Tim Key) as the worst kind of people. But as Kay and Field-Smith's story continues they start to reveal complexities in the characters all of whom seem to be hiding secrets of some kind. The writing duo also seem to have done their research into the sort of genre they want Stag to fit into with the general tone being that of horror thriller. There are definitely elements of both The Wicker Man and Deliverance both in the presentation of the local community and the way in which the party start to be picked off. The humour is also subtly presented with a lot of smutty, laddy banter mixed in with some genuinely funny one-liners. The ensemble cast bounced off each other perfectly with Howick brilliantly portraying the awkward outsider and the rest of the gang having excellent chemistry. I especially liked Reece Shearsmith's brief appearance as the party member who wants to escape his family as well as Borgen's Pilou Asbaek as the Danish oddball. Although I've already got an idea of how Stag is going to end I'm intrigued enough to carry on watching what must be one of the most unique TV shows of the year so far.