British Comedy Guide
Richard Osman
Richard Osman

Richard Osman

  • 54 years old
  • English
  • Writer, executive producer, presenter and celebrity

Press clippings Page 10

If you think that endless analysis, swingometers and flashy graphics of Churchill and Thatcher superimposed on to Westminster are so 2010, this night of sideways election coverage might be for you. Jeremy Paxman and David Mitchell host, with guests including Kayvan Novak and Richard Osman joining the pair, plus themed editions of The Last Leg and Gogglebox during the evening. Lest the election itself be forgotten, Gary Gibbon and Cathy Newman will relay the results throughout the night.

Hannah J Davies, The Guardian, 7th May 2015

Jeremy Paxman: trading news for comedy in the election

The veteran journalist will be co-presenting Channel 4's alternative election coverage alongisde David Mitchell, Richard Osman and other entertainment figures.

Elizabeth Day, Radio Times, 5th May 2015

Radio Times review

As a useful adjunct to BBC One's The Big Painting Challenge, try Hannah Gadsby's new series in which the Tasmanian comedian/art historian analyses four works of art. She also sketches in her own life as a gay art student, while a sardonic talking robot, who sounds to me like comedy producer John Lloyd, plays Richard Osman to Gadsby's Alexander Armstrong.

Amateur artists should draw inspiration from the fact that all four masterpieces were dissed by contemporary critics. The pieces scrutinised are Manet's Olympia (1865); Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait (1434); Michelangelo's David (1504); and Picasso's Les demoiselles d'Avignon (1907). The robot impersonates Sister Wendy, which is much appreciated. As with Paul Sinha's similar comic reinterpretations of history, newcomer Gadsby elicits fascinating facts (Manet's nude was an artist in her own right).

David McGillivray, Radio Times, 4th March 2015

Richard Osman on finding darts nerve-wracking

Ahead of Let's Play Darts for Comic Relief, the Pointless presenter reveals his deep, non-ironic love of the sport.

Richard Osman, Radio Times, 28th February 2015

Daisy has won the opportunity to be a gameshow contestant, giving the cast of Not Going Out the chance to visit another set on the BBC lot - Pointless. Daisy has to choose a teammate between Lee and Lucy (Lee pips it via nefarious means, naturally), but is too busy planning a way to woo Richard Osman to notice that Lee is no good at quizzes. Both Osman and Alexander Armstrong do a decent job being the straight men to Mack's relentless gag machine.

Bim Adewunmi, The Guardian, 21st November 2014

Radio Times review

Pointless's Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman guest-star as themselves when Lee and Daisy appear on the blockbuster BBC One/z] daytime quiz show.

Of course there are two big hurdles - Lee (Lee Mack) knows nothing about anything and Daisy (Katy Wix) is so exquisitely stupid she thinks that The Prisoner of Azkaban is a book of the Bible.

This is the perfect comedy set-up and they both fall headfirst into every comic trap that's been carefully built for them, from Lee's woeful knowledge of American presidents to Daisy's pathological insistence on taking absolutely everything she is told, literally (Wix is brilliant, by the way).

Armstrong and Osman have some fun, too, with Armstrong twinkling and flirting with Lee and Daisy's friend Lucy, and Osman becoming a gimlet-eyed avenger when he sees right through a craven Lee.

Alison Graham, Radio Times, 21st November 2014

You're in for a real treat this week as Pointless hosts Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman hurl themselves into this sitcom playing themselves.

Daisy (Katy Wix) has been accepted as a contestant on the show and Lee uses nefarious means to convince both her and Lucy that he is some kind of quizzing superstar.

It's a glorious set-up as Daisy and Lee prepare to display their entire lack of general knowledge to the nation at large.

For once, it's not just Lee himself who hogs all the best lines. Wix as the clueless Daisy is absolutely terrific, whether she's trying to name an American president or blatantly stalking Osman on whom she has a massive schoolgirl crush.

As for Osman, playing yourself isn't as easy as you'd think, but he proves yet again that there's not much he can't turn his hand to - even if he does have to duck to get through the doorway to his own dressing-room.

It's an episode destined to become as enduring a comedy classic as The Young Ones' appearance on University Challenge.

Jane Simon, The Mirror, 21st November 2014

Not Going Out guest Richard Osman interview

"I'm planning to watch it with my biggest critics - my son and daughter. They're both big fans of Not Going Out and they watch a lot of TV comedy, so they'll view it as proper consumers."

What's On TV, 14th November 2014

Radio Times review

It's as reliably funny as a Swiss timepiece is accurate. But what if you replace one of the mainsprings in the WILTY watch? This time, there's no Lee Mack, but far from spoiling the show, the presence of Greg Davies as replacement captain brings an enjoyable new dynamic.

It's particularly good when he abuses his power and overrules team-mates Gareth Malone and Richard Osman - unheard of on this show. (That's right, Osman and Davies together at last, the Harlem Globetrotters of comedy.) The round where Davies insists he invented a private language with his sister - and has to speak it - is a joy. Also on board: Phill Jupitus and Sherlock's Amanda Abbington.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 17th October 2014

Lee Mack returns for a new series of Not Going Out and this time it's personal - he's character has managed to work his way onto TV.

Appearing in an episode of BBC quiz show Pointless, it doesn't take much for quizmaster Richard Osman to work him out.

In the video above Osman says: "We pre-record these so you're not going to look like an idiot for two or three weeks."

We're not sure how well Lee does on Pointless, the BBC One programme which gives its contestant a chance to score as little as possible, but we know it will be entertaining.

The sitcom, which follows the jokes, jibes and general misunderstandings of happy-go-lucky Lee and his friends returns on Friday.

Episode one of series seven is called 'Mugging' - when Lucy has her handbag stolen from right under Lee's nose, he feels the need to prove his manliness over and over and over again.

Danny Walker, The Mirror, 16th October 2014

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