Richard Osman

Radio Times review

Miles Jupp returns as the jovial host, who manages to slip in some boundary-pushing quips - gasps from the audience on one occasion - under the guise of his apparently gentle delivery.

His guests are also comical - Sarah Millican, Nathan Caton and Richard Osman. But the biggest laughs come from the answers given by the three individuals they have nominated as people who know them really well. Millican selects her friend Lou (a fellow comic); Caton picks on, quite literally, his younger brother; and Osman chooses his mother, whom he claims for most of the show is using her "posh" voice, the one she favours when she answers the telephone.

It's akin to a re-versioned Mr And Mrs, with friends and family members instead of spouses, but it's a damn sight funnier - even potatoes get a laugh.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.