Stephen Mangan

The spirits are high but the japes are deliciously low-down and dirty as Rob Brydon twinkles with seasonal cheer for this Christmas helping of tall tales. Did Stephen Mangan's Bedlington Terrier get its name by wagging its tail at the gravestone of a man called John Samuels? Lee Mack tries to dig up the truth, alongside Barry Cryer and Miles Jupp, while Mangan's partners in guile are David Mitchell and Miranda Hart.

"This is my cape," proclaims David Mitchell - words we've always wanted to hear him say. "I used to put it on to pretend I was Doctor Who and head into my Tardis, or as my parents called it, the airing cupboard."

Ahh, it's all too believeable, the kind of absurd but just-plausible-enough claim this series loves to tease us with. Equally tricky: does Miranda Hart begin every Christmas Day with a cigar in bed? Did Stephen Mangan name his puppy after a gravestone?

As usual, the panellists' festive fibs are great excuses for repartee, cross-examination and stories with more embroidery than a Downton dressing gown. But it's beautifully, stupidly funny, not least because everybody looks like they're having such a blast, so we do too.

Final chapters from a series that has been less Jackanory for adults, more finding your TV tuned to audio description mode during a genial Tales Of The Unexpected reboot. Before the big book is placed back into the bookcase, there's time for Hugh Dennis to tell the tale of Jack, a superhero juggling his day job at a care home with the marginally more exciting world of cat rescue. Then, Stephen Mangan reads the story of a former activist rediscovering his idealistic edge when confronted with a chicken-chomping despot.

Lessons I learned from watching Dirk Gently

Starring Stephen Mangan and Darren Boyd, this quirky BBC Four series entertained and enlightened me. So without further ado, here are the lessons I learned from watching Dirk Gently.

Peter Richardson talks about new Comic Strip film

Peter Richardson has confirmed that Harry Enfield and Stephen Mangan are to star in the upcoming Comic Strip film It Ends Badly.

What ho! Jeeves and Wooster head for West End

Almost a hundred years on from their first appearance in print, PG Wodehouse's comic creations Jeeves and Wooster are being resurrected on stage. Matthew Macfadyen will play valet Jeeves with Stephen Mangan as the dim but amiable Bertie Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, by Robert and David Goodale.

Pointless giant Richard Osman tears himself away from his desk by Alexander Armstrong's side to slide into one of the guest seats for the first of a new series of the topical news quiz. Osman is surely destined for the guest host gig at some point but tonight it's down to Stephen Mangan to give Ian Hislop and Paul Merton free rein to roam around the lunatic fringes of the news, while Osman's fellow guest, Joan Bakewell, offers sage titbits.

The satrical edge on HIGNFY has dulled very slightly over the years. These days, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton don't so much lacerate the week's events and personalities as chew them over with the odd comic flight of fancy.

Occasionally, let's be honest, that makes for an underwhelming episode, where the panellists never get up a head of steam and only the host's scripted gags keep things rolling. But more often, the big old beast of a show rouses itself and delivers an enjoyably surreal spin on the news, providing us with a neat comedy coda to the week. One of the best episodes of the last series had Richard Osman as a guest, punning about David Cameron's "mandate" on gay marriage and showing an almost shameful knowledge of Spice Girls hits. Happily, he's back again tonight, with the excellent Stephen Mangan in the host's chair for the first show of series (drumroll, please...) 45.

On at exactly the same time and on the same day as Heading Out, Dave's panel show Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask returned for a second series this week.

The format's pretty much the same as before. Alexander Armstrong presents and all three of his guests, in this case Jo Brand, Stephen Mangan and Tim Vine, have to come up with the questions everyone will be asking. Amongst the questions that came up included the subject of the clurichaun (the "leprechaun's naughty cousin"), why the Aztecs were such unsuccessful warriors, and Adam's first wife...who wasn't Eve.

It's a good show, and while the fact it's on Dave means it will never get a big audience (much of it taken away thanks to Perkins's show on the other side) it still deserves a watch because it can throw up some decent moments. One example was a tangent which involved Manga talking about his upcoming role in the film version of Postman Pat - speaking parts only mind, the singing being down by Gary Barlow.

However, perhaps the best thing about this new series is that the idea of the "fact bunker" with Dave Lamb verifying the information has been got rid of. It never worked and I'm glad to see the change made. In fact, I pointed out this was the weakest moment when I reviewed the first series last year. Giz a job, Dave.