Tom Basden

Simon Bird stars in Tom Basden's Crocodile

Casting has been announced for Tom Basden's new play The Crocodile. Inbetweeners star Simon Bird will appear alongside Ciarán Owens and Marek Larwood in the production, which centres on a self-important actor (Owens) who gets swallowed by a crocodile during a trip to the zoo with his best friend (Bird).

Making it snappy - Tom Basden takes on Dostoevsky

How do you make the writer of Crime and Punishment funny? The comedian's adaptation of short story The Crocodile for this year's Manchester international festival does just that - and, he says, it's not as hard as you might think.

Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (Radio 4) is back for a third series and this week's episode dealt with "the thorny issue of dating", featuring short, bathetic stanzas on flirting, speed dating and other disappointments of the heart. He plays a version of himself: a disappointed, slightly pompous fool with some very odd ideas about courting. This week he brought female companion Ann White (a perfectly deadpan Ellie White) for a romantic tour of the studio, complete with champagne, to the growing annoyance of Tom Basden, his brilliantly dour musical accompanist. While he provided tender flamenco strings, the hapless bard attempted to set a quixotic tone, but it wasn't long before their carping took centre stage and Ann White retreated to the control room with a Brian Cox podcast. "You've been a sourpuss for almost two minutes now," Key hissed as the guitarist tried to push on with the show.

It's only 15 minutes long but every episode perfectly showcases Key's supreme command of tone. His sentences never end where you expect them to and the oddly appealing atmosphere he creates is so spellbinding, it's like emerging from a nice fog when he spits you out at the other end. Fifteen minutes is both perfect and far too short.

We're now more than halfway through the second series of the ancient Rome-set sitcom, which follows the surprisingly still relevant sex and city-based trials and tribulations of Marcus (Tom Rosenthal) and Stylax (Joel Fry). Written by Sam Leifer and Tom Basden - with the latter's sporadic appearances as taunted office water-carrier Aurelius a definite highlight - the show boasts an impressive supporting cast, with this series' cameos including Rosenthal's sport commentator dad Jim and Basden's sometime comedy partner Tim Key.

Tom Basden interview

As Holes opens in London, the playwright talks about the loneliness of standup, his affection for his characters and having a plane-crash comedy open at the time of a real air disaster.

Machynlleth Comedy Festival special

Previews of Toby, Tom Basden and Benjamin Partridge.

Tom Basden's R4 comedy adapted for small screen

Radio 4's political sitcom Party is being adapted for television.

Who makes you laugh? You may find yourself asking that more than once tonight as the annual Comedy Awards are dished out. Humour is a subjective business and what makes one person chortle can leave another totally nonplussed. Jonathan Ross will be trying to keep best order for tonight's gag fest and it's good to see fresh-ish names such as Steve Delaney, Jonny Sweet and Tom Basden cropping up among a clutch of usual suspects. The night climaxes with the crowning of the King or Queen of Comedy - can Jack Whitehall hang on to his title? Given he's up against exactly the same opposition as last year - a bit unimaginative, that - then why not?

If you couldn't tell that The Wrong Mans was a Big Deal from the explosive trailers and high production values, then the quality of the supporting cast should confirm it: Dougray Scott, Sarah Solemani, Benedict Wong, Emilia Fox, Nick Moran, Dawn French, Tom Basden...

Even more impressively, each turn (Fox and French excepted, although we suspect there'll be more to come there) makes an impression, while creator-stars Mat Baynton and James Corden nail the odd couple dynamic that keeps this occasionally leaky vessel afloat. We join Sam (Baynton) and Phil (Corden) drifting further out of their depth at the hands of psychotic gangsters Moran and Wong, before a show-stopping presentation from Sam saves his professional hide while bringing the danger even closer to home.

It's in these collisions of the workaday and the white knuckle that The Wrong Mans works best, as the more traditional thriller elements stubbornly fail to coalesce with any conviction. But it's never dull and frequently very funny.