Vic Reeves

Vic and Bob set to switch channels

Comic Vic Reeves says he and pal Bob Mortimer are working on a new show similar to axed Shooting Stars - but not for the BBC.

Vic & Bob to make film about life in a hotel

Vic Reeves has revealed he and Bob Mortimer are planning to make a film together about life in a hotel.

Vic Reeves: My family values

Vic Reeves: 'I used to spend all my time at dinner pulling faces at my sister Lois to force her to laugh and spit out her food.'

Vic and Bob plan hit 'like no other'

Shooting Stars will not return on another channel, hosts Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer confirmed last night. Instead, they are working on a secret comedy show "the like of which has never been seen".

Vic Reeves is on a mission to provide answers to curious questions. He has a library staffed by a team of fact-finders, including Tyger Drew-Honey (Jake from Outnumbered). Today, the team work out if dinosaurs could ever return to roam the earth, whether animals can be superheroes, and if robots will ever take over the world.

Created by Dan Skinner, comic character Angelos Epithemiou is an anorak-clad, bespectacled, burger van-owning misfit who permanently lugs round a Sainsbury's carrier bag. He found cult fame as a panellist on recently axed BBC gameshow Shooting Stars and now moves to Channel 4 for this solo vehicle, executively produced by Bob Mortimer. Rather reminiscent of Vic Reeves or Harry Hill's early offerings, it's a surreal, cartoonish show packed with slapstick, music, magic and celebrity send-ups.

The 4th best programme of 2011 according to the Radio Times.

This fond look at the early struggles of Morecambe and Wise was no broad-brushstrokes biopic. Rather, it was an accumulation of lovely detail: the down-at-heel venues, the pushy parents, how the double act evolved. Writer Peter Bowker even had room for the duo's harmonica-tootling stooge, Arthur Tolcher. The very definition of "affectionate", Eric and Ernie was a series of revelations: that Vic Reeves ought to take more straight roles; that funny can flip to poignant without being crass; and that Daniel Rigby's Eric wasn't just an uncanny impersonation - it was a stunning performance, full stop.

Axe for Shooting Stars is no joke

The Beeb's axing of Vic Reeves' and Bob Mortimer's bonkers TV gameshow has left fans stunned and angry.

The third pilot in the Comedy Showcase series, The Fun Police is a studio based sitcom (featuring live laughter, to the shock and mortification of professional TV critics) about an inept health and safety department.

It's a more traditional sitcom in the style of shows like The IT Crowd, albeit with more unusually daft humour. The pilot sees Leslie (Rhys Derby) taking over as head of health and safety in the town of Brightsea after one of his work colleges, Neil (Jack Doolan), put their boss in a coma after accidentally falling on top of her.

The best way to describe The Fun Police is that it's 'enjoyably silly'. Leslie, for example, instead of coming up with a press statement about the accident spends his time ordering new furniture and designing a new mascot to make health and safety more fun. Another character, Toni (Katy Wix - who seems to be in at least one Channel 4 pilot per week at the moment) is an over-zealous officer with a robotic hand, paranoid about the dangers of the sea and helium balloons. This pilot also featured a cameo from Vic Reeves (credited under his real name Jim Moir) as an egotistical town planner driven mad by the power to name streets.

The Fun Police is full of ideas and is certainly a fun show. Not every joke is a cracker, but it certainly made me laugh and I for one would think it would make a good series if given the chance.