Charlie Brooker's Year Wipe

11 absolutely zinger quotes from Charlie Brooker's 2015

Charlie Brooker's 2015 Screen Wipe gave us another darkly funny rundown of the year.

Radio Times review

Whatever horrors the world has endured over the past 12 months - war, pestilence, terrorism and Piers Morgan's new presenting gig on Good Morning Britain (only kidding, Piers), then we can always be sure of some traditional comforts. One is that Charlie Brooker and friends will extract some comic mileage in his now-traditional end-of-year round-up.

Joined by contributors Doug Stanhope, Morgana Robinson (complete with her extraordinary Russell Brand impersonation) and Diane Morgan as the fabulously vacuous pundit Philomena Cunk, laughter appears guaranteed. Page Three and Cecil the Lion may all have died this year, but smart, sassy satire is alive and well on BBC Two.

Charlie Brooker: Xmas, CB radios & 1 toilet households

The acerbic writer is no Grinch, especially with his former Blue Peter presenter wife making decorations from Fairy Liquid bottles.

Radio Times review

2014 was a gruelling year of violence and confusion. The news was a horror show and our culture was replaced by hashtags. The high point was people dousing themselves in buckets of iced water like penitent monks. Even on television, things got grim. Remember Benefits Street? Remember Tumble?

As is tradition, Charlie Brooker peers deeply into this annus horribilis to make sure no old grievances are forgot. As is tradition, you will find yourself getting worn out around September: a year's worth of vitriol is a lot in one dose. But it's a necessary rite to round off 2014, one last cleansing shower of bile before we do it all again. Roll on 2015.

Charlie Brooker's 2014 Wipe, BBC2, review

Brooker's Wipe might be uncomfortably similar to Russell Brand's YouTube rant 'The Trews' were it not for the top-notch contributors.

Goodbye, cruel 2014: we promise not to miss you

From flooding to Benefits Street, the rise of Ukip to the Apple Watch, the year was filled with huge, grim events. We could all use a lie-down over Christmas.

From conscious uncoupling to the ice bucket challenge to those grey-haired berks and their cereal cafe, 2014 has been a year more stuffed than most with inanity, which augurs well for Charlie Brooker's seasonal skewering. He'll be joined as ever by delightful dullards Barry Shitpeas and Philomena "What is clocks?" Cunk, while comedian Jake Yapp will be on hand to mercilessly mock one of 2014's other major moments while talking extremely quickly. A new series of Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe will air in January.

2013 was a horrorshow - and it can just Bake Off

With so many horrific stories around this year, it's no wonder we were sidetracked by baking and selfies. And between government surveillance and 'bongo bongo land' many of us were tempted to give up on politics for good.

Should auld grievance be forgot? Not while Charlie's on the case. He's back with his acerbic recap of the past 12 months, and what a year it was: from horsemeat to twerking, government shut downs to a royal baby. This is edited up to the last minute, but expect Brooker's trademark mix of TV clips and apocalyptic ranting.

Traditionally, these reviews get a bit exhausting, and the later months are less polished for obvious reasons. But the gags are always hilarious and occasionally downright insightful. A shot of bile and cynicism is the perfect send off for 2013. Before you start the New Year, you've got to suffer through the hangover of the old one.

Charlie Brooker's take on 2012 was enjoyable for many reasons, no more so than the fact it took place after the year had ended - unlike all the other comedy reviews of the year.

Another reason, of course, was because the show covered quite a lot of events that people forgot about; the sinking of the Costa Concordia in January, for example, which Brooker covered by showing the idiotic comparisons made by Entertainment Weekly between Concordia and the film Titanic, including the probing question: "Was Celine Dion playing when it sank?"

There were other decent moments too, but some of these, like the campaign against Joseph Kony and Brooker's mocking of both Kony and the strangely cult-like people campaigning against him, were covered more in-depth by Brooker himself on 10 O'Clock Live. Speaking of which, 10 O'Clock Live also appeared on the show when Brooker covered Jimmy Carr's taxes.

However, when it comes to Brooker the most interesting part is when he stops going on about how awful things are and actually finds the positive things around us. In the case of 2012 it was the Olympics and Paralympics, and while these are, on a whole, not the funniest moments, they do provide us with a glimmer of joy in an otherwise gloriously miserable show.

With more Wipe programmes coming up in February, Brooker's work is perhaps the most satirical comedy around. Other shows should be encouraged to be as cutting and thought-provoking as this is.