Comic Relief

Comic Relief: Red Nose night raises record £75m

Celebrities and the public have helped this year's Comic Relief charity telethon raise a record £75m so far.

Red Nose Day BBC1 telethon attracts 12.2 million peak

Last night's Comic Relief telethon on BBC One pulled in a peak of 12.2 million viewers, the latest overnight data has shown.

Comic Relief review: Funny for money - or was it?

No collection of comedians could make us laugh non-stop for nearly seven hours of fundraising, but some moments stood out for the right reasons.

Celebrities in action for Red Nose Day

A host of celebrities are lending their support to this year's Comic Relief to help raise money for good causes.

It's been 25 years since the first Red Nose Day brought amusing people together to do jokes and ask for your charitable donations, so there are some anniversary-worthy treats lined up for tonight. The Fresh Meat gang migrate over from Channel 4, while Miranda Hart is doing a UK-wide jaunt that sounds like a modern version of Challenge Anneka. Russell Brand is back at the Beeb for the late-night presenting shift, and Ricky Gervais will attempt to atone for the last three years of comedy duds with a new instalment of The Office.

Ricky Gervais reviving The Office's David Brent, Miranda Hart giving Call The Midwife a baby comedy makeover, Jessie J shaving her head and Peter Kay in physical challenge and pop promo mode promise to be among the highlights as Comic Relief bigs up its 25th birthday. So if clamping a red nose on your hooter doesn't tickle your fancy, just settle back and raise a glass and a chortle as a raft of hosts, including Rob Brydon, Jack Whitehall and Russell Brand, tackle such dubious tasks as introducing Simon Cowell's wedding video. Someone's having a laugh with that one, surely.

I managed to get an exclusive sneak preview of what Jessie J might look like once she's had her head shaved tonight. It's not great, to be honest.

What I did is, I put Jessie's photo into the hugely amusing Bald Booth app on my iPhone, which magically shows you what anyone will look like as a slaphead. And a few seconds later - hey presto! - there she was, smooth as a pickled egg.

Well, almost. The snag is, this ingenious app doesn't actually erase the hair on either side of a person's head, just on top, so Jessie ends up looking more like my Uncle Norman.

I can't imagine that's the look she'll be hoping for tonight. Having said that, you don't catch my Uncle Norman complaining.

As for the other highlights of tonight's marathon, they include Ricky Gervais returning as David Brent, Jack Whitehall going head-to-head with Micky Flanagan in a special MasterChef, Simon Cowell getting married, sort of, and One Direction treating us to their offcial Comic Relief single, Pledge Fifty Quid And You're Allowed To Give Each Of Us A Good Slap. To donate, call 03457 910910.

That's Jessie J under the swirl of shaving foam, and the reason she's posing like the queen of the Oompa Loompas is that she'll be shaving her hair off as part of tonight's culmination to Red Nose Day. Yes, it's time for the stunts and dares and unlikely comedy mash-ups to reach their bubbling live climax.

As ever, we can expect unmissable moments delivered by an almost obscenely starry line-up. Presenters include Michael McIntyre, Rob Brydon, John Bishop, Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and (careful, now...) Russell Brand. Ricky Gervais will bring David Brent out of retirement. There are mini-eps of Call the Midwife and Fresh Meat, a cook-off between Jack Whitehall and Micky Flanagan, and of course a new novelty pop promo from Peter Kay.

The trick for viewers is to flash the cash early. Text the donation line or get out the credit card at an early stage, then relax as the night rolls by. You'll never make it through all those heartbreaking appeal films if you don't know your money's on its way.

James Corden brings back Smithy for Comic Relief

James Corden will be reviving his Gavin & Stacey comedy creation Smithy for another Red Nose Day sketch tonight.