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On Saturday 23 November 2024, Channel 4 broadcasts Legends of Comedy With Lenny Henry!

Season 1 Episode 2 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Legends of Comedy With Lenny Henry” promises to be an engaging look at the career of Sally Phillips. Airing on Channel 4, this episode features Sir Lenny Henry as he sits down with Phillips to discuss her journey in the world of comedy.

Sally Phillips is well-known for her roles in popular shows like “Miranda” and “Smack the Pony.” Viewers can expect to hear stories about her experiences on set and the challenges she faced throughout her career. The conversation will also touch on her memorable appearances in “I’m Alan Partridge” and “Bridget Jones.”

This episode aims to celebrate Sally’s contributions to comedy while providing insights into her creative process. Fans of both Lenny Henry and Sally Phillips will likely find this episode entertaining and informative, highlighting the impact of their work in the industry.

Season 1, Episode 2 of “Legends of Comedy with Lenny Henry,” airing on Saturday, 23 November 2024, at 9:25 Pm on Channel 4, invites viewers to enjoy an insightful chat between Sir Lenny Henry and comedian Sally Phillips. In this episode, the pair take a look back at Sally’s remarkable career in the entertainment industry, reflecting on her standout roles and the impact she’s made on British comedy.

Sally Phillips is best known for her unforgettable performances in popular shows such as “Miranda” and “Smack the Pony,” as well as her appearances in the iconic “I’m Alan Partridge” and the “Bridget Jones” films. Lenny and Sally discuss the highlights of her career, including the challenges and joys of working in the world of comedy. With Lenny’s trademark humor and Sally’s candidness, viewers are treated to a fun, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life of one of the UK’s most beloved comedy talents.

From Garth Marenghi to The Mighty Boosh, Paddington’s blockbuster success stands on a TV comedy golden age and the early work of Paul King.

“The very gates of Hell” might not be the first place you’d look to find Paddington’s origin story. But with Paul King as director and future ursine-alumni Alice Lowe and Richard Ayoade on the stage, the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe run of Garth Marenghi’s Fright Knight proved not to be a half-bad training ground for the man behind the most successful comedy franchise of the last decade.

Pitched as a gory and melodramatic spoof of Stephen King-style scares, the show centred around Matthew Holness’ fictional horror author, Marenghi, and his inspired telling of another writer’s fight to rescue his muse from the forces of darkness. Fright Knight was nominated for a Perrier award. The follow-up, 2001’s Netherhead, won one. TV beckoned, and soon King,...

NBC’s newest sitcom, St. Denis Medical, is still about a week away from its two-episode premiere, but if you’ve been watching literally any programming on the network, you’ve already been barraged with commercials that may have put you in the mood for a comedy that revolves around sick people and the professionals who look after them. While you kill time in the waiting room, here’s a selection of the best medical sitcoms you can stream instead. Doing so in a paper gown is optional.

[subtitle]1Childrens Hospital and Medical Police (Tied) [/subtitle]

Grey’s Anatomy was one of TV’s buzziest dramas when ex-Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry created Childrens Hospital, a broad spoof of shows in which sexy young doctors work out their interpersonal issues while barely paying attention to their patients. Corddry stars as Dr. Blake Downs, who is clearly aiming for a Patch Adams-esque...

Jordan Gray Comedy Special Heading To Channel 4

Jordan Gray’s comedy special has been picked up by Channel 4. The trans comedian, who made a name for herself when she stripped naked and played the piano with her penis on TV, will make her debut stand-up comedy special for television next month. Soho Studios and Bill and Ben will produce the one-off, Is It A Bird?, for Channel 4, spotlighting one of the brightest, award-winning talents in the British comedy game. “This silly little show has changed my life forever,” said Gray. The comedy special will be EP’d by Gray, Soho Studios’ Ian Lamarra and Laura Hill for Independent Talent Group. Lamarra added: “Jordan’s debut Is It A Bird? opened as the funniest and most important show in Edinburgh that year, it is vital that it’s now captured on film.”

‘We Might Regret This’: Trailer Drops For...

When ITV announced Piglets, a new sitcom about rookie police recruits, reactions ranged from intrigue to indignation. Its creators hinted at humor with heart, yet its title upset some. Premiering, would it back bite or charm?

Set at Norbourne Police College, six trainees prep under strict superintendents Spry and Weekes. Steph and ex-Mike face past tensions. Leggo coasts on family ties, while Afia, Geeta, and Dev aim to prove themselves. Then there’s Paul, sent by his criminal kin to infiltrate.

With origins in Green Wing and Smack the Pony’s inventive absurdity, potential existed for Piglets to pierce policing’s pomposity through laughs. However, controversy clouded early judgments. Its name, invoking pigs as a slur against officers, disturbed some, given the real-world pressures they face.

This review aims to assess piglets on their own merits. How do its characters, comedy, and commentary come together? Does it find farcical fun or flounder in failed frivolity?...

Studio Soho Distribution has announced the UK and Irish release date of the 19th of July for the British movie ‘Chuck Chuck Baby’ alongside its new poster.

Set in present-day industrial North Wales, Helen spends her nights packing chickens and her days caring for a dying mother-figure Gwen. Helen’s world takes an unexpected turn with the return of Joanne. Twenty years ago, they were the objects of the other’s unspoken teenage passions. One night, Helen encourages Joanne to start a playful wooing game that re-awakens their youthful feelings.

As they fall in love and lust, Helen’s zest for life returns but Joanne feels the walls closing in as she faces something much darker from her past. Helen’s world is shattered when Gwen dies and Joanne’s painful memories cause her to flee. Separated and alone, will both women reflect on their unfulfilled chance to break their...

Cult classic sitcom Green Wing has been resurrected as a podcast with the original cast and creative team.

Back in 2004, fresh from the success of sketch show Smack The Pony, writer Victoria Pile created Green Wing, a sitcom set in a hospital.

With an ensemble cast that included Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan – who would later reunite to star opposite Matt LeBlanc in Episodes – the comedy is helped enormously by committed clowning the cast, particularly Mark Heap and Michelle Gomez. The show ran for two series from 2004 to 2006 and, in a move more in common with American sitcoms, had a large pool of writers.

After the show ended, the same creative team made the terrific University comedy Campus in 2009, which despite only running for one series is well worth tracking down, especially for the tour de force performance from Andy Nyman as megalomaniacal monster and Vice Chancellor Jonty De Wolfe.

Historical British comedy Seize Them! lands in UK cinemas in April, and the trailer has landed.

Prolific comedy writer Andy Riley, along with his writing partner Kevin Cecil, has written for numerous comedy shows including Trigger Happy TV, So Graham Norton, Smack the Pony, The Armando Iannucci Shows, Black Books, Harry and Paul, Big Bad World and Veep. They also created and wrote the underrated Matt Berry sitcom Year of The Rabbit for Channel 4.

On the big screen, Cecil and Riley wrote the scripts for Gnomeo And Juliet and the sequel, Sherlock Gnomes.

Now, Riley has written the screenplay for Seize Them! a historical comedy with a huge ensemble cast of familiar faces from the British comedy scene. Originally set for release last year, we’re delighted to see it’s now returned to the cinema release schedule.

The synopsis reads as follows:

Brimming with warmth, humour and swordfights,...

No Spaced. No The League of Gentlemen. No Smack the Pony or Goodness Gracious Me or The Royle Family or Brass Eye, or Red Dwarf or Father Ted or anything that belongs to the last century (side note: the late 90s were an incredible time for UK comedy). These are the 40 finest British comedy TV shows that have arrived since the year 2000, as nominated by our writers. Add in your favourites below, and it’s a party.

What’s cheering about this lot, apart from the fact that as comedies, they should all technically cheer us up, is how different they are. There’s the surreal chaos of Year of the Rabbit, and the sweet warmth of Lovesick, the Pythonesque bonkersness of Yonderland, the satirical might of The Thick of It and much more. Something for everyone, you might say.

And to make sure there was enough space to include a wide enough selection,...

Our favorite angel and demon duo are back in “Good Omens” Season 2: All six episodes hit Prime Video streaming on July 28. This time around, the odd couple is tasked with helping hide Gabriel (Jon Hamm) from both sides of the celestial divide until he can regain his memory.

Here are the returning and new characters and what other projects you may have seen the cast in before.

(Prime Video)

David Tennant as Crowley

Tennant, best known as the 10th Doctor on “Doctor Who,” plays fallen angel Crowley, whose relationship with Aziraphale pre-dates the creation of humans. The stylish demon often finds himself afoul of both heaven and hell. The Scottish actor also starred in “Broadchurch” and Marvel’s “Jessica Jones.”

(Prime Video)

Michael Sheen as Aziraphale

The Welsh actor, whose films include “Underworld,” “Frost/Nixon” and “The Queen,” plays fussy angel Aziraphale. Unlike his fellow cherubim, he has developed a...

Exclusive: The BBC has greenlit a comedy-drama about a Canadian tetraplegic moving to London from Stath Lets Flats producer Roughcut TV in association with Village Roadshow Television.

In the Catastrophe-esque We Might Regret This, Freya, played by the show’s co-writer Kyla Harris, moves to the English capital to live with Abe (Killing Eve and Smack the Pony’s Darren Boyd). Abe thinks he’s an old dog that can learn new tricks but Freya requires constant PAs who are always present and, after failing to find the right person for this intimate role, invites chaotic and impulsive best friend Jo (Elena Saurel) to take the job.

The show is inspired by the lives of Harris and co-writer Lee Getty, who said it will be about the “messiest and most joyous lived experiences of friendship, love and disability.”

We Might Regret This was initially reported to be in development as a Channel 4 pilot.

It takes many people to fill Richard Osman’s shoes, and not just because he wears a size 14. Back in April 2021, the TV presenter, producer and novelist announced that he was leaving his co-presenter role on Pointless to focus on his hugely successful Thursday Murder Club book series and other projects. Due to the ‘stars we see in the night sky are actually hundreds of years in the past’ nature of TV broadcast, by that point, Osman was already four months out of the job. His final episode of the regular Pointless (he’ll still appear on the celebrity editions) was filmed in December 2021 and aired in July 2022, with this touching message to Alexander Armstrong.

When Pointless returned for Series 28 in September 2022, it came with a rotating clutch of new guest-hosts sitting behind Osman’s fact-checking desk. First up was Sally Lindsay, and following her were Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne,...

In season one, Viscount Bridgerton was less hero than impediment. The eldest Bridgerton son, he assumed responsibility for the matches of his younger siblings Daphne and Colin, and spent the season throwing his weight around – sometimes literally in the case of the punch-up and dual with Daphne’s suitor Simon. Anthony attempted to control everybody else’s marriage responsibilities while refusing to face up to his own. His mistress Siena Rosso eventually made the decision for him, recognising that an opera singer with her past would never be found respectable enough to become a society Viscountess. Siena moved on, and urged Anthony to do the same.

In season two, Anthony’s search for a wife is centre-stage, making actor Jonathan the romantic lead. It’s not the first time the actor has told a love story in his established stage and screen career, which started in his childhood with the Royal Shakespeare Company,...

Sally Phillips, the British actor known for her role in all three Bridget Jones movies, will head the cast of Australian comedy drama film “How to Please a Woman.”

Pitched as a warmhearted look at sexuality and vulnerability at all stages of life, the film casts Phillips as a 50-something woman who has the inspired idea of launching an all-male house-cleaning service. But she must ask herself questions when the business grows out of control.

Production starts next week in Perth, West Australia, under the direction of Renee Webster, whose previous directing credits include Australian Broadcasting Corporation series “The Heights” and “Itch.” Webster also penned the screenplay.

The completed film will be released in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. International sales are handled by Germany’s Beta Cinema.

Erik Thomson, who recently appeared in “The Furnace” and next appears in “Blueback,” is set as the male lead. Other cast include Alexander England,...

Australian thriller The Secrets She Keeps, currently airing on BBC One and iPlayer, takes the audience to a very dark place says Laura Carmichael. Her character Agatha, a supermarket worker who befriends a pregnant blogger, ‘does such unbelievable things, the most irresponsible things’ driven ‘by the impulse of motherhood’.

Building a crime thriller around that impulse makes the series relatable, says Carmichael. At its heart, the show is about ‘wanting to be a mum and wanting to be the perfect mum.’ As her character’s backstory unfolds, ‘you understand her’ says Carmichael, though ‘she absolutely puts people through hell.’ Whether Agatha could ever be forgiven, she says, is a question for the audience to mull.

There’s no talk of a second series as yet for The Secret She Keeps. ‘It was taken from the book, which stands alone,’ Carmichael explains, ‘but it would be great to revisit and see what would happen.

The Screen Awards take place on November 28 at The Ballroom Southbank in London.

Actress, presenter and comedian Sally Phillips will host the 2019 Screen Awards, which take place on November 28 at The Ballroom Southbank in London.

For more information on the awards, including how to book a table, visit the Screen Awards website.

As an actress, Phillips has featured in films including Bridget Jones’s Diary and its two sequels, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies and Blinded By The Light.

Phillips was also one of the original writers and performers on Channel 4’s acclaimed comedy-sketch series Smack The Pony, and...

Veep and Bridget Jones' star Sally Phillips has warned that British television is still sexist and there are fewer opportunities for women to break through. Phillips, who played Un Special Envoy Minna Häkkinen in the HBO comedy, said sexism is just more hidden than it used to be on the small screen. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today program, Phillips, who co-created influential comedy series Smack The Pony, was asked if women are as funny as men. "I don't want to legitimise…...

Louisa Mellor Dec 15, 2017

We chatted to actor and writer Sally Phillips about comedy, European accents, special cuddles, writing films and more...

“I’m quite keen to meet a Finnish shaman, have you seen them?” asks Sally Phillips three minutes into an interview that’s supposed to be about her role in new family animation Ferdinand. Scrolling through her phone, she presents me with a photograph of a fearsome looking woman with Pris from Blade Runner eye make-up, wearing an elaborate headdress and holding a tambourine.

See related Star Wars: The Last Jedi review

“Look at the expression! Very, very miserable, tambourine, excellent eye make-up” says Phillips, delighted. “I play a character who looks a bit like that in Zapped! and I did something else recently where they painted a black chicken on one eye. I thought, well, it’s slowly, slowly happening, I’m turning into a Finnish Shaman.”

Despite not having visited Finland,...

Twelfth Night, Your Name and Ted come to theatres in our April Events list Twelfth Night, Your Name and Ted come to theatres in our April Events list Scott Goodyer3/30/2017 10:13:00 Am

April is here and we can almost feel that spring weather just around the corner. So we wanted to give you that extra bounce in your step with some great new monthly cinema events! Check out the list below of a few highlights: WWE Wrestlemania 33

The biggest event in WWE history, featuring Universal Champion Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar, WWE Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton and much more, broadcast live to cinemas from Florida's Orlando Citrus Bowl. All this epic action is a must see on the big screen!

Show date: April 2nd

Twelfth Night National Theatre Live

Tamsin Greig is Malvolia in a new twist on Shakespeare’s classic comedy of mistaken identity. A ship is wrecked on the rocks.

Britain's Casting Directors Association is launching an awards ceremony geared specifically towards honoring the work of the casting director. The inaugural event, dubbed the Casting Awards, will take place in London on March 17, 2017, and is set to be hosted by comic actress and writer Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones Diary, Smack the Pony). An independent panel of industry judges, including United Agents' Gabe Blair, Apa chief exec Steve Davies and TV and commercials…...

Britain's Casting Directors Association is launching an awards ceremony geared specifically towards honoring the work of the casting director. The inaugural event, dubbed the Casting Awards, will take place in London on March 17, 2017, and is set to be hosted by comic actress and writer Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones Diary, Smack the Pony). An independent panel of industry judges, including United Agents' Gabe Blair, Apa chief exec Steve Davies and TV and commercials…...

Andrew Blair Oct 17, 2016

Armando Iannucci & Chris Morris' BBC Radio 4 news spoof not only gave rise to Alan Partridge but also launched countless comedy careers.

If you haven’t heard of On The Hour, you’ll have seen or read the work of the people who made it: Brass Eye, The Thick Of It, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, Veep, Four Lions, that bit on the train at the end of Mission: Impossible, Closer, Jam, the Leicester Square Theatre Podcasts, the movie version of Notes On A Scandal; the NME, TV Burp, the videos for Little Baby Nothing by the Manics and Kung Fu by Ash, Smack The Pony, and Alan Partridge to name a few.

See related The Big Bang Theory season 10 episode 4 review: The Cohabitation Experimentation The Big Bang Theory season 10 episode 3 review: The Dependence Transcendence The Big Bang Theory season 10 episode 2 review: The Military Miniaturization The Big Bang Theory...

Universal Pictures

It’s the most wonderful time of the year (again), and as usual it’s getting to those last few weeks before the big day when creative ideas and planning make way for frantic grabs at whatever is left on the shelves after the Black Friday zombie hordes have cleared everything out.

But fear not: because the best of Christmas is watching movies, re-watching old TV specials and trying hard to forget that George Lucas ever decided that anyone wanted a Star Wars Christmas show, there’ll always be a helping hand round these parts for those who want it.

So if you’re buying for a difficult brother, a picky sister or just for the film, gaming or TV fan in your life, what follows is a compendium of the finest gift ideas for this year’s festivities, as usual there are massive opportunities to win most of what has been included…...

We asked Den Of Geek’s writers to recommend brilliant comedy shows that deserve to have more of a fuss made about them. Here they are...

Banging a drum about stuff we love is more or less our remit on Den Of Geek - hence what many readers have started referring to as the ‘inexplicably regular' appearance of Statham, squirrels and Harold Bishop from Neighbours on these pages.

To that end then, we asked our writers which comedy shows (past and present, UK or otherwise, on TV, radio, or online…) deserved more praise, and here are the ones they chose. You might already like them too, or you might discover something new to dig out and enjoy. That’s the fun of it.

Please note that this list isn’t ranked in any order, nor is it exhaustive. It’s compiled from the opinions of a group of different people,...

Six years after finishing fourth in The X Factor, Diana Vickers has released two albums and launched an acting career on stage and screen.

Last year, she was due to make her TV acting debut in the comedy series Give Out Girls on Sky Living, but the series was delayed and later picked up by Comedy Central.

Give Out Girls stars Vickers and Him & Her's Kerry Howard, and was co-written by Tony MacMurray and Hatty Ashdown. It follows a group of four girls who work in promotions and carry out roles like handing out free light bulbs to commuters.

Ahead of the show's premiere on Tuesday (October 14), Digital Spy and others had a quick chat with the singer and actress about her latest project and where it may take her in the future.

Comedy was an exciting prospect

"It was my first TV role and it was comedy, and I hadn't done comedy before.

Produced as a feature – 4 TV half-hours – and as a 13 episode web series, Sos: Save Our Skins is the tale of two hapless British geeks who wake up in New York City to discover that the entire human race has vanished. But as they explore the seemingly empty world before them, Ben (Nat Saunders) and Stephen (Chris Hayward) soon realize they’re not alone after all. This new comedy sci-fi adventure launched on FEARnet in the U.S. in April on its new “Twisted Comedy” block and on Blue Ant Media’s Bite TV in Canada. This U.K.-Canada coproduction was produced by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal’s Baby Cow Productions in the U.K. and by Duopoly in Canada.

“We discovered Sos: Save Our Skins in a pitch session at the Just For Laughs Conference and were determined to find a way to finance it,” said Catherine Tait , Executive Producer. “Co-productions are challenging but in the case of Sos, the talent and final results were entirely worth the effort!”

Sos: Save Our Skins was created, written by and stars two of Britain’s in-demand comedy writing teams, Nat Saunders and Chris Hayward. Together they have contributed to hit U.K. shows such as Big Train (BBC), Smack the Pony (Channel 4), Trollied (Sky) and Fit (Cbbc), and created the popular web series Misey Bear(BBC). Sos also stars Hannah Spear (Versus Valerie, Sexy Nerd Girl) as Kill the cannibal and Peter Serafinowicz (Shaun of the Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy) as the voice of Andrew the Alien.

A sci-fi, comedy and horror homage, Sos: Save Our Skins sends Ben and Stephen on a desperate journey to find their loved ones, escape the jaws of death and work out why they’re two of the few remaining people on Earth. But the answer to the mystery is bigger, crazier and more apocalyptic than they could ever have imagined, and it puts the fate of the planet into their very stupid hands.

“Sos: Save Our Skins is part road movie, part sci-fi fantasy, part buddy movie, and even has a twisted love story at its heart, even if one of the lovers is a mass-murderer,” said Director and Producer, Kent Sobey.

The film version of Sos: Save Our Skins premiered at the 39th Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival in February, where Sorespot Movies observed, “[it] does not hold back with the comedy or the wildness of the plot”. The film also screened at the International Horror and Sci-fi Film Festival in Phoenix and the Sci-Fi London Film Festival (April 24 – May 4, 2014). It will screen at the St. Tropez International Film Festival (May 12 – 16, 2014).

The film was produced in association with the Independent Production Fund and with the participation of BBC Worldwide in the UK, FEARnet in the U.S. and Blue Ant Media in Canada.

About Fearnet

As America’s leading television and digital programming service devoted to genre entertainment, Fearnet delivers a diverse array of original and acquired horror, thriller and suspense content as a cable TV movie network, a video-on-demand outlet and award-winning web portal. The year-round horror network features box-office hits and popular movies from major film studios, independents, and foreign producers, as the channel programs over 350-plus titles a year; many of which are world television and broadcast premieres. The Channel has been the number-one free VOD movie service for six straight months – Sept. 13 to Feb. ’14- (available in more than 28 million homes) and the website, Fearnet.com, currently ranks as the top site in the genre category for its original content, TV reviews, web shorts and exclusives. Fearnet is a partnership between Sony Pictures Television, Lionsgate Entertainment and Comcast Corporation and is widely distributed to U.S. cable subscribers across various systems. For more information about the company, visit www.Fearnet.com and stay connected on Facebook and Twitter (@Fearnet).

About Baby Cow Productions

Established in 1999 by award winning comedy creators Steve Coogan and Henry Normal, Baby Cow Productions Ltd has gained an enviable reputation for nurturing new British comedy talent, whilst teaming up with the best of the U.K.’s established writers, directors and producers. Baby Cow’s productions include award winning Gavin and Stacey, The Mighty Boosh, Nighty Night, Mid Morning Matters, Hunderby, Moone Boy, Hebburn and the Alan Partridge specials resulting in an array of nominations and awards including Bafta, Rts, Rose d’Or, Southbank Awards and International Emmys.

Baby Cow’s most recent television shows and films include Uncle for BBC 3, The Trip to Italy, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and Philomena which received four Oscar nominations including Best Picture and won a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.

About Duopoly

Duopoly is an independent content company which develops, produces and acts as a sales agent to a range of feature film properties, television series and digital series. Recent feature titles repped by Duopoly include Velcrow Ripper’s Occupy Love and Andrew Bush’s Roller Town. Duopoly operates its own channel on Hulu and has distributed over 300 episodes of content to this platform including successful comedy series Odd Job Jack and Puppets Who Kill.

Everyone — stars included — has that one show or movie they believe hasn’t received the attention it deserves. EW asked some celebrities, ranging from director John Waters to actress Allison Janney, what shows or movies they think are criminally underrated. Here’s what they said:

John Waters, director Hairspray, Serial Mom

“Bruno Dumont’s movies, which are all long, depressing, French art movies about farmers and the earth and misery [such as Humanité]. I love a feel-bad movie. I hate to feel good at a theater. There is such honesty in the pain he puts on screen.”

John Lasseter, director Toy Story, Cars...

It's another bumper week of TV this week, with must-see content ranging from tense Danish political dramas to a bunch of famous faces chewing on a kangaroo testicle.

Plus, there's the fun-filled charity extravaganza that is Children in Need to look forward to. Sir Terry Wogan, Tess Daly, Fearne Cotton, Zoe Ball and Nick Grimshaw will host throughout the night, while the likes of One Direction, Jls, Tinie Tempah and Ellie Goulding appear. Coverage kicks off Friday, November 15 at 7.30pm on BBC One.

Hebburn: Tuesday (November 12) at 10pm on BBC Two

Our favourite funny people with different dialects, Chris Ramsay and Fresh Meat's Kimberley Nixon, return as newlyweds trapped with the parents in Tyneside tickler Hebburn, now in its second series.

With a baby on a way, plans are being made for them to get out from under the feet of Jack's mum Pauline (Gina McKee) and dad...

Comedian, actor, writer and director who came to prominence in satirical TV sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News

Mel Smith was once upstaged by a talking gorilla. He was playing a zoologist in a sketch on his hit comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News and the gorilla suit contained Rowan Atkinson. "When I caught Gerald in 68 he was completely wild," said Smith. "Wild?" retorted the gorilla. "I was absolutely livid!"

If the gorilla had the best line, Smith had the more expressive countenance, mugging with a deadpan virtuosity rarely seen since Oliver Hardy in his pomp. That face – as hangdog as his childhood hero Tony Hancock's – made Smith, who has died of a heart attack aged 60, one of the most recognisable of postwar British comedians.

Smith's face was only part of his fortune. He was a writer and editor of some of the most redoubtable British TV...

It’s with deep sadness and no little shock that we must report that comedian, writer, actor, director and producer Mel Smith has died at the age of 60 following a heart attack.Smith will likely be best remembered for his iconic comedy partnership with Griff Rhys Jones, appearances on shows such as Not The Nine O’Clock News and directing several comedy films including Bean.Born and brought up in Chiswick, he attended New College, Oxford and then began a stint in theatre at the Royal Court and Bristol Old Vic. Initially, he was a director and producer, working behind the scenes, but had performed at the Edinburgh Festival while at university, and had met several of the Cambridge Footlights team.From there sprang Not The Nine O’Clock News, followed by comedy collaborations with Bob Goody and his time with Rhys Jones. The latter pair also founded TalkBack Productions,...

Mel Smith has died at the age of 60. The comedian's agent Michael Foster confirmed he suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep yesterday (19.07.13). Mel was known for his professional partnership with Griff Rhys Jones, and together the pair produced and starred in sketch show 'Not The Nine O'Clock News'. The duo also set up their own company and talent agency - Talkback Productions - which created the likes of 'Smack The Pony', 'Da Ali G Show' and 'I'm Alan Partridge'. Fellow comedian Stephen Fry joined friends and colleagues in paying tribute to the late star, who he described as a ''kind,...

Mel Smith has died at the age of 60. The comedian's agent Michael Foster confirmed he suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep yesterday (19.07.13). Mel was known for his professional partnership with Griff Rhys Jones, and together the pair produced and starred in sketch show 'Not The Nine O'Clock News'. The duo also set up their own company and talent agency - Talkback Productions - which created the likes of 'Smack The Pony', 'Da Ali G Show' and 'I'm Alan Partridge'. Fellow comedian Stephen Fry joined friends and colleagues in paying tribute to the late star, who he described as a ''kind,...

David Baddiel is developing a new sitcom for Channel 4.

Sit.com will focus on a family addicted to technology, according to Broadcast.

Baddiel's last TV effort was an instalment of Sky1's Little Crackers in 2010.

In recent years, the 49-year-old comic also wrote 2010 film The Infidel and has penned four novels.

Other comedy projects in the works at Channel 4 include a final It Crowd special and a new series from Shameless creator Paul Abbott.

Sketch show Smack the Pony could also be revived by the channel, reports suggest.

Doon Mackichan has teased a possible reunion with Sally Phillips and Fiona Allen for a Smack The Pony comeback.

The sketch comedy show ran for three series between 1999 and 2002 on Channel 4, with two farewell specials airing in December 2002 and January 2003.

> Best Ever Sketch Shows: Friday Fiver

Mackichan told Radio Times that she, Phillips and Allen were writing material and "getting the pitch together".

"So much has happened to us all, as mothers and women, there's a lot that is funny about where we are now," she said. "There are years of pain to draw on.

"We will have to wait and see what happens and whether they will want to bring it out of the stable. But we would love to get the old nag out again."

She said that the show would feature all-new sketches, adding: "It requires a lot of writing. But we have always been accosted...

The BBC's remake of The Lady Vanishes distanced itself rather too well from Hitchcock's classic film

The Lady Vanishes (BBC1) | iPlayer

It's Kevin (BBC2) | iPlayer

Our Queen (ITV1) | ITV Player

Who can say why the BBC suddenly decided to remake The Lady Vanishes, though it must have seemed a fair bet that only film buffs – and perhaps not the ones in the habit of dropping by for Call the Midwife at this time on a Sunday night – would remember more than the opening credits of the original 1938 Hitchcock adaptation (scrolling jerkily over a railway hobbyist's layout of a station and hotel nestling in the snow-capped Balkans, which must have looked almost real at the time). In the event they avoided plot familiarity by cunningly going back to the forgotten 1936 novel (The Wheel Spins) by Ethel White, thus dispensing with Hitchcock's gunfight at the end, his comic characters and egregiously providential turns of fortune.

Also this week, Mrs Brown's Boys causes a heart attack and Harry Hill comes to the rescue

This week's comedy news

Johnny Vegas has claimed that Daniel Kitson made him quit standup – but is vowing to return and find "closure". "Kitson is the reason I stopped stand-up," the comedy website Chortle quotes Vegas as saying at the Leicester comedy festival. "I did three gigs with him. On the first, I thought, 'This is brilliant, I've got to pull my socks up and get my act together.' On the second, I felt I'd gone 15 rounds with the comedic Mike Tyson. And on the third, I felt I'd seen comedy take its next evolutionary step … I thought I would never have the talent to match that." Vegas also addressed his unease with fame, saying that "the most fun I had was with gigs where I was a complete unknown and...

'My most treasured possession? My children have destroyed pretty much everything I liked'

Sally Phillips, 42, was born in Hong Kong and educated at Wycombe Abbey School and Oxford University. After performing at the Edinburgh festival fringe, in 1997 she was cast as the receptionist in the TV series I'm Alan Partridge. Between 1999 and 2003, she co-wrote and starred in Smack The Pony on Channel 4. In 2001 she played Shazza in Bridget Jones's Diary and most recently she wrote and appeared in the movie The Decoy Bride. She stars in a new sitcom, Parents, which starts next month on Sky 1. She is married with three children and lives in London.

When were you happiest?

At the birth of each of my children. Drugs were involved.

What is your greatest fear?

The death of my children.

What is your earliest memory?

Showering in the rain with my brother in Borneo.

Which living person do you most admire,...

Irish actor Robert Sheehan has landed a role on new BBC One sitcom 'Me & Mrs Jones'. The 'Love/Hate' star will join Neil Morrissey (Men Behaving Badly) and Sarah Alexander (Smack the Pony) in the Oriane Messina and Fay Rusling-penned comedy. The former 'Green Wing' writers will work alongside director Nick Hurran (Doctor Who), producer Serena Cullen (Push) and Beryl Vertue who will executive produce for Hartswood Films.

To mark the release of The Decoy Bride out in cinemas now and on DVD Monday, Entertainment One have given us 3 copies signed by it’s star David Tennant to give away.

Too many brides can spoil a wedding – especially when the groom can’t decide between them! Watch as sparks fly and love gets complicated in The Decoy Bride, released in cinemas from 9th March and available on DVD from 12th March 2012 courtesy of CinemaNX and Entertainment One.

When the wedding of American film star Lara Tyler (Alice Eve - Men in Black 3, Sex and the City 2) to tweedy English author James Arber (David Tennant – Doctor Who, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is sabotaged by a paparazzo, they decide to relocate the event to the one place where the world’s press won’t find them: the sleepy Scottish Island of Hegg.

However, dilapidated buildings and...

Kelly Macdonald gives an attractive performance in a cheerfully absurd comedy-farce that pokes fun at the Richard Curtis romcom

This cheerfully absurd and laid-back comedy-farce comes from a TV director and is co-written by Sally Phillips, formerly of Smack the Pony and I'm Alan Partridge. It pokes gentle fun at the traditional Richard Curtis romcom. A writer called James (David Tennant) finds himself in a media firestorm on getting engaged to preening superstar Lara (Alice Eve). They try to avoid the press by marrying on a remote Scottish island, and pay a "decoy bride" to put the paparazzi off. This is a lonely, feisty local girl Katie, played by Kelly Macdonald. James and Katie find themselves spending time together, at first quarrelling and then … well, you know. It's indulgent, but Macdonald's performance is attractive and relaxed.

Rating: 3/5

David TennantRichard CurtisPeter BradshawKelly MacDonald

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.

It was a fairly comedy-centric offering last week at the multiplexes but this coming week is a wholly more eclectic affair. This weeks’ releases are set in such diverse locals as gritty English council estates, Parisian high society, the sweltering heat of India and, well, Mars. Are any of them worth your hard-earned cash at the cinema’s though? There looks to be something for just about everybody so make your selection wisely. Little update from last week’s offerings too, Wanderlust was pretty enjoyable and worth a watch if you like Apatow comedies. Project X however was truly terrible. I recommend you all avoid it like the plague.

If you want to check to see if any of these films are playing near you, you can visit Find Any Film and they’ll be able to help.

John Carter Iframe Embed for Youtube

Undoubtedly the tent pole release this...

After his involvement with the likes of The Mighty Boosh, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and Smack The Pony, Richard Ayoade turns his very capable hands to directing for the big screen. His first feature length coming-of-age flick, Submarine, is based on Joe Dunthorne’s novel and follows Oliver’s journey of self-discovery, desperate attempt to fix his parents ailing marriage and quest for love.

The film is broken up into four parts of significant days and dates with Oliver’s (Craig Roberts) quirkily written voice-over guiding us through his daily life. Carrying a brief-case, he amusingly slips into school like a “torpedo” and through his constant commentary exposes his eccentricities. His mother, Jill (Sally Hawkins), once dreamt of being an actress and is described as “naturally neurotic”. By contrast, his father Lloyd (Noah Taylor) is a marine biologist who works for the University and is notable as being the first...

Campus

Stars: Andy Nyman, Joseph Millson, Lisa Jackson, Jonathan Bailey, Sara Pascoe, Will Adamsdale, Dolly Wells | Produced and Directed by Victoria Pile

Created by the team behind Green Wing and Smack The Pony, Campus is a brand new comedy set in the hotbed of academic mediocrity that is Kirke University.

Run by the mercurial Vice Chancellor Jonty de Wolfe, played in superb Ott fashion by Andy Nyman, Kirke University is home to a veritable feast of degenerate, disingenious and downright delusional staff including philandering English Professor Matt Beer, shy Maths teacher Imogen Moffat, nice but dim student/teaching assistant Flatpack, Engineering lecturer Lydia “Big Shit” Tennant, Jason the reticent accountant and Nicole the feisty (if a little stupid) accomodations officer.

Campus is, much like Green Wing, a series of skits tied loosely together by a college setting but unlike Green Wing, Campus is darker, much darker. Be it the sexism and casual racism from Wolfe,...

Well hello my little horrorshows, and praise be to Snooki! Indeed, the gods of reality TV are smiling upon us once more as we delve into this week's televisual delights, and ah, after all the flim-flam we finally found a fine flurry of fare to fawn over. So, as my fiancé would say, let's get right to it!

The Apprentice

So, the programme we all love to watch/hate/love is back on the box not very long after the last series concluded, due to a delay last year -- and aren't we all glad it's back! That's a rhetorical question; I will not tolerate it being answered in the negative, for it is a positive godsend for lovers of those moronic business-worshipping candidates and the wonderfully degrading missions they get sent on, supposedly to prove their business acumen (but really to shame themselves most gloriously in front of the...

A lesser-known property from the late Douglas Adams (creator of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy), Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency was nevertheless a novel Adams thought would be easier to film than his revered sci-fi opus. Previously turned into radio plays with Harry Enfield as the gumshoe, BBC4 have decided to put Dirk Gently on-screen for the first time, adapted by in-demand screenwriter Howard Overman (Misfits, Vexed). Stephen Mangan (Green Wing) plays the eponymous sleuth, who believes in “the fundamental interconnectedness of all things”, and applies this theory of quantum mechanics to solve superficially innocuous crimes.

Overman has wisely excised much of the book’s budget-swallowing imagination into something achievable on a frugal budget; bringing the idea down-to-earth as an eccentric cousin to the BBC’s Sherlock update. Purists may grumble this isn’t the Dirk Gently they wanted to see, but it’s more accessible and practicable.

Before he rose to fame as the leading man in District 9 and long before he was cast as Mad Murdock in Joe Carnahan's revival of The A-Team, Sharlto Copley's future plans involved working on the other side of the camera. Along with Simon Hansen - his partner in South Africa's Inspired Minority production house - Copley had his beginnings as a producer and effects geek, with both Hansen and Copley heavily involved behind the scenes in both District 9 and Neill Blomkamp's short film precursor Alive In Joburg. Copley and Hansen are both credited as producers on Joburg and both were heavily involved in the effects as well, with Hansen later given directorial duties on the interview segments of District 9. And while fame and other projects have stretched out the timeline a bit the duo's post-Joburg plans revolved around co-directing a supernatural thriller titled Spoon.

The film industry is littered with TV comics who have tried and failed to make it on the big screen. Remember Gladiatress, the 2004 comedy set in Celtic Britain during the Roman invasion and starring the Smack the Pony gang? No? Neither do I. What about Morons from Outer Space, written by and starring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones? Or the deeply disappointing Magicians, featuring the Peep Show boys David Mitchell and Robert Webb? All were consigned to the comedy graveyard, a place where comics dreaming of film careers are left dead and buried.

Emily Booth, British TV presenter (‘host’, if you’re American) and actress (Evil Aliens, Doghouse, Pervirella), is unleashing a new horror hosting personality for the U.K. horror magazine GoreZone DVD series called Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre, in which she’ll give us a very funny show. If you’ve ever seen her as the title character in the crazy fantasy/horror film Pervirella, you’ll understand her unique brand of humor that she describes as "silly impressions and a heavy dose of slapstick". She brings that, and a love of horror films, to her Princess of the Demons character.

"We’re definitely tongue-in-cheek, so for my character I’m tapping into my most cheeky self to bring camp comedy into it. We’re not highbrow; we’re not the bloody culture show – its all about having fun with the beloved genre – sex, horror and comedy – all essential parts of life.

Seth Green is joining the cast of the romantic comedy The Best Man for London-based the Film Consortium. Neil Peplow is producing. Stefan Schwartz, whose credits include Shooting Fish and The Abduction Club, is directing from a script that he co-wrote with Ed Roe (Smack the Pony). Green will play the fiercely loyal but slightly devious and porn-addicted semiloser Murray, who is trying to help his best friend win the girl of his dreams. Green's projects include a television series for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup, and he is in production on Fox's Family Guy, which returns with original episodes next year. His film credits include Without a Paddle, The Italian Job, Party Monster, the Austin Powers movies and Rat Race. His TV work includes Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Green's deal was handled by UTA, Trice Koopman of Koopman Management and attorney David Weber of Offer, Weber and Dern.