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On Monday 3 March 2025, BBC One broadcasts Imagine…!

The Academy of Armando Episode Summary

A new episode of “Imagine…” titled “The Academy of Armando” is set to air on BBC One. This episode will take a closer look at Armando Iannucci, a prominent satirist known for his sharp wit and clever commentary on society and politics.

The program will explore some of Iannucci’s most notable works, including the groundbreaking television shows “The Day Today” and “The Thick of It.” These programs have left a significant mark on British comedy, and this episode will highlight how Iannucci’s unique style has influenced the genre.

In addition to discussing his classic works, the episode will also feature his latest project, a stage adaptation of the iconic film “Dr Strangelove.” This new take on a classic promises to bring fresh insights and humor to the well-known story.

Overall, “The Academy of Armando” aims...

“The Academy of Armando” is set to air on BBC One at 11:40 Pm on Monday, March 3, 2025. This special episode of the series “Imagine…” takes a closer look at the life and work of Armando Iannucci, a celebrated satirist known for his sharp wit and unique perspective on politics and society.

The program will explore some of Iannucci’s most notable projects, including the iconic television shows “The Day Today” and “The Thick of It.” These series have left a lasting impact on the world of comedy, showcasing Iannucci’s ability to blend humor with critical commentary. Viewers can expect to see clips and discussions that highlight how these shows shaped modern satire.

In addition to revisiting his past works, “The Academy of Armando” will also delve into Iannucci’s latest venture, a stage adaptation of the classic film “Dr Strangelove.” This new interpretation promises to bring fresh insights while...

On Monday 9 December 2024, BBC Two broadcasts Mastermind!

Season 22 Episode 16 Episode Summary

In the upcoming episode of “Mastermind,” viewers can expect an exciting mix of topics as Clive Myrie takes the helm once again. This episode promises to challenge contestants with a variety of specialist subjects that will test their knowledge and quick thinking.

One of the specialist subjects is the life and achievements of Sir Mark Cavendish, the renowned cyclist known for his impressive record in professional cycling. Contestants will delve into his career highlights and personal milestones, showcasing their understanding of this sports legend.

Another fascinating topic is the music of The Darkness, the British rock band famous for their energetic performances and catchy tunes. Participants will have the chance to impress with their knowledge of the band’s history, albums, and memorable hits.

The BBC satirical comedy series “The Day Today” will also feature as a specialist subject.

“Veep” creator Armando Iannucci has launched a new venture with production company Touchscreen, which has established a partnership with BBC Studios.

Together, the two will develop and co-produce “innovative, daring and world-class scripted programming for the U.K. and international markets,” according to a press release, which will be distributed by BBC Studios. The aim of the partnership is to mentor and champion new British talent, both on and off screen, as well as tell stories that resonate on a global scale.

Touchscreen will also be joined by Kevin Loader, Iannucci’s longtime collaborator who has worked with him on films “In the Loop” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield” as well as two seasons of HBO comedy “Avenue 5.” Charlotte Draper is also on board as a development producer.

“Touchscreen is focused on making projects that reflect, confront or celebrate the world we live in. I’ll be continuing my relationship with HBO,...

The upcoming episode of “Mastermind,” hosted by Clive Myrie, promises a captivating blend of knowledge and entertainment. Season 22, Episode 16, will air at 8:30 Pm on Monday, December 9, 2024, on BBC Two. This week, contestants will tackle a diverse range of specialist subjects that are sure to engage trivia enthusiasts.

One of the standout topics is Sir Mark Cavendish, the celebrated cyclist known for his remarkable achievements in the world of professional cycling. Viewers can expect to learn about his incredible career, personal milestones, and the challenges he faced along the way.

Another fascinating subject is the music of The Darkness, the British rock band famous for their flamboyant style and catchy tunes. Contestants will delve into the band’s history, their biggest hits, and the impact they have had on the music scene.

The episode also explores the BBC satirical comedy series “The Day Today,” which has left a lasting mark...

Satirist and The Death Of Stalin writer-director Armando Iannucci will take aim at social media in his next film.

Writer, director and satirist Armando Iannucci has revealed that his next film will poke fun at social media. The project will see him team up with Jon Brown, with whom he previously worked on TV comedy series The Franchise, a satire of superhero movie-making. According to Chortle, Iannucci said on Daniel Merrifield’s The Movie Dweeb podcast, “I’m always interested in where power and influence is, so social media is something actually that Jon [Brown] and I have been working on together, on a film script, which we hope to shoot next year”.

Ianucci went on to say that it would be “set in that world of that next generation of your Zuckerbergs, your Musks and Peter Thiels, and all those people’ – referring to the founder of Facebook, owner of X and Facebook investor respectively.

A new trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux just hit the internet, pleasing fans of comic book movies and absolutely thrilling fans of “slow motion gyrating on staircases” movies. Todd Phillips’ follow-up to 2019’s shockingly successful, billion dollar-earning Joker features several lavish musical numbers involving Lady Gaga, and apparently zero references to Batman, who is presumably still just a small boy in this increasingly confusing universe.

One intriguing detail in the trailer: Steve Coogan is in it! The British comedy star can briefly be seen in some kind of an interrogation room, along with Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, sandwiched between two TV cameras.

When he appeared in the earlier teaser trailer, U.K. fans were shocked by Coogan’s presence, with some likening it to a “jump scare” and others claiming that they were “completely taken out” of the world of the movie when Coogan showed up. Although the best...

Now that the Walt Disney Company and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District have become frenemies, things are looking good for the $17B improvement plan! Could this be the start of a fifth gate?

Orlando Sentinel reports that Reedy Creek’s replacement board has given Disney the good word that the development plan will probably be approved. However, it won’t be until June 12 that the board will make its final vote.

“A week is a long time in politics,” to quote Chris Morris from The Day Today. We must remember that the legal tension between Disney, DeSantis, and the relatively new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is still very much there. It could take one misstep to set this entire thing back.

If all goes well, there’s a good chance that a portion of that $17 billion could finally deliver a new park to compete with Universal’s rapidly approaching Epic Universe.

Steve Coogan is reprising his iconic role of Alan Partridge for new spoof documentary And Did Those Feet… Here are the details.

The BBC has announced a new Alan Partridge series, which will take the form of a spoof documentary called And Did Those Feet… With Alan Partridge. It’s once again written by Steve Coogan and brothers Neil and Rob Gibbons, with the latter also directing. The official description of the series reads as follows:

In his new documentary series – And Did Those Feet… With Alan Partridge – we follow the beloved and, to be fair, revered broadcaster as he reintegrates into life in Britain after a year working in Saudi Arabia. But what begins as a documentary about homecoming soon morphs into something more personal as Alan realises that the happiness he thought he’d feel at being back in Norwich just hasn’t materialised. Something’s missing.

We...

The Day Today was making Fake News its business long before it was even a twinkle in Donald Trump’s eye. Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris’ TV translation of their On the Hour BBC Radio 4 series parodied the gravely serious, scare-mongering, hyperbolic news style of the early 1990s with absurd, nonsensical headlines: “Portillo’s teeth removed to boost Pound. Exploded cardinal preaches sermon from fish tank. And where now for man raised by puffins?”

With a comedy team including Steve Coogan (who road-tested Alan Partridge on TV for the first time here), Rebecca Front, David Schneider and Doon Mackichan, the show didn’t aim to hoodwink its audience or even the public figures in the news, the target was the news itself. And if speaking truth to power is the essence of good satire, then the target doesn’t come much more powerful than the media, and satires don...

From local radio to TV and cinema stardom, and back again, there are many mysteries to this entertainment giant. Here’s your chance to solve them

For someone who hates the Guardian – “If you get the Guardian, you get a free bottle of water.” “Yes, but you also get the Guardian” – Alan Partridge has featured quite extensively in these pages. In 2013, he told us how he became a national treasure; three years later he called Noel Edmonds “a total wazzock”. In 2020, he invited us to his oasthouse and in 2022, he endured being interviewed by Steve Coogan

Now it’s your turn. In a career that’s spanned decades, Partridge has embraced almost all media, and that’s perhaps what makes him so uniquely versatile. He’s done radio: first on Radio 4’s On the Hour, then returning in 2010 to present Mid Morning Matters on North Norfolk Digital. He’s done...

Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan will collaborate once again for a stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. The play is set to premiere at London’s Noel Coward Theatre on October 8th, 2024.

Marking the first-ever adaptation of a Kubrick film, Iannucci is teaming with Sean Foley, who will co-direct the production. Like Peter Sellers did in the 1964 movie, Coogan will portray multiple roles in the play. Known in full as Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Kubrick’s Cold War satire follows an Air Force general who orders a preemptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.

Sellers played three roles in the film: Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, fictional President Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove, the former Nazi who serves as Muffley’s scientific advisor. Both Sellers and Kubrick were nominated for Academy Awards for the landmark black comedy.

Iannucci’s take...

Laughter is an eternal antidote for sadness, and television is able to indulge in comedy through many different subgenres, including the attractive format of sketch comedy series. Sketch comedy typically foregoes a narrative plot in favor of disconnected gags that can tackle infinitely random ideas or decide to narrow in on a specific focus.

Related: 10 Best Dark Comedy Series

Sketch comedy can be treated like a mainstream equalizer for laughter, but there’s frequently a punk rock sensibility around sketch series that encourage jokes to explore dark and controversial material. Saturday Night Live occasionally attacks edgy material, but there are many sketch comedy series that routinely visit dark places.

I Think You Should Leave 3 Seasons, 18 Episodes (Ongoing)

Tim Robinson spent a brief tenure on Saturday Night Live, but it was clear his comedic sensibilities were a little too unconventional for the mainstream series. Netflix's I Think You Should Leave...

This list applies to UK streaming services

If you’ve had a tough day and need a laugh, this list’ll see you right. These are the British big guns. Big comedy guns, firing… laughter-bullets! Ak-47s of mirth, spraying chuckles through… look, yes, okay, that’s terrible. A stop to that. Agreed. We’re all just trying to do our best here.

Helping us to keep a grip when the world seems a scary place are these excellent British comedies, all available to stream on the UK’s various platforms. Find a bunch of comforting and familiar favourites and some newer arrivals below.

We’ll keep this list updated as shows enter and exit the streaming catalogues. Parents may also like a look at our best kids’ TV streaming recommendations, while here are our picks of the best British TV dramas to stream in the UK.

After Life

Ricky Gervais...

Since the American remake of “The Office” hit small screens in 2005, its fabricated documentary style –– often referred to as the mockumentary format–– became a sensation in the United States. With both “Abbott Elementary” and “What We Do in the Shadows” nominated for Best Comedy Series this season, it’s clear that the mockumentary subgenre continues to find favor among Television Academy voters and general viewers alike. But what are the roots of the mockumentary, and what success has the relatively recent sitcom phenomenon had at the Emmys up to this point?

Precursors to the mockumentary format –– which refers to documentary-style filmmaking in comedic media, specifically –– can be found as early as the 1930s, with the Luis Buñuel film “Land Without Bread” documenting a real-life region in Spain, utilizing hyperbole in its narration to satirize the living conditions of the impoverished people of Las Hurdes, contrasting the narrator’s uninterested manner of speaking.

Samuel Theis’ “Softie” won the top prize at the 62nd Thessaloniki Film Festival, which wrapped Sunday night with a ceremony in Greece’s second city.

The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week section, was awarded the Golden Alexander and a €10,000 cash prize by a jury comprised of writer-director Nanouk Leopold, sound designer Roland Vajs and actor Michelle Valley.

The Special Jury Award was given to “Clara Sola,” by Natalie Álvarez Mesén, while the Special Jury Award for best director went to Lorenzo Vigas for “The Box.”

The award for best actress went to Sofia Kokkali for her performance in “Moon, 66 Questions,” by director Jacqueline Lentzou. Aliocha Reinert won the prize for best actor for his role in Golden Alexander winner “Softie.” The award for best screenplay went to Laurynas Bareiša for his film “Pilgrims,” while a special mention was given to Alexandre Koberidze for “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?...

BBC One has announced that Steve Coogan has joined the cast of “The Reckoning,” an upcoming drama miniseries about the dark legacy of Jimmy Savile, the English television personality known for hosting “Top of the Pops.”

Written by Neil McKay, “The Reckoning” will tell the story of Savile’s life from his childhood to after his death in 2011, when he was ultimately found to have abused more than 500 children.

People accused Savile of sexually assaulting children during his career, but Savile denied these allegations and they received little publicity. According to the BBC, the team behind the series is working closely with several of Savile’s victims.

Savile’s working class background, including teen years spent in working in coal mines, made him a galvanizing figure as he rose to fame. He became a DJ after sustaining a major spinal injury in the coal mines, first playing in dance halls,...

One of the world premières this year at the International Film Festival Rotterdam was Maxence Stamatiadis' The Day Today (original title Au Jour d'Aujourd'Hui), an intriguing little science fiction film which starts slow, but manages to elegantly get some points across regarding grief and memories. The film starts in 2013 and shows Suzanne and Edouard, an elderly couple living in France. Trying to keep up with the times, both dabble in the new technologies. Suzanne plays with mobile phones and social networks, Edouard plays violent videogames and writes online essays in which he shares some Very dark thoughts. Then, one day, Edouard dies. The film fast forwards to 2024, where Suzanne, now almost 90 years old, pines away in loneliness and memories. Then, an online...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Steve Coogan takes Alan Partridge on the road; Another Screen offers a free, month-long selection of films from Palestinian women filmmakers; Spain gets a “Temptation Island” spinoff show; the Gulf Cooperation Council launches a campaign to bring audiences back to the cinema post-covid; Vis makes its first reality format deal in the Nordics with Svt; and ITV appoints Kunal Shah as sales director for South Asia.

Theater

Steve Coogan is bringing his most famous character to the stage in “Stratagem With Alan Partridge,” a new live show set to tour the U.K. and Ireland in the Spring of 2022. Tickets for the tour go on sale this Saturday.

With a Ted Talk-style head-mic, perfectly quaffed hair and a love-hate-able shtick that has tickled British audiences for decades, Alan Partridge will bring his unique brand of motivational speaking to audiences in a show produced by Phil...

Steve Coogan is famous for a lot of things, from writing and starring in Philomena to doing spot-on impressions with Rob Brydon on The Trip, but easily his crowning achievement is Alan Partridge, one of Britain’s most iconic comic creations. Partridge’s life began as a supporting character on satirical news shows like On the Hour and The Day Today, but it didn’t take long for the BBC to recognize spin-off potential.

Related: Alan Partridge: Steve Coogan's 10 Best Films (According To IMDb)

North Norfolk’s most recognizable broadcaster got his own talk show, Knowing Me, Knowing You, before the pretense of a show-within-a-show was dropped and viewers got an inside look at Alan’s dysfunctional personal life in I’m Alan Partridge, one of the greatest sitcoms ever made.

“Anchors, rigging, shackles,” lists Katy Wix down the phone, “poop deck, wheelhouse, three sheets to the wind…” The comedian and writer has had a productive year. Filming wrapped on Ghosts series two just as UK lockdown began. Since then, she’s finished one book – Delicacy: A Memoir – due out next April, is pitching another, writing a TV show, and thanks to a new-found obsession with Netflix yacht-based reality show Below Deck, has also managed to acquire an enviable grasp of nautical terminology.

Wix is an established UK comic actor, with credits across the board, starting with cult hit Time Trumpet and going mainstream as witless, lovable Daisy in BBC mega-sitcom Not Going Out. She’s currently part of Channel 4’s Stath Lets Flats, the hottest comedy around, fresh from multiple Bafta wins. She plays Fergie in royal satire The Windsors, and was among the comedian-contestants in series nine of Taskmaster.

With his distinctive voice and singular comedic style, British actor Steve Coogan is loved on both sides of the pond. Coogan's earliest forays into entertaining date back to his time working with Veep creator Armando Iannucci on the series The Day Today and On the Hour. These mockumentary news satires helped Coogan develop the character he remains most famous for: the culturally insensitive media personality Alan Partridge.

Related: 10 Recent British Crime Miniseries You've Probably Never Heard Of

Steve Coogan is much more than an expert at playing inept and misguided men - he is also an accomplished film actor, known for comedies and dramas alike. Whether you prefer slapstick Coogan or serious Coogan, one of his best 10 films (according to IMDb) below is bound to suit your fancy.

The Thick Of It is one of the funniest and most intelligent comedies ever made, enough to stand out even among the impressive filmography of Armando Ianucci, whose creations include The Day Today, Alan Partridge and The Death of Stalin.

Related: 10 Best British Comedy Shows Of The 2000s

The show expertly parodied the farce that was turn-of-the-century British politics (before we knew how farcical politics could truly become) with delicious dialogue, cut-throat humor and a cast of iconic morally bankrupt characters. Not least of which is Peter Capaldi's Malcolm Tucker, who has since become a bigger pop-culture icon than half the ones he referenced in the show. The best episodes are a masterclass in comic writing and performance. Here are 10 of the show's greatest hits:...

Rosie Knight Jan 18, 2020

HBO's sci-fi comedy Avenue 5 has a commitment to diversity both behind the scenes and in front of the camera.

Over his decades long career Armando Iannucci has crafted a catalog of incisive, biting, and often crude satire. From the scarily prescient takedown of salacious news coverage, The Day Today, all the way to the British political comedy in The Thick of It and its multi-award winning American reimagining Veep, Iannucci has been at the forefront of making scathing satire hilariously funny. His newest project, Avenue 5, takes his caustic brand of humor and propels it into the future where a sterling cast of character actors led by Hugh Laurie (House) and Lenora Crichlow (Being Human) have to deal with an interstellar disaster that leaves them stranded in space on board a massive, luxury galactic cruise liner.

Though at first the slow burn series might not...

Further new openers include Lionsgate’s ‘Farming’, eOne’s ‘The Day Shall Come’.

Two contrasting titles are among the new openers at the UK box office this weekend, as Universal’s animated comedy Abominable goes up against Paramount’s Will Smith action drama Gemini Man.

However the new openers will have to score strongly to knock Warner Bros’ Joker from top spot, which scored a huge £12.6m debut last weekend.

Abominable is a DreamWorks Animation production, about a magical Yeti in Shanghai on a quest to reunite with his family on Mount Everest. Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai and Tenzing Norgay Trainor lead the voice cast.

Years before the term “cancel culture” took off and before comedians faced comeuppance for offensive tweets, Chris Morris was deemed “the most hated man in Britain.” Needless to say, he’s well-positioned to dig into these sensitive times — and, unlike many comedians, he’s sympathetic to them.

Morris has been pushing buttons his whole career, and he knows a thing or two about the distinction between good satire and offensive jokes. “It sounds like you’re surrounded by rulebooks, but I think this is all intuitive,” he said in a recent interview. It was a few days after “SNL” fired new cast member Shane Gillis over his racist comments in a podcast, and while Morris declined to comment on Gillis’ specific comments, the veteran writer-turned-director had plenty of insight into the best practices for crafting edgy comedy.

Morris scored the “hated man” moniker almost 20 years ago, after his 2001 TV satire “Brass Eye,...

The mysterious writer-director travels to Miami for a short but sharp comedy about an idealistic preacher targeted by the FBI

In the nine years since the release of Four Lions, Chris Morris’s incendiary feature film debut, his absence from both big and small screens has felt like an ill-timed loss. As a director, he’s taken on a handful of Veep episodes but as a writer, he’s starved us of new material which, for anyone familiar with his long and storied career, has been a tough blow. Because throughout his work, from The Day Today to Brass Eye to Nathan Barley, he’s perfected a brand of cultural and political commentary that’s both uniquely incisive and uniquely silly and given the world’s increasingly expedited scramble to the bottom, his outlook is needed now more than ever.

Related: The Beach Bum review – Matthew McConaughey lands the role of a lifetime

Continue reading.

Anybody who discusses satire in audio-visual media at some point must mention the work of Armando Iannucci. Creator of TV’s The Thick Of It and Veep, with credits that include The Day Today and Alan Partridge, his work is some of the finest in Comedy. And in 2009, Iannucci made his big screen full feature directorial debut with The Thick Of It spin-off In The Loop (one of the best comedies of our times) and now, Iannucci casts his eye to even darker – and even more volatile – political territory with The Death of Stalin.

As concepts go, this film has a pitch black core, as it not only delves into a figure whose actions have reverberated throughout socio-political history but in looking at the events surrounding his death in 1953 and the power struggles within the Soviet Union, it is a brazen era, to say the least, in which to set a Comedy.

Rob Leane Oct 19, 2017

We said hello to Jason Isaacs, before chatting about The Death Of Stalin and Star Trek: Discovery...

Jason Isaacs has been on our screens a lot of late. The former Lucius Malfoy actor is currently gracing online streaming services around the globe as Captain Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery, and his hilarious turn as General Zhukov in The Death Of Stalin will be lighting up a cinema near you very soon.

See related Gunpowder: air date announced for Kit Harington's new show Game Of Thrones: the things Jon Snow does know 26 new TV shows to watch in 2017

As part of his promotional tour for the aforementioned Russian romp – which has satirical mastermind Armando Iannucci (Alan Partridge, The Thick Of It, Veep) at its helm – Isaacs sat with us for twenty minutes in a swanky London hotel to have a ruddy good chat.

As I shuffled in and sat down,...

There are few talents we need in the world right now as much as Armando Iannucci. The Scottish writer and director has been a familiar comedy face in the UK for a long time (helping to create the seminal “The Day Today,” which launched the careers of Chris Morris and Steve Coogan), but he really broke through in the U.S. with his political sitcom “The Thick Of It,” the Oscar-nominated film spin-off “In The Loop,” and the America-set spiritual sequel “Veep.”

All three share qualities — a docudrama-ish quality, brilliant comic performances across the board, some of the greatest swearing and insults in the history of the English language — but more than that, they skewer the low-key incompetencies, egos and absurdities of the political world like few others, and in ways which both capture their times, and prove oddly prescient.

Continue reading New ‘Death Of Stalin’ Trailer Hits As Armando Iannucci...

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...

In an effort to both serve our readers and help support The A.V. Club, we are going to post daily links to deals and interesting items that we find over on Amazon. If you use these links to click through and buy something—not just the thing you clicked—on Amazon, we will see a portion of that income. You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to, but if you do, know that we appreciate it.

Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lights And Sounds Trike ($39.89)

Amazon’s Deal Of The Day today is kids ride-on items, like trikes, wagons, and Power Wheels. In other words, if you’ve ever thought about getting your kid a sweet-looking tractor or pulling your dog along in a wagon, today’s the day to make that dream come true.

FitDesk Under Desk Elliptical ($99.99)

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Cheer on local talent with these potentially great UK films from 2016, including drama, comedy, action, horror, fantasy & more…

While Batman Vs Superman, Captain America: Civil War, X-Men Apocalypse and other mega franchises are expected to dominate cinemas in 2016, let’s hear it for the films below. None are sequels, few have titanic budgets, all of them are British and each of them has the potential to be great.

2016 looks to be a particularly strong year for UK crime drama, with Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire, Adam Smith’s Trespass Against Us and Michael Apted’s Unlocked on their way. Military thrillers are also well represented this year, with Gavin Hood’s Eye In The Sky, Fernando Coimbra’s Sand Castle, and Simon West’s Stratton incoming. There’s also comedy, fantasy, drama, horror and even a musical waiting for you below.

A Street Cat Named Bob (dir.

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Unit, shape-shifters and the Doctor cosplay. Here are the geeky bits and pieces we spotted in Doctor Who's The Zygon Invasion...

For at least the third time this series, one or all of the characters you care about on this show are dead. So what better way to celebrate than to read through our weekly list of callbacks, allusions, shared themes and generally interesting (if tenuous) nonsense? As ever, feel free to leave your own contributions in the comments below!

The Old-Who Invasion

This is the third appearance of the Zygons in Doctor Who; they first menaced the fourth Doctor in 1975’s Terror Of The Zygons, a story which revealed the Loch Ness Monster to be one of the Skarasen, a race from the Zygon homeworld. Unit also featured in that tale, with Kate’s father Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart revealing his Scots heritage in a fetching kilt.

Cilla Black was a hugely popular entertainer for over five decades, presenting some of the biggest variety shows and teaming up with the biggest stars.

As the country says goodbye to 'Our Cilla' today (August 20) at her funeral in Liverpool, we've chosen a bunch of hilarious and moving moments from her successful career.

1. Meeting a real-life Mr Bean on the real Blind Date

Blind Date was known for its wacky contestants looking for love, and you can't get much wackier than Geoff Carter. Despite wearing a ludicrous shellsuit and carrying a Sooty puppet, he managed to win a date to the Seychelles. Suffice to say, they didn't get married.

2. Owning an undercover journalist on Blind Date

Cilla had her major comeback with Blind Date, a show which had so many memorable moments. One of the most controversial was when Cilla publicly outed a Cosmopolitan journalist who posed as a contestant,...

To celebrate the return of W1A, we salute the top 10 comedy characters who talk absolute mother-thumping rubbish…

Yesnobrilliantverygoodverystrong. As satirical BBC mockumentary W1A returns tonight for a triumphant second series, we celebrate TV comedy’s rich lineage of jargon fans.

Drawn from across the political spectrum and from TV’s most biting depictions of the worlds of business, government, technology and the media, these guys are master obfuscators. They're neologism-coiners and proponents of the kind of abuses to the English language that, in a just world, would see them locked up and force fed copies of The Elements Of Style.

From The Thick Of It to Peep Show, Yes Minister, The Office, Nathan Barley, The Day Today, and Drop The Dead Donkey, across the Pond to 30 Rock and Silicon Valley, we present TV comedy's top ten full-of-it jargon-meisters.

Stewart Pearson - The Thick Of It

Who is he?...

Hollywood went hunting for lots of British comedy talent in the 1990s - and lured the likes of Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson...

For some reason, Hollywood fell in love with British actors again in the 1990s. Sparked by Alan Rickman's turn as Hans Gruber in Die Hard at the back end of the 1980s, many movie villains were either Brits, or in the case of Cliffhanger, John Lithgow taking on the mannerisms of a British antagonist.

Yet in particular, Hollywood went recruiting British comedy talent, with faces then mainly - but not exclusively - known for their small screen work getting roles of various sizes in Hollywood productions. Here are some who racked up the air miles - starting with the man who arguably became one of the most successful...

Hugh Laurie - 101 Dalmatians

Laurie is a man of many talents, who ultimately cracked America with...

Crash! Bang! Wallop… What a campaign!

Dedicated Alan Partridge fans have called for the Radio Norwich presenter to replace suspended Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson.

Partridge - a man who knows his Rovers from his Mini Metros - seems a natural replacement, doesn't he?

Lorn MacDonald launched the petition on change.org, claiming the broadcaster should hire Steve Coogan's iconic comedy creation due to his "diversity of experience and his noted passion for cars".

In an open letter to the BBC, MacDonald writes: "Alan has a strong track record for broadcast presenting, from his relaxed professionalism with guests on BBC chat show Knowing Me Knowing You to his effortless banter on his talk shows at Radio Norwich.

He has good experience with motoring TV, after his brilliant work on 'Crash! Bang! Wallop! (What a video)'. His work as sports presenter on news programme The Day Today also shows...

To celebrate the release of the truly terrifying Clown – on DVD & Blu-ray 2nd March 2015 – we have a DVD copy to giveaway courtesy of Studiocanal. From splatter-maestro Eli Roth (Hostel; Grindhouse) and starring Peter Stormare (Fargo; Jurassic Park: The Lost World), horror fans will rejoice as Clown sets out to break taboos and churn stomachs all at once!

“A killer of a clown movie” Horror Channel

“The most terrifying clown since Pennywise” Box Office Buz

“Gutsy, gory horror… strictly no funny business” The Hollywood News

Clown is available to order on Amazon today: http://amzn.to/1BZxC6q The limited edition Blu-ray is available to order exclusively on Zavvi: http://bit.ly/1EqtA4O

To win Clown on DVD, just answer the following question:

Clown director John Watts helmed episodes of which TV “news show”? Was it:

a) CNN

b) Onn

c) The Day Today

Email your answer to NerdlyComps@gmail.

He's the man who "invented world music" and who created the first ever music video using Plasticine. Yes, we're talking about '70s rock legend Brian Pern - the frontman of Thotch.

Ok, Brian Pern might not be real, but Simon Day and Rhys Thomas's surreal music doc spoof is so on the money, it feels like Pern and Thotch are very much the bona fide article. Is the Day of the Triffids album not on iTunes yet?

With incredible guest appearances from the likes of Roger Moore, Martin Freeman and Kathy Burke, Brian Pern: A Life in Rock is the funniest TV show on right now.

We caught up with Day and Thomas to chat about its success.

First things first, I was a huge fan of your last comedy show Bellamy's People.

Simon Day: "Oh, don't get us started on that."

Honestly, I loved it. That didn't get a second series.

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,...

As The Day Today’s Chris Morris might put it, “That’s it! It’s war!” The conflict between the despotic, resource-rich and couture-obsessed Capitol and the defiant Districts is coming to a violent head in the latest trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. Check it out below. Here, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) has been recruited to lead the rebel forces against those of President Snow, working alongside the likes of Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Beetee (Jeffrey Wright), Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman, in what will be one of his final performances) and President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore). Katniss has now been brought to District 13, long thought destroyed and written out of Panem history but, it emerges, a power to be reckoned with. But even as the Districts start to make progress against the Capitol’s armies, Snow delivers a nasty propaganda surprise: Peeta (Josh Hutcherson...

arstechnica.com

In the last day or so, news has been filtering down through the internet about the possibility of Facebook testing a ‘satire’ tag for use with the increasing number of satirical news websites out there. Just so people are aware: satirical news is not news about satire. A satirical news story is a comedy story published online that mimics the format of real news sites.

Now, obviously The Onion and The Daily Mash have been around for a number of years, and The Day Today and Brass Eye were doing this back before the Internet was a glimmer of free porn in a lonely geek’s eye. Nonetheless, Facebook still feels the needs to signpost satire – because a horrifying proportion of its regular users will not check the background of a story before sharing it with all of their friends.

But this massive, widespread gullibility isn’t just...

BBC Two is 50 - the British Broadcasting Corporation's second eldest child hits the half-century mark today - Sunday, April 20.

Picking out the greatest shows from five decades of broadcasting seems like a near-impossible task, but never say that Digital Spy is easily cowed. These are - in our humble opinion - the channel's finest ever offerings.

BBC Two is 50: The Hour, Bottom and more shows to bring back

The rules are as follows: shows like Red Dwarf that originated on BBC Two are eligible, but shows better associated with another channel are not - say Top of the Pops, which aired on BBC One for the majority of its run but shifted to the sister channel for its final episodes.

Oh, and we're talking only original commissions - so no Us imports either. But even that barely narrows it down, so if you think there are any glaring omissions,...

BBC Two celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend and we've been asking our readers for their fondest memories and favourite ever shows from the channel.

Here is just a small sample of your replies.

The Day Today - Snossis

"No one's mentioned The Day Today! Groundbreaking stuff! Also, I'm Alan Partridge was probably the best sitcom of the 90s."

Robot Wars was the start of the weekend! - Bassebuwa

"Everyone born in the late 80s/early 90s will remember having their tea in front of The Simpsons, Fresh Prince and - to mark the start of the weekend - Robot Wars. BBC Two used to be incredible. It's a shame it's now a shadow of its former self."

Bring back Red Dwarf! - Pointy

"Red Dwarf and The Mary Whitehouse Experience meant a lot to the 11-year-old me. Thank you, BBC Two."

I miss BBC Ceefax - Kessuki

"Buffy The Vampire Slayer,...

"Someone just told me that the show seems to be getting exponentially better, which is scary," admits Veep's showrunner Armando Iannucci. Wait…why, exactly, would a high compliment like that be considered frightening? "Because by Season 10, it'd be terminally unwatchable! Viewers would see 30 seconds of an episode and then they'd expire en masse, in a state of ecstatic bliss."

To be fair, there have been moments in the first two seasons of this HBO comedy about the Beltway backstabbers, boobs and buffoons that circle the President's second-in-command (played to...

For a guy with the most raucously fun comedy on television, Armando Iannucci is almost unsettlingly calm and collected. Then again, he's been making people laugh by ripping apart world leaders and social institutions for the past 25 years, so what looks like chaos is just the very carefully constructed method to his madness. Until a few years ago, Iannucci was best known in the U.K. for his series of news satires, including “The Day Today,” a sort of weekly and surreal precursor to “The Daily Show.” That program gave birth to Alan Partridge, the dopey and shallow sports broadcaster who.

Who is Alan Partridge? Few Americans may know, but Partridge is a something of a comic icon across the pond, with multiple television programs and a "memoir" dedicated to that very question. Created as a side character on the BBC’s "On the Hour" show (1991-2), hokey sportscaster Alan Partridge—played by Steve Coogan in his best known role—transitioned to television with “The Day Today” and made the even bigger leap into headlining multiple television series, which were in fact mockumentaries following the flailing downward trajectory of Partridge’s career. From shooting a guest dead on air to the repeated mention of his obsession with "Bangkok Chick Boys," Partridge just couldn’t catch a break, to the guffaws of (mainly British) audiences. Before there was Ron Burgundy for the Yanks, there was Alan Partridge for the Brits. In the feature-length "Alan Partridge" (or "Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa" for those...

Editor’s note: Kate’s review of Alan Partridge originally ran during last year’s Nyff, but we’re re-running it as the film opens today in limited release. For the small subset of cinephiles who have long hungered for a major motion picture that places Steve Coogan’s moronic broadcasting character Alan Partridge into a situation resembling the Brendan Fraser-starring 1994 comedy Airheads, Alan Partridge is so perfectly tailor-made for their desires that it’s actually somewhat frightening. (It also doesn’t seem like an actual possibility, but clearly someone thought this was a good idea, or else the film wouldn’t even have been made.) Coogan has played Partridge for over twenty years now, with the character first appearing on the radio program On the Hour in 1991, and then serving as the centerpiece of his news broadcasting spoof show, The Day Today, which aired on the BBC for one brief seven-episode season back in 1994. Since...

Stewart Lee returns to BBC Two this weekend and judging from the first preview clip of his new series, the stand-up has lost none of his brilliantly astute, bone-dry cynicism.

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle series 3:

In the preview clip for the first episode, 'Shilbottle', Lee launches into one of his trademark rants about his dislike for the internet, and in particular, Twitter.

Lee points out that his entire life could be traced back using only inane Twitter updates from members of the public and compares the social networking service to "a state surveillance agency staffed by gullible volunteers".

"It's the Stasi for the Angry Birds generation," he concludes.

The third series of Comedy Vehicle will feature the return of Brass Eye and The Day Today creator Chris Morris to TV. Morris has replaced Armando Iannucci in the sketches placed between Lee's stand-up sets.

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle returns on Saturday,...