TV

Beth Ditto loves cleaning shows

Celebrity Gossip

20 Mar 2011

Beth Ditto loves watching TV shows about cleaning. The Gossip frontwoman wishes her favourite programme, 'How Clean Is Your House?' - in which presenters Kim Woodburn and Aggie McKenzie help people sort out their filthy surroundings - would launch in…

The James Nesbitt-starring 'Monroe' is sharp enough to keep operating (Channel Hopper)

7 Mar 2011

‘Get it right and no one is impressed. Get it wrong and it’s catastrophic’. We could be flies on the wall at an ITV drama commissioners meeting, but in fact it’s one of several memorable lines from the opening episode of 'Monroe' (ITV1, Thu 10 Mar…

Profile: Richard Ayoade

Boosh, IT Crowd and Darkplace star directs Joe Dunthorne adap Submarine

2 Mar 2011

Name Richard Ayoade Born 12 June 1977, Whipp’s Cross, London Background Best known for playing Moss in Graham Linehan ’s hit TV comedy The IT Crowd, Ayoade first came to the notice of cult comedy fans as writer, director and co-star of spoof…

Glasgow-set Lip Service may have more than just homophobes turning it off

Is new BBC3 drama just The L Word with rain?

17 Feb 2011

A recent poll by the BBC found that one in five people felt ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘very uncomfortable’ with gay people having their stories told on television. A mere 16 years after the ‘Brookside kiss’, such a stat can either be read as slow progress or…

Limmy has a new BBC2 series on the way - interview

Glaswegian funnyman on Doop, Yazz and sounding like a fanny

16 Feb 2011

First record you ever bought The Only Way Is Up, by Yazz and the Plastic Population. First film you saw that really moved you Watership Down. Last lie you told An email where I said I was too busy to do something, when I’m not. First…

Friday Night Dinner a bit hard to digest - Channel Hopper

New Channel Four comedy one of worst ever opening episodes of a sitcom

16 Feb 2011

'In the best traditions of Channel Four comedy, it successfully marries the ground-breaking with the familiar and best of all, it’s really, really funny.’ Grand claims made there on behalf of Friday Night Dinner (Channel 4, Fri 25 Feb, 10pm) by a very…

Kerry Katona turns to counselling after judge's jibes

TV Gossip

13 Feb 2011

Kerry Katona turned to counselling after receiving criticism from Jason Gardiner. The 30-year-old 'Dancing On Ice' contestant says the "a***wipe" judge's comments have been so "hurtful" on the ITV1 ice skating show she had to talk to psychologists to…

Boardwalk Empire gets chance to live up to ‘new Sopranos’ tag

TV series features Martin Scorsese, Terence Winter, Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald

8 Feb 2011

With the ballyhoo of its pilot being the most expensive in the history of TV and with Marty Scorsese at the directorial helm, Boardwalk Empire (Sky Atlantic, Tue, 9pm) now gets a chance to settle into its Prohibition groove and show whether it is indeed…

Scenes from a Teenage Killing profiles every teenager murdered in the UK during 2009

Morgan Matthews' BBC documentary charts aftermath of young deaths

19 Jan 2011

A couple of years back, the Beeb aired The Fallen, a funereal documentary which marked the deaths of every British soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The screen was filled with names, ages and date of death, stopping every so often to focus on a…

Lily Allen snubs Piers Morgan TV offer

TV Gossip

14 Jan 2011

Lily Allen has turned down the chance to appear on Piers Morgan's 'Life Stories'. The 25-year-old singer - who has suffered two miscarriages - told the chatshow host she would only consider appearing on the series if he donated £1 million to UK…