Sunday, October 22, 2006

Pedigree comedy over on BBC Two

BBC Two's new comedy season (branded as 'Pedigree Comedy' in trailers, with a big furry '2' symbol barking boisterously at unsuspecting passers-by), has been a big succes so far, with as its uncontested highlight the second series of Extras, which following The Office is a second hit for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and which has featured such guest stars as Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter!), Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf!), Jonathan Ross (Friday Night with...), Coldplay's Chris Martin, Kate Winslet (Titanic!), Robert De Niro (The Godfather!), David Bowie (David Bowie!), and many more. If you're quick, you can still watch the last three episodes in full online -- but only until 26 October.

The next big highlight is expected to be the third and final series of The Catherine Tate Show, which starts this Thursday (26 October) at 10pm on BBC2, and is followed by Jack Dee's comedy Lead Balloon at 10.30pm (you can watch clips of this online as well). For those of you who do not know foul-mouthed Nan Taylor (what a f***ing liberty!), Lauren "Do I look bovvered though?" Cooper, Bonnie "How very dare you!" Langford, Bernie the lascivious nurse, and many other colourful characters, here's your chance!

Still on the topic of comedy, a new series of the incomparable topical game show Have I Got News For You got underway two weeks ago. Not always easy to watch if you don't keep up to date with what goes on in the UK, but that of course is easily remedied. HIGNFY is aired on Friday nights at 10pm on BBC One.

Finally, possibly the most intellectually challenging and at the same time wildly funny quiz show is QI (short for Quite Interesting), presented by Stephen Fry on Friday night at 11pm on BBC2.

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