Doctor Who looks quite good this week; I’m keenly anticipating the sight of Andrew off CBBC fighting the Cybermen.
Anyway, there’s another TV programme you should be watching tonight. Over on ITV1 at 9.10pm is Denis Norden’s 13th Laughter File, and this one is notable because he’s retiring after this one, having done countless outtake shows since the first Alright on the Night in 1977.
It’s a format that’s been imitated countless times (by the great Terry Wogan, the loathsome Steve Penk and the hopeless Anne Robinson) but no-one else does it with this level of panache. The quality control seems a bit higher on Norden’s shows, whereas everyone else is quite happy to show endless virtually identical clips of Neil Morrissey fluffing his lines and saying “fuck”.
So yes, Denis Norden shall be missed by me. Even so, I’m going to tape it and watch it later, so I can fast-forward through the inevitable unfunny, overlong Bob Hope clips.