h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8287297.stm

Oh dear, wonder what happened. His 'other television commitments' don't seem to have manifested themselves to me although I might not have been watching.

So will Mock the Week be the same again?

I must say this programme has been a must much for me over the last few years - much funnier and fresher than the now hackneyed Have I got News For You.

And he surely is the main man. The interplay between him and Hugh Dennis (in surely the funniest thing he's done since Mary Whitehouse) dominates the show frankly.

I wonder if this will sink them both - although everything has to come to an end I suppose.

Hey Orcus,

Absolutely the funniest guy on the show and the main reason I have been watching for years.Never realised he briefly attended Aston University after leaving school.
Perhaps he's been captured by the Glaswegian maffia for telling extremly funny jokes the English can understand.

Hugh Dennis has other oulets, such as Outnumbered ,QI and advertising to keep him going.

Fingers crossed it's not a permanent absence from our screens. Producers and networks can be complete arses sometimes and who knows what goes on behing the scene's
The 'other television commitments' line does smack of politics.

On a more positive note perhaps he wants more time with his family, something he always acknowledges has suffered for his career.


R4

It'll definitely change the show but I can't say I find him that brilliant. His comedy is a bit of a one-trick pony except when he very occasionally says something genuinely comedic and not just about shock value. He has his moments, and he has pretty much cornered the market for that trick at the moment.

I always enjoy the mass stand up sections where they each get to come in with a one-liner because you can watch the reaction of the other comedians. You can tell when the person talking has just used a bog standard formulaic response as the others are either blank faced or just smiling slightly. Whereas when they get a good funny the rest crack up too.

his website (caution, cartoony but possibly not work safe in some areas!) shows him on a big tour in 2010.

I've never noticed Hugh Dennis on QI although I don't watch it all that much to be honest. Certainly only the endless repeats on Dave which always seem to be the same ones when I tune in.

I've got to admit that when I eagerly tuned in to see Frankie Boyle Live at the Apollo it turned out to be quite disappointing. Much of it was recycled stuff I'd already heard on Mock the Week. Other than that I think personally he is more of a 'small doses' comedian. His one liner stuff doesn't translate too well to a long show - although obviously it works for some.

I wonder if I'll ever see him up in Glasgow. Looking him up, he is from the same part of Glasgow as most of my family (Pollockshaws). Cool.