Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream review – no reality show has ever featured this much screaming
Fourteen overexcited hopefuls head to Greece to compete for West End roles in the Abba musical. It’s a wildly rushed, tension-free series that is never less than shrill
June 2023
Smile, it’s summer
A birdsong app, an allergy cure and a cool glass of gavi: Alan Carr, Mary Berry, Maya Jama and others on the thing that makes their summer
From a slice of cucumber to a sticky cuddle, celebrities reveal their essential companion for a blue-sky day
Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: Succession; The Gallows Pole; Changing Ends; University Challenge – review
Succession bows out in Shakespearean style; Shane Meadows changes tack with a gobby, grubby period drama; Alan Carr meets his sitcom younger self; and a TV beast exits with a smile…
TV review
Changing Ends review – Alan Carr’s childhood makes for relentlessly funny TV
This semi-autobiographical sitcom is a light, self-deprecating slice of hilarity. Its tale of growing up in 1980s Northampton is camp, cheeky and clever
May 2023
‘I used to say awful things’: Alan Carr on divorce, dating and the skit that haunts him
The seven best shows to stream this week
Changing Ends to Deadloch: the seven best shows to stream this week
April 2023
Scrappy, surreal and sincere: how Late Night Lycett reinvigorates the British chatshow
Comedian and presenter Joe Lycett has birthed what feels like an instant classic – knowingly modern, goofy and refreshingly hectic
March 2022
TV tonight
TV tonight: can anyone sing, in only six weeks?
Voice coaches set out to get amateurs ready for a live opera show at the London Coliseum, while a Sky documentary tracks the race to make a Covid vaccine. Here’s what to watch this evening
TV tonight
TV tonight: Jane Horrocks and Samson Kayo return in hit-and-miss comedy Bloods
Jane Horrocks and Samson Kayo lead a strong cast in season two. Plus, the uncomfortable truth about job applications. Here’s what to watch this evening
TV tonight
TV tonight: meet the reporters on India’s only female-run newspaper
Storyville: Writing With Fire is a vital documentary – little wonder it has been nominated for an Oscar. Plus: Mary Berry’s Fantastic Feasts. Here’s what to watch this evening
October 2021
Alan Carr review – saucy riffs and showbiz tales
Good albeit digressive gags keep the routines endearingly amusing in the comic’s new touring show Regional Trinket
March 2021
‘Drag was always a protest, a political statement’: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalists open up
The second season of the UK spin-off has been a huge hit. Ahead of the final, Ellie Diamond, Lawrence Chaney, Tayce and Bimini Bon Boulash spill the beans
February 2021
TV tonight
TV tonight: Lucy Worsley is back and investigating the blitz
TV tonight
TV tonight: interior designers get competitive with Alan Carr
December 2019
Kylie on her 2019: ‘Maybe I should go back to Glastonbury and get real sloshy’
Ahead of her Christmas special, Kylie’s Secret Night, the pop icon joins Alan Carr to talk about perms, extreme fans and, most crucially of all, the strength of sticky tape
September 2019
‘I love drag. It's dangerous’: Graham Norton and Alan Carr on desire, camp and ‘cancel culture’
As RuPaul’s Drag Race comes to the UK, two of its judges discuss homophobia, the celebrity they first fancied – and why today’s comedy audiences want more kindness
May 2018
Get your hands off my double entendres! Is the smutty pun now under attack?
It is Britain’s favourite type of humour, the go-to gag for everyone from Carry On stars to Bake Off hosts. But are fnarr fnarr jokes just another example of male sexual entitlement?
April 2018
Shortcuts
The wedding singer: Adele and the rise of celebrity ministers
Adele’s ordination for Alan Carr’s nuptials may look like the continuation of a tiresome celebrity fad. But who wouldn’t want to jazz up the traditional wedding ceremony?
December 2017
French & Saunders, Black Mirror and Doctor Who: your Christmas TV planner
From Alan Partridge and First Dates to The Miniaturist and McMafia, prime your set-top box for the best telly the festive fortnight has to offer
December 2015
The Q&A
Q&A: Alan Carr
What does love feel like? An elasticated waist round a pot bell
