The former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton will be among unlikely celebrities putting on their dancing shoes for Comic Relief next month, it was announced last night.

Nominees have been announced for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.

Football should change to reflect the edifying attitude evidenced at London 2012, but England's friendly against Italy last night should be a warning not to over-sanitise a game built on tribalism and passion.

From Little Britain and Britain's Got talent, to another UK-themed show

The night of light entertainment that never leaves a dry eye in the house

Nobody should have been surprised by the news that the 55-year old comedian Frank Skinner is to become a father, after all, he’s never lost the glint in his eye. Grey-haired he may be, and perhaps a little bit more stately at times, the veteran joker can still nurture an audience.

Around 200,000 oil paintings, representing the entire catalogue of the national collection, are to be made available online.

Comedy: I liked Roisin Conaty at the Soho Theatre. She won Best Comedy Newcomer at Edinburgh. She was her own support act, so supporting a character she played who was nothing like her real self.

When I wrote, from my own jaundiced viewpoint, that Manchester had a greater claim to beEngland’s second city than Birmingham, I was braced to expect a torrent of missives from angry Brummies.