Everyone's fair game as surprise hit The Last Leg makes a return (original) (raw)

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and Paralympics offers a whole new homophobic can of worms for The Last Leg to dive into

Banter: Presenters of The Last Leg

The Last Leg - C4, 10pm

This is the show that started out as a late-night sidebar to the 2012 Paralympics and proved so popular it took on a life of its own.

This is also the show that says it’s OK laugh at disability provided, that is, those jokes are made within the parameters of a fiendishly sensitive, unwritten set of rules with question one being: “Are you Frankie Boyle?” And question two being: “Is your name Jim Davidson?”

As a rule of thumb, if you can count up to 20 using your fingers and toes, don’t even think about trying to join in yourself.

With regular panellist Alex Brooker out in Austria presenting The Jump, comedian Micky Flanagan joins host Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe for the start of the new series.

Last year, Adam ­memorably remarked: “Getting angry at Jim Davidson because he doesn’t know how to talk about disability is like getting angry at a dog for not knowing how to use the internet.” There’s a good chance the show might work up a nice head of steam about Davidson winning Celebrity Big Brother.

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and Paralympics offers a whole new homophobic can of worms for the show to dive into, and this week’s celeb guest Clare Balding, who will be going out to cover the games for the BBC, should have plenty to say on that score.

Ahead of the 2012 Olympics, it was Clare who dreamed up the Mobot for Mo Farah. Perhaps she can do the same for a member of Team GB this year.

Room 101 - BBC1, 8.30pm

After 14 series of banishing the horrors of modern life into Room 101, the world should, theoretically, be an altogether marvellous place by now, free of all annoyances and populated almost entirely by kittens.

So what a pity that Room 101 isn’t real. Still, we can dream.

Competing to consign their personal pet hates to oblivion in this week’s surprisingly controversial instalment are Caroline Quentin, Michael Ball and comedian Henning Wehn. Henning is German, and if you didn’t know that before the start of this episode you certainly will once it gets going.

Perhaps that’s why he has the brass neck to attack a cornerstone of British life – fundraising.

What’s even more surprising is that he’s doing it at primetime on the BBC, home of Children In Need, Comic Relief and Sport Relief.

If Henning had his way, Pudsey Bear would be on the dole.

And speaking of bears, just wait till you see one of the props that Frank is modelling tonight – it’s one of the daftest ever.

Silent Witness - BBC. 9,00pm

As the current series ends, at least this time the murderer won’t be a solicitor or a crooked detective. No, the main suspect is Jack’s own brother, Ryan.

Nikki was surprised to hear Jack even had a brother as everybody in Silent Witness exists in a vacuum-sealed bubble, so Jack’s loft-conversion apartment is another surprise. A forensic scientist who’s into cage fighting AND interior a design? That’s one hell of a dating profile.

Jack’s already been thrown off the case for a lack of objectivity, and tonight new boss Chamberlain is understandably furious to find out Nikki has been sitting on forensic information that should have been passed on to the police.

But Nikki isn’t impressed by Chamberlain’s plan to ditch Jack in favour of his temporary replacement Helen. The idea of having two women on the team is apparently so outrageous to Nikki that she accuses Chamberlain of wanting to lord it over them like an alpha male silverback gorilla. A teeny bit of an over-reaction.

But Chamberlain isn’t the only threat Jack faces.

Someone else wants to end his career – permanently.