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TV highlights: Louis Walsh, Daleks, damp squids and royals doing weather reports

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The past week in television has been reality programmes and a whole host of animals doing things live. In among all that you may have missed some of the highlights from the week. Not to worry though as we pick out the best bits of telly from this week.

Celebrity Deal or no Deal

Last weekend the celebrity versions of the game show saw music manager and TV judge Louis Walsh take on the boxes. So far Walsh has had the best people to open the boxes for him, varying from Kate Thornton, to Wagner and Jedward (they had two boxes between them). Also he quite genuinely wanted to do well for the charity, so Walsh is noticeably nervous throughout the show but he does well.

Even though Deal or No Deal can be a hard watch, I mean it is fronted by Noel Edmonds who keeps referring to the place as ‘the dream factory’, the celeb versions have brought new life to the format. In addition the pressure that the celebrities find themselves under when trying to do their best for a charity is unbelievable, and led to Jimmy Carr only winning £750 for charity, instead of the offered £14,000.

You can watch Louis Walsh’s Celebrity Deal or No Deal on 4OD.

Britain’s Got Talent

I have a confession; I have never watched Britain’s Got Talent. So the other night when left to my own devices and with full control over the television remote, I decided to catch a few moments of the show.

And what I saw was confusing. A grown man was wearing a suit, made to look like a Dalek from Doctor Who. He was also wearing a saucepan with sequins on. And then a range of colourful washing machines with baskets on top came on stage as well as Dalek back up.

The man’s talent was that he could do an impersonation of a Dalek, which wasn’t bad considering it was just his voice not put through any machines or software. But his performance led to the judges, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden, wearing saucepans on their heads.

You can watch this and the other high calibre contestants on ITV Player.

Damp squid

Nadine Dorres, a Conservative MP, took part in Have I Got News For You this week. Ian Hislop took his usual relish in poking fun at the politicians that come on the show, but Dorres embarrassed herself in a small way.

When talking about the Leveson Inquiry she called it a bit of a ‘damp squid’, when the phrase is actually damp squib.

This malapropism also forms part of the plot for an episode of The IT Crowd, where the characters discover they all know phrases that they have misremembered in some way.

You can watch Have I Got News For You on BBC iPlayer and The IT Crowd over on 4OD.

Prince Charles doing the weather

And finally Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall dropped by BBC Scotland for a tour and ended up presenting the weather. I think Charles was quite good, and maybe presenting is something that the Royal family should start to consider in the future.

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TV highlights: poetry, Trenton Oldfield and Jimmy Carr

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Still feasting on chocolate? Then we have the perfect Easter egg accompaniment — television. We have picked out a few TV moments from this week that we enjoyed and hope that you will too.

Just a Minute

The recent television series of Just a Minute was a lovely celebration for the programme’s 45th birthday. The show, which was a tribute to the game that does not allow hesitation, repetition and deviation for a minute, had a some highlights including Stephen Fry saying “anal wind”.

My absolute favourite moment, though, was when host Nicholas Parsons introduced the topic ‘The owl and the pussy cat’. Parsons, as a bit of a Lear expert, recited the poem perfectly. However, the panelists were not that impressed as they all walked off stage and left Parsons to his recitation.

Go to 2.15 to watch Parson’s poetic performance.

The Boat Race

Every year Oxford and Cambridge take their rivalry to the water and compete in the Boat Race. It isn’t known for being interesting, but this year was different. A man called Trenton Oldfield decided to protest about the elitist universities and their traditions by swimming in the Thames during the race. He bobbed up between the boats and was almost beheaded by an oar.

Yes, he might have attempted to make a serious point but his protest has helped to make a new “Jesus Christ Fenton” videos.

Alternatively if you want to watch the 158th Boat Race in full — you can find it here on iPlayer.

Deal or No Deal

Channel 4’s guessing game has become the latest show to spawn a celebrity version. The first contestant to challenge the Banker was comedian Jimmy Carr. He had back up from some of his comedian friends who were tasked with opening the boxes and helping Carr out. They all poked fun at Noel Edmonds and the format of the show, but as the money was going to charity they did take the show quite seriously.

At the end of the game Carr was left with one box that had £750 inside and another with £35,000 in it. The Banker offered him £14,000. As the money was for charity Carr challenged the Banker to raise the amount to £20,000 and Carr would walk away. The Banker didn’t like this so Carr opened his box in the hope that he was going to hand a well needed, huge cheque to his chosen charity. Instead it was £750. Watching Carr’s almost tearful face was actually quite hard, although it was silly of him to gamble the money.

You can catchup with Jimmy’s moment of misery, and find out more about his chosen charity, on 4OD.

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Easter TV: animation, films, crucifixion and Noel Edmonds

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At Easter other than eating chocolate no one is quite sure what you are supposed to be doing. The shops are shut, the chocolate eggs are gone so why not give into temptation and relax in front of the television.

Bank Holiday weekend classics are out in full force as Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out is on BBC One at 2.45. The first adventure for the animated pals originally came out in 1989 and seems simple in comparison to their latest film but it is still marvellous and definitely worth a watch. To add to that The Wrong Trousers is on BBC One on Monday at 4pm and A Close Shave is on BBC Three on Monday at 7pm. If you want more Aardman animations then Flushed Away is also on telly on Monday, BBC One at 2.40pm.

This holiday is also a good opportunity to enjoy a movie. There doesn’t seem to be any premieres this Easter but there are some good classics. The best kids movies are Toy Story on Channel 5, Sunday at 5pm, as well as Antz on Monday, BBC One at 1.25pm and Mary Poppins is on Monday, BBC One at 3.10pm. There is also a healthy sprinkling of the Shrek movies across the next few days as well as one of my favourite films The Borrowers. It is on ITV2 on Monday at 4.45pm, it is an odd American adaptation but has some great performances and keeps the fun and adventure of the books.

If you fancy something more grown up then some good films over the weekend are Strictly Ballroom on BBC Four, Sunday at 9pm and Yesterday is showing Cold Comfort Farm at 4pm on Monday.

A gory recommendation is for Channel 4′s Crucifixion which is on Sunday at 10pm. It follows anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens, who has been on Channel 4 before cutting people up and showcasing their innards. The programme explores how the crucifixion has been depicted including Dr Gunther’s own work, which has taken six years to create, and includes his own interpretation which uses donated body parts and has been put up in his own back garden. Although it sounds freaky Dr Gunther is an interesting man and likes experimenting with body parts but is strangely respectful about it.

And a final recommendation for Deal or No Deal. As Channel 4 says themselves, they have brought Jimmy Carr to one of the few shows he hasn’t appeared on as Noel Edmonds hosts a special celebrity version of the programme on Channel 4, Sunday at 8pm.

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