The Britain's Got Talent judge says she was attacked by an unnamed comic, 21st-century comics grapple with homosexuality, and David Brent realises his rock-god dreams
Not much to laugh about in today's top story, as Amanda Holden writes in her autobiography that she was once assaulted by "a famous comedian". The Britain's Got Talent judge claims she was cornered by the unnamed comic at a public event, during a period when she was patching up her marriage to Les Dennis after an affair with Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey. "[Dennis and I] went to an event together," Holden writes, "and on my way back from the loo, I was cornered by a famous comedian, who tried to kiss me and put his hands in places they shouldn't have been. I was scared and tried to push him away … but he wasn't put off … My body went limp, and I just stood there as he groped and nuzzled me." The attack, says Holden, former star of the hairdressing drama Cutting It, left her feeling "cheap and worthless".
A series has been commissioned of the new Danny Boyle-directed comedy Babylon – a sitcom about modern policing from the pens of Peep Show duo Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain. Speaking at Radio Times event at the Cheltenham literature festival, Bain and Armstrong revealed that the six-part comedy-drama will be set in London, and will "focus on police from all levels of the force and will feature documentary-style elements".
"As soon as there's any incident [in real-life policing] now, there's 20 camera phones out," says Bain, "and the cops are filming the public back, so it's quite a screen- and filming-rich environment out on the streets, and I think that interests [Boyle] to try and convey … We've been writing it for a few years since we had the first meeting. Mainly because of availability. Danny, last year, was doing something in the Olympic Park … he was quite busy."
The writers also revealed that the show's cast will include James Nesbitt, Peep Show's Paterson Joseph and the standup (and star of Sky TV's Chickens) Jonny Sweet.
On the subject of Peep Show, the Independent speculates that the new BBC sitcom, Ambassadors, is being used by the Foreign Office to improve its image. The show's writers – which include James Wood, the co-creator of Rev – were given access to senior FO officials and spent time with the British ambassador to Kazakhastan. The former ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray – who claims the show is based on his experiences – criticises Ambassadors as "pro-government propaganda, a state-sponsored satire". Murray is critical of the series' sympathetic portrait of British government activity overseas. "It is disgraceful and not based on anything the Foreign Office would do in real life," he claims. "[In reality], human rights always have a very low priority compared to military considerations."
Elsewhere in comedy, Jo Brand has defended Lee Mack over "unfair" charges that he was dismissive of female comedians on his recent Desert Island Discs appearance. Miranda Hart has taken to Twitter to beg for the return of her laptop, burgled from her home in Shepherds Bush last Friday night. "Please please please return," Hart writes. "Precious creative projects all lost. Will reward." And the creators of BBC Scotland's hit sitcom Still Game, Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, have ended their six-year feud and will bring back the show's characters in a new stage show.
In screen news, Jennifer Saunders has stoked speculation about the Ab Fab movie, which she told Radio 4 is still a going concern; Eddie Izzard is to play the inventor of radar, Sir Robert Watson-Watt, in a new drama, Castles in the Sky; and the standup Humphrey Ker – best newcomer on the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe – has sold his autobiographical sitcom to the American network ABC. BBC Three is developing a new topical comedy format, meanwhile, offering "commentary from the best new talent", entitled The Three Show; and Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd has flounced off an Aussie chat show after being told he wasn't allowed to flog his own vodka brand.
Best of the Guardian's comedy coverage
• As Open All Hours threatens a return to our screens – we ask, is it ever worth reviving classic sitcoms?
• And speaking of classic sitcoms, here's how the pilot of Fawlty Towers was greeted by the Beeb's then comedy script editor. (Spoiler alert: he didn't love it).
• "He may be small, overweight and dorky in his tastes, but having such a fine mind gives him the authority to […] attack big targets" – Leo Benedictus on Patton Oswalt in this week's Comedy Gold.
• You never thought you'd see Frank Skinner lecturing you about the Russian constructivists and the Fluxus artworks of Yoko Ono, did you? You can now.
• Life of Brian. Duck Soup. Dr Strangelove. The Guardian rounds up its top 10 comedy movies.
• "It's great to see arena-level standup that asks us to think as well as laugh" – my review of Russell Brand's Messiah Complex.
• And here's the review you didn't get. I was booked in to see Robin Ince and Josie Long last Friday night at Stratford Circus. Then my ticket was withdrawn, and I was told critics weren't welcome on this tour. Here – according to Ince himself – is why.
Worth a look
Two items to catch the eye. The first is an article by Tom Crawshaw, author of a play about the Monty Python star Graham Chapman, on how 21st-century comedy treats homosexuality. "Isn't laughing at a situation predicated on homosexuality saying, in some way, that to be gay is somehow slightly ridiculous – not wrong or evil – but somehow lesser, not ordinary, not completely sensible? There is a hint," writes Crawshaw, "of macho culture at work, where the jokes of the playground are rejected but their underlying narrative is accepted and played on."
And here – for UK audiences curious to know what Simon Amstell is up to in the US – is the ex-Grandma's House star's debut standup set on The Late Show with David Letterman.
Best of our readers' comments
Two of the world's most celebrated (and hated) comedians were under discussion this week. After Stephanie Merritt's Observer review of Russell Brand's Messiah Complex show, Rickyee369 pays Brand a compliment with which it's hard to disagree:
For a very naughty boy … Brand is very good. People may whine at his wankiness regarding meditation, Hinduism and general good love for fellow humanity, but I find him refreshing in an age where celebrity needs to remain empty to be constant. Much like the Beatles in the 60s, Brand is trying to find the light in a world of sleepwalking, passive night-dwelling insignificants … There is much to take with a shedful of salt, but much to admire in his attempts to educate those who first heard of him after he made an ill-considered call to Manuel.
People wish this guy ill at their own risk … Do we really want vacuous and dire entertainers? Or is there room for someone who provokes thought, even if it is against some imagined grain?
You'll lament the lanky toerag when he's gone …
And on Monday night I reviewed David Brent's debut stage show with his backing band, Foregone Conclusion – and the comments below the line suggest Gervais will have to do better to win (back?) the hearts of Guardian readers. Petsound had this to say:
Gervais still has Brent nailed perfectly, but it just isn't the same outside of the context of The Office. I used to really believe I was watching David Brent, whereas now I only see Gervais acting as David Brent. Maybe it's the fact that he's visibly aged, or the fact that at the end of The Office there was at least a glimmer of hope that Brent was evolving and changing, and now we're supposed to believe he's like this, 10 years later? He's not a living character any more, just an animated mummy. Either way, it's a bit like Paul McCartney writing songs that sound like the Beatles – on paper it ticks all the boxes, but it just lacks the magic that was there the first time around.
And Risibilis followed up with this jab to Gervais's ribs:
Gervais' alter ego has always been a 'rock star'. After establishing a public profile via self-deprecating comic personas he's now relaunching his pop career. In doing this in the guise of it being a comedy turn he's given himself a safety net if the music isn't well-received. He's certainly brash – but brave? I think not so much or he'd not need to perform as a 'character'.
Amanda Holden
Comedy
Ricky Gervais
Comedy
Danny Boyle
Jo Brand
Comedy
Jennifer Saunders
Brian Logan
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