A slap-up, champagne-fuelled dinner with Liz Fraser at the Hurlingham Club. Carry On Supping!

Robert is delighted to start work on a major project with comedy actress extraordinaire Liz Fraser. A lovely day in Putney chatting of Hancock, Hawtrey, Howerd and Hill.

BBC4 concluded Michael Grade’s wonderful tribute to variety. Loads of Morecambe and Wise, Tommy Cooper and Ken Dodd brought sunshine to the screen.

David Walliams takes on almost every panel game know to man on behalf of Comic Relief. ’24 Hour Panel People’ was a thrilling and exhausting 24 hour live television assault course. The highlights included Paul O’Grady hosting ‘Blankety Blank’ with guests Barbara Windsor, David Tennant and Keith Harris and Orville. Lionel Blair and Una Stubbs gamely went through another ‘Give Us A Clue’ in the wee small hours while ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ once more proved Josie Lawrence as one of the country’s funniest and hottest talents.

The return of ‘The Best of British Comedy’ luncheon in aide of The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund at BAFTA. Loads of great chums to drink and laugh with, including Barry Cryer, David Benson, Bob Golding, Andrew Sachs, Hattie Hayridge, George Layton, Francoise Pascal, Liz Fraser, George Camiller and Sheila Steafel.

Farewell then to the brunette bombshell Jane Russell. ‘The two and only…’ as Bob Hope called her. Her comedy work in ‘The Paleface’, ‘Son of Paleface’ and, briefly, ‘Road to Bali’ is great fun, while film noir students should wallow in ‘His Kind of Woman’ and ‘The Las Vegas Story’. Of course, ‘The Outlaw’ will always be her lasting legacy. That mean, moody and magnificent poster!

BBC Radio 4 broadcast the concluding half of Matthew Sweet’s excellent documentary on Charlie Chaplin. A joy.

Robert meets and interviews acting legend Warren Mitchell for the first time. An absolute gentleman and a fund of stories. What a treat.

Very sad to report the death of actor Nicholas Courtney at the age of 81. Robert interviewed and drank with him many times and he was always a charming, kind, thoughtful and gentle man. His contribution to the work of ‘Doctor Who’ is, of course, immense. From his performance as Bret Vyon in ‘The Daleks’ Masterplan’ (1965) opposite William Hartnell to his final performance as the Brig in ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’ in 2008 he always gave a peerless performance. Appearing opposite every Doctor from the First to the Seventh on television, he also worked with Paul McGann and David Tennant on Big Finish audio dramas, making his contribution to the series a unique one. His other credits include ‘Randall and Hopkirk (deceased)’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘The Saint’, ‘Jason King’ and ‘Then Churchill Said To Me’ with Frankie Howerd, many of which were covered in Robert’s non-Who chat with the actor for Cult T.V.

They said ‘The Rivals’ was too good to only see once and they were right! A second helping of the comedy masterclass from Penelope Keith, Peter Bowles and Tony Gardner.