Class acts

THE Noughties haven’t been the jolliest of times, when you recall the September 11 attacks in 2001, the 2002 Bali bombings, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But the decade started brightly, as My Funniest Year aims to demonstrate, with comedian Rufus Hound taking an irreverent look at the first year of the 21st Century.

2000 was the year Davina McCall first presented Big Brother, as well as the year in which Keith Chegwin’s gameshow Naked Jungle debuted on Channel Five, although for some the sight of Cheggers in his birthday suit was more of a turnoff than turn-on.

The year also saw George W Bush elected to succeed Bill Clinton as US President in rather bizarre circumstances as he had to rely on the Supreme Court to confirm his victory over Al Gore.

IT’S the final instalment of Odd One In, the bizarre, but fun, comedy game show that sees two teams of celebrities going head to head as they try to pick someone out of a weird and wonderful line-up of the strange and stranger.

As ever, Bradley Walsh hosts the show, while regular panellists Peter Andre and new One Show host Jason Manford continue to pit their wits against the celebrity guests that join them each week.

This final edition sees actress Lynda Bellingham and chef Gino D’Acampo doing their best to outdo Peter and Jason by identifying a tap dancer and someone who changed their name to that of a superhero, from a series of line-ups.

Plus, they must also spot the language expert, who interprets for studio guests, and the Shaolin Warriors, who perform their kung fu act.

LIFE in the Yorkshire Dales isn’t all old codgers rolling down hillsides in barrels, as they did in Last Of The Summer Wine. BBC4’s new strand of programmes, The Dales On Film, compiles archive footage from newsreels, documentaries and home movies to tell the story of what is one of the most picturesque areas of England.

Among the sights captured in The Yorkshire Dales On Film are cheesemaking, potholing, sheep-farming, fellrunning and the construction of dry stone walls.

The programme is preceded by an episode of the aforementioned Last Of The Summer Wine and two other documentaries, while The Department Store and the movie This Sporting Life, starring Richard Harris, follow to complete the evening’s Yorkshire-themed celebrations.

ARE your schooldays really the happiest days of your life? Not according to the evidence offered in a new series. With the success of Grumpy Old Men and Grumpy Old Women, now comes an inevitable look back at assorted celebrities’ time in class – Grumpy Old Schooldays.

Comedienne Shappi Khorsandi recalls the time she stole Neil Kinnock’s daughter’s school report, while Mark Steel relives the horrors of his classmates’ flatulence.

And Neil Morrissey reveals why he tried to earn a reputation for being more dangerous than he actually was.