Laughs keep rocking

JASON MANFORD is nothing if not persistent.

Despite recently finding himself the butt of all jokes after a certain internet indiscretion, the comic has still managed to claw his way back into the public’s affections and mental joke books.

He’s even managed to make a joke about his recent scandal, having responded to hecklers at performances of his stand-up show with lines such as “Literally nothing you can say can possibly embarrass me more than last week”.

And the show has received some rave reviews – a sign he might just have side-stepped all the drama without so much as a scratch after those flirty texts that got him into trouble, and saw him make a swift exit from BBC1’s The One Show.

Now ITV is giving him the chance to make viewers laugh again.

Granted, his stint on The One Show may only have lasted as long as a kiss-and-tell girl’s two minutes of fame, but during his brief tenure alongside Alex Jones, he showed off a none-too-shabby presenting style and proved he can hold his own in primetime family entertainment.

His latest TV gig is a good formula for him – a mixture of presenting and comedy.

In Comedy Rocks, he turns his hand to hosting a packed entertainment series featuring some of the hottest comedians on the circuit, with music acts currently in the charts performing as house band for the evening.

Each show will be recorded only days before its transmission, so no topical stone will be left unturned.

EXPECT another bloody good show as True Blood returns for a third series.

The thick red stuff is never too far from anyone’s thoughts – probably because it seems to be pretty much on tap, whether it comes direct from an artery or via a synthetic substance created to give vampires an alternative to biting humans.

Unfortunately, bloodsucker Bill has gone missing, and Sookie is distraught when officers of Bon Temps police force refuse to search for him.

But she’s a resourceful young woman, so decides to take matters into her own hands – even if it does mean asking Eric for help.

Tara is also missing the love of her life. Eggs was killed at the end of the last season, and now she can’t face life without him, prompting Andy and Jason to cover up their role in his death.

LOCATION Location Location’s Phil Spencer ditches Kirstie and heads down under for a fresh batch of Relocation: Phil Down Under.

His aim is to help six British families who are planning to move to Australia.

He won’t only be finding beautiful homes for them to live in, but also giving them a chance to find out what it’s like to live there. Presumably, the series was filmed before the recent floods, so it’ll be interesting to see if any last minute mention is inserted into the shows.

The opening episode sees Phil in Melbourne with social workers Tom and Julie Pickup, from Manchester.

He also spends time with a British couple who bought a bakery in the city four years ago.

HESTON BLUMENTHAL is on a mission to highlight our oceans’ alternative larder and create the ultimate sustainable fishy feast that will change the way we think about seafood.

Aside from creating an amazing sustainable seafood menu in Heston’s Fishy Feast, the maverick chef visits the fjords of Iceland to catch a dangerous fish the Vikings loved.

He also goes diving for sea cucumbers in Scotland, and turns trout and crab into a mouth-watering dessert.

For his starter, the award-winning chef conjures up a Fishy Afternoon Tea complete with a side-helping of Laughing Gas. It’s the perfect prelude to the stunning main course, Heston’s Day Out at the Seaside with Wolffish Cheeks and Saucy Seagull.

To round off, Heston and his guests venture to the tropical deep for an Edible Coral Reef complete with Chocolate Starfish.

His guests are Jonathan Ross, comic actress and impressionist Ronni Ancona, actress Morwenna Banks, adventurer Ray Mears, actor Denis Lawson, and Zoe Salmon, best known for her work on Blue Peter.

SOMETIMES when you watch a panel show it’s easy to marvel at just how quick-witted the guest comedians are, coming up with a b a r r a g e of snappy one-liners apparently off the cuff.

T h e n you go to see them live, or c a t c h them on a n o t h e r show, see them del i v e r i n g e x a c t l y the same jokes, and start to think that maybe they aren’t that spontaneous, just extremely good at shoehorning pre-prepared gags into any situation.

However, that shouldn’t be the case on the new series Fast And Loose which, at first glance, seems to have more in common with Whose Line Is It Anyway? than the current crop of topical panel shows.

Hosted by Hugh Dennis, it gives up-and-coming comedians the chance to compete in ad-libbed games and scenes based on material chosen by the presenter and the audience.