Julian Barratt joins Tenacious D

And Piff joins Mumford & Sons. WTF...

‘The quest for authenticity in stand-up is one I can’t really relate to.’ Al Murray

Great minds? This lunchtime, BBC Radio Scotland launched a sketch show ‘set among the parents who gather to collect their children from school’ called The Gates. Meanwhile. Sky 1 is soon to air a sitcom starring Joanna Page ‘set in the all too familiar chaos of the school gates’, called... Gates.

David Miliband once recognised David Mitchell in a London park, but confused him with the author of the same name. He said the politician came up to him and said, confusingly: 'You're David Mitchell – I love his books.' The panel show favourite said there was 'not a flicker of embarrassment in him – he left all that was with me'. 'You couldn't put him in a sitcom,' he added, 'as he doesn't feel shame or embarrassment'. The brief encounter is detailed in Mitchell's new memoirs… along with an hilarious story about his Peep Show co-star Olivia Coleman pissing herself on stage that we couldn't possible do justice to here.

On sale now! Micky Flanagan’s next DVD … even though it’s not out until November 2013.

Julian Barratt joined Tenacious D on stage at London's Hammersmith Apollo on Tuesday as the band launched their new album Jazz:

Piff The Magic Dragon is to support Mumford & Sons on their UK tour. The distinctive magician – real name John van der Put – met the band when he won a competition to perform a 15-second set at the Secret Policeman’s Ball in New York earlier this year. They invited him to perform at the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover in Galway this summer, and say he ‘went down such a dream’ that he will now be supporting them on their full tour, which kicks off in Torquay on November 21. Piff – who is currently on his own tour – can also be seen on the cover of Mumford and Sons’ latest album, Babel – if you look close enough.

Gary Lineker slipped the word labradoodle into his Match of the Day analysis last weekend, after being dared to do so by his old They Think It’s All Over colleague Lee Hurst.

Russell Brand's Los Angeles neighbours spotted him walking a lady friend from his home to a cab wearing just his Y-fronts at 7am. According to one 'source' - who we presume to be a paparazzo parked outside the property: 'A neighbour shouted to him, "Good morning, Russell." He turned bright red and ran back inside.'

Sick of vacuous inspirational slogans being slapped onto anodyne images. Well, this Tumblr blog has helpfully taken some of the harsher quotes from The Thick Of It, and illustrated them with completely unconnected images, to remarkably good effect. Take a look when Tumblr finally comes back online…

‘Names have been changed to protect the innocent’ says Phil Nichol on his DVD. See if you can spot what swapped here: