A tight 5: March 13

Susan Calman and Mark Nelson are to host a TV comedy series tied in with the Commonwealth Games. BBC Scotland will air two episodes of Don’t Drop The Baton, one based around the build-up to Glasgow 2014; the second reacting to the action from the Games. The shows promise a mix of stand-up and sketches.

JOHN BISHOP has backed an animated film campaigning against the £50billion HS2 project to increase rail capacity and speed between London, Birmingham and Manchester. The comic has narrated the short film, The Great Train Robbery, as part of his increasing public opposition to the scheme. The route is set to come within a mile of his £2.25million mansion in the Cheshire countryside.

ALAN IRWIN, a 24-year-old politics and theology undergraduate at Queen's University Belfast, has become a Chortle Student Comedy Award semi-finalist for the second time after triumphing at the Northern Irish heat last night. The next heat of the competition, with ALCATEL ONE TOUCH and Universal Pictures (UK) is at Southampton tonight. Here is Irwin’s winning set.

ELEANOR TIERNAN is one of the guests giving a ‘TED-style’ talk that will air exclusive online as part of Irish broadcaster RTE’s St Patrick’s Night celebrations on Monday. The event aims to ‘explore what it means to be Irish in 2014’ and is aimed predominantly at expats, including being streamed on the Washington Post website.

AROUND 2,000 guests are paying tribute to Sir David Frost at a memorial service in Westminster Abbey. Sir David's widow, Lady Carina Fitzalan-Howard and the Prince of Wales will lay flowers on a dedicated memorial stone at Poets' Corner.

Published: 13 Mar 2014