A tight 5: March 17

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer have announced extra dates to their UK tour due to popular demand. Tickets for their initial 14 dates of their silver anniversary Poignant Moments were snapped up quickly, and some of the extra eight announced this morning have already sold out. Dates.

EDDIE MURPHY is being lined up to play Richard Pryor’s dad in a new biopic of the late comic genius, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The 53-year-old is said to be ‘in talks’ to join the cast of the movie, which stars Mike Epps as Pryor.

HARRY HILL is to return to the BBC in another episode of The Incredible Adventures Of Professor Branestawm, which will air this Christmas. Vicki Pepperdine and Simon Day are also reprising their roles as housekeeper Mrs Flittersnoop and Colonel Dedshott.

DANIEL KITSON’s new show Polyphony is going ahead at the Battersea Arts Centre as planned this week, despite the fire that gutted the historic South London venue on Friday. The blaze destroyed the venue’s main performance space, the Grand Hall, but after ‘extensive safety tests’ the studio space where Kitson was road-testing his show, was given the all-clear. A fundraising page set up here has already attracted £50,000.

MARK STEEL has been named Columnist of the Year at the Society of Editors’ Press Awards for his regular articles in The Independent.

Published: 17 Mar 2015