A tight 5: September 26

James Corden is to voice Peter Rabbit in a new big screen version of Beatrix Potter’s children’s classic to celebrate the author's 150th birthday. The new movie, due out in early 2018, will mix animation with live action, with Rose Byrne as the human star, Bea. It will go into production in January at Sydney studio Animal Logic, which previously made The Lego Movie.

JASON BYRNE is piloting an entertainment TV show based around comedy phone calls. Comics Tom Davis, Luke McQueen, David Morgan and Kelly Anne Lyons will be helping the Irish stand-up run through the format, provisionally called Dial Hard, at the Camden Comedy Room in North London on Thursday afternoon. The show will be filmed by production company Electric Ray – run by former BBC commissioner Karl Warner – but not broadcast. Tickets.

STILL GAME has been given new title music. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra recorded the new version at its home in City Halls in Glasgow earlier this month ahead of the sitcom’s comeback. The original theme – a cover of the Frank Chacksfield song Cuban Boy was recorded by the comedy/DJ duo also called the Cuban Boys. Here are the new titles:

And the old ones:

KEVIN BRIDGES is to appear in a special edition of BBC Northern Ireland’s topical panel show The Blame Game, to mark its ten-year anniversary. The show, with regulars Tim McGarry, Colin Murphy, Jake O’Kane and Neil Delamere, is being recorded at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, on Tuesday October 25.

AMY SCHUMER played Montgomery Burns’s mother when The Simpsons returned to US TV screens for its 28th season yesterday. The episode featured flashbacks of the evil tycoon’s formative years, when he staged a variety show. Schumer was also a guest voice on two more of the Fox network’s animated shows last night: Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy.

Published: 26 Sep 2016