Prime slot in the Christmas schedules

BBC One is to air Jason Manford’s latest stand-up tour over Christmas.

The comic’s Like Me show was recorded at Sheffield’s City Hall in September – and at the time Manford told his Twitter followers  he hadn’t decided how it would be released.

Now it has been given a prime spot in the festive schedules, airing on the BBC’s flagship channel at 10.30pm on Friday December 30.

The Corporation has renamed the show Recent Nostalgia for broadcast, promising ‘a rollercoaster journey of recent times…  from lockdown, his early days on the comedy circuit and why men aren’t as clever as women think they are.’

He ends the show with his mash-up of school assembly ‘bangers’, recently released as a charity single for the Trussell Trust food banks. It briefly topped the iTunes charts, but has not made the official Top 100.

The stand-up said: ‘When I first started talking about Assembly Bangers on stage I never once thought we’d get to this point of releasing an actual record! It’s nuts. But so many people have messaged asking me to do it so here we are. The track is a bit of nostalgic fun from our school days and if we can raise money for the charity, whilst having a laugh with the single, that would be fantastic.’

Manford – who last night began a panto season playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Manchester Opera House – has now finished touring Like Me tour in the UK and Ireland after 280 dates  – although there are some shows in continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand next year.

Published: 11 Dec 2022