Radio Times

In an interview with Radio Times, outspoken BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles has branded radio "boring" and slammed his employer's editorial policies.

"The BBC is in a very weird state," said Moyles. "They just don't want to upset anybody. Everything now needs to be signed, sealed and approved 18 times.

"We're not trying to change the world, but because radio is so dull, so boring and so formulaic, anyone different - me or Jonathan [Ross] - stands out.

"The BBC is throwing down the rules and regulations and then the newspapers are saying certain things and you're just trying...

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"Nasty" Nick Bateman, the pantomime villain of the original Big Brother, has pulled out of an appearance on the current series of the show.

Nick was to be the first of a number of past housemates facing short stints back in the house this week, as part of Big Brother's tenth birthday celebrations. But the 41-year-old is reportedly unhappy about being asked to compete against one of the current housemates in an assault course task. He will be replaced by BB1 winner Craig Phillips, who goes in first today.

Former housemates including BB8 winner Brian Belo will follow Craig into the house throughout the...

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Biggest transformation

As the week wore on, Karly, Dogface and Lisa were increasingly struck by what they saw as a change in Halfwit's personality: "He's actually been all right this week."

And on Tuesday, Kris's plan to make Halfwit look (more) ridiculous by shaving his head backfired. As Halfwit's locks fell away, so did the scales from Noirin's eyes (if only temporarily). "You're a good-looking guy," she giggled, as Halfwit complemented his shaven head and goatee with a leather jacket and aviator sunglasses to complete the gay biker look.

Halfwit's new haircut seems to have made him bolder as well as better looking....

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Emmerdale

There are unfamiliar faces gracing Emmerdale's highways and byways. Or at least the road to Butler's Farm. Missing the sign that proclaims "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" and ignoring the distant sound of duelling banjos, Moira and John Barton are so enthused at the prospect of their new life that even finding a delusional Andy wandering around the farm does nothing to dissuade them from settling down.

Let us not say, then, that they weren't warned. The Bartons are a happy, hale and hearty family. Let's see how long that lasts, shall we?

Meanwhile, Viv returns a changed woman after her spell detained at...

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In a recent issue of Radio Times magazine, New Tricks producer Tom Sherry says that the BBC1 series is "very quietly, and without making a lot of fuss…on its way to becoming a national treasure."

He's right - and who could have seen it coming? I've watched New Tricks (which starts a new series, its sixth, on BBC1 on Thursday 16 July) from the beginning and started out by not being keen. It was far too bluff and jokey for me.

But - and here I raise my hands in mute surrender - I've gone a bit soft on New Tricks and hold it...

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Doctor Who special The Waters of Mars heads up the new season of dramas coming to BBC1 this autumn. Lindsay Duncan stars alongside David Tennant, as Adelaide, head of the Mars Base, and one of the Time Lord's sharpest and most strong-willed companions yet.

There's a return for MI5 drama Spooks and some dramatic new storylines in EastEnders, while Maxine Peake stars alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Sophie Okonedo in a second series of Criminal Justice, which exposes the workings of the British legal system.

Brand-new dramas include sci-fi Paradox, in which Tamzin Outhwaite plays a Minority Report-style...

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We dared to quiz the mocker-in-chief. Some of his answers are printable…

It's the magnificent seventh series of Mock the Week. For the unlucky few who haven't seen it yet… It's basically five gay guys doing games that they've culled from the Mensa tests. And we all hate it. No, it's basically Whose Line Is It Anyway? meets Have I Got News for You.

Do you prepare gags in advance? Well, you know what the news stories are, but you don't know what people are going to say about them. But because it's quite a long recording - about three hours - there's a lot...

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Having endured ten months of the football season living with two undersized Cristiano Ronaldos (it's not just the tantrums and diving over sofas, it's the pervasive smell of Alberto VO5 firm-hold hair gel) I was praying that with the start of the Ashes, my two young boys would become a pair of mini Freddie Flintoffs, passing me on the stairs in a blur of pads and whirring willow, on their way outside.

Then I remembered my lot won't see the England cricket team live on TV. International cricket has not been on free-to-air television since the last home Ashes series of 2005, when the England and...

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EastEnders

Whatever it is that Phil dabs behind his ears to attract the ladies - and we're assuming it's not vodka and/or pork scratchings - he should consider bottling and selling it. Now that he's added Dawn to his list of conquests, we can only presume that Phil's pheromones are catnip to Walford's women. It's hardly his sparkling personality, is it?

And though there are few fine male specimens down E20 - the passable ones are either confused about their sexuality, like Syed, or, like Jack, fighting off increasingly demented Mitchell sisters - is Phil really the best a gal can do? Context is everything, I guess.

No...

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On Monday 6 July series three of alien-busting Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood comes to BBC1 and BBC HD. A five episode "miniseries" being shown across the week, Monday to Friday, Children of Earth is what creator Russell T Davies calls a "first contact story" - a story that begins with children across the globe coming to a complete halt to chant in unison, "We are coming. We are coming."

Sounds like a job for Torchwood. But with two members of the team - Owen and Tosh - killed off in the previous series, that leaves their leader Captain Jack Harkness,...

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Sree proves he's a bad sportsman…

Biggest barrel of laughs

As his tenuous part of the "Italian-themed" task, Siavash wore silver glam-rock boots, a chicken on his head and a giant barrel, and was told to jump on a pedestal and strike a pose whenever BB played Madonna's Vogue into the house. Actually less funny that it sounds.

Genuinely hilarious, though, were his doomed attempts to sit down in the diary room chair while wearing the costume. He finally collapsed into a corner of the room calling feebly, "I'm not sure I can get up…you are a horrible, horrible person."

Best musical performance
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Torchwood star John Barrowman is mightily miffed at the latest series's length and scheduling. In the new RT he claims the show is being "punished" for its increasing success. Torchwood started on BBC3, then went to BBC2 and next week all five episodes of the new series Children of Earth will be shown consecutively, Monday to Friday, at the peak time of 9:00pm on BBC1.

Barrowman's wider point is that this latest series is a mere five, rather than 13, episodes, and it's clear he doesn't like the changed back-to-back format. Of course, he's entitled to his anger as he's the show's star after...

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