Mock the Week returns to Discovery TLC

[D365]

The first new episode of a rebooted Mock the Week has just aired on Discovery's TLC channel. Dara Ó Briain returns as host with Rhys James replacing Hugh Dennis as a regular panellist.

Michael Hogan has promptly followed up with a review on telegraph.co.uk, however this is behind a paywall:

The show was once criticised for its bear-pit atmosphere and male-dominated line-ups. Comic Milton Jones called it “seven white blokes telling jokes”. No longer. Not only was the cast more varied, but they were less sharp-elbowed and more collaborative, displaying collegiate spirit and camaraderie.

Indeed, this was the main improvement, thanks to the extended episode length. Its BBC running time was 28 minutes. Now it was 44 minutes if you don’t include the ad breaks, enabling the editing to be looser and less frenetic. We had more extended riffs, ad-libs and asides. Byrne sneezed violently. Pascoe got the giggles...

With no shortage of current affairs from the year thus far, it was a very welcome revival in my household. Great banter between each of the panellists, and it certainly seems like the producers had no issue with Ed Byrne alternately poking fun at TLC and BBC.

 

[styles]

I'll give it a watch probably.

I was finding it had become quite tired by the time it was stopped on the Beeb.

 

[SargeNpton]

In it's previous incarnation you could see that a lot of it was scripted (or at least the panelists had been briefed on the subjects beforehand). It seemed that it was only the last stand-up round that was genuinely spontaneous - the "Things you wouldn't hear".

 

[brad465]

Given this is my favourite show, I couldn't let this thread pass: I'm obviously pleased it's back and like that it's 15 minutes longer (when commercial breaks are deducted). The main drawback is the accessibility of it: while it's broadcast live on a Freeview channel, I can't find a free catch-up service for it, so one has to get Discovery+ to watch it back.

 

[JamesT]

Given this is my favourite show, I couldn't let this thread pass: I'm obviously pleased it's back and like that it's 15 minutes longer (when commercial breaks are deducted). The main drawback is the accessibility of it: while it's broadcast live on a Freeview channel, I can't find a free catch-up service for it, so one has to get Discovery+ to watch it back.

discovery+ | Learn more about how to stream content on discovery+.

support.discoveryplus.com

Can I watch discovery+ for free?
Yes, you can watch a selection of content on discoveryplus.com and in the discovery+ app.

For the full streaming experience, you can subscribe to discovery+.

I believe TLC should be available within that free selection.

 

[najaB]

For anyone who hasn't watched it, it's available on YouTube:
Episode 1:

Episode 2: