A tight 5: November 26

MARK DOLAN is to take part in a celebrity edition of Come Dine With Me on Channel 4 this Christmas. Also appearing will be actress turned model Helen Flanagan, presenter and sometime comic Kirsten O'Brien and Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder. Dolan's dinner party will be based on a Dickensian theme, with pea soup, a three bird roast and a very plum duff.

DAVE GORMAN has announced a second leg of his Gets To The Point* (*The Powerpoint) tour. His current run ends with a four-night run at London's Queen Elizabeth hall before Christmas, but now he has announced 39 new dates in October and November next year. Tickets went on sale this morning. Schedule.

RUSSELL BRAND has pledged money to help set up a library in his former school in Grays, Essex. Giving a speech about the importance of reading, the comic said of Hathaway academy: ‘It is a disgrace that a state school doesn’t have a library funded by the state.’

MILES JUPP is to appear in a new National Theatre play next year. The comedian, currently appearing in Neville’s Island in the West End, joins Stephen Mangan in the cast of Rules For Living, a ‘dark comedy’ written by Sam Holcroft. Set at a fraught family Christmas dinner, the play opens in March.

AZIZ ANSARI is to receive the Power of Comedy Award from Variety magazine, following in the footsteps of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane, and his Parks and Recreation co-star, Amy Poehler.

Published: 26 Nov 2014