Review: The Michael McIntyre Chat Show, BBC One

I was just thinking how strange it was that Michael McIntyre had morphed into Lang Lang, the ebullient Chinese pianist – the floppy jet-black hair, the chipolata-like body, the plump Jackie Chan cheeks – when he read my mind and agreed. Well, more or less. Introducing his brand new chat show with a burst of pre-emptive self-mockery, he flashed up images showing how remarkably similar he looks to the Chinese man you see when you download Skype, or the ruler of North Korea (not sure which one, but they’re all related).

One way or another everything in McIntyre’s new show was all about McIntyre. But what did you expect? There are two ways to run a chat show. The first one is to get your guests to talk at length, and hope that while doing so they might run beyond their carefully prepared set of approved anecdotes and let slip something they’d have preferred not to.