Since Mark Lamarr took his holiday leave from Nevermind The Buzzcocks, there’s been a few grumbles of discontent. For once, these grumps haven’t been coming from me. Anyway, It’s back on our screens with the new presenter, the pithy and sarcastic Simon Amstell, formerly of PopWorld. Now, before you go thinking ‘pithy’ and ‘sarcastic’ are bad things, remember, those are the very things we loved about Lamarr.

The people who have wrung their hands raw with worry about the new presenter will do well to remember that the show has only one original member left, with Bill Bailey taking the place of the fantastic Sean Hughes (in the ‘where are they now’ section of HMV). Anyway, the ‘Have I Got Pop Music For You’ of TV is back and in full swing with a mixture of oddball guests, popstars that are ripe for shooting down and of course, a brilliant vehicle for the bonkers streams of consciousness from Bailey.

All the faves are still there. Picking out the failed pop singer from a line up of strange people dragged in from nearby pubs, guess the intro and the ubiquitous quick fire round (or guess the next line). Amstell, regardless of recent criticisms, is doing a fine job. I shudder to think of the people considered for the show before him. Russel Brand? Zane Lowe? Colin Murray? That Alex bloke from Popworld? I’d rather throw my TV into a volcano and try to rescue it midflight before it hit the lava than ever have to see those people on my screen. Anyways, Nevermind the Buzzcocks. It’s great. You should stop sulking like a Pete Doherty fan and laugh yourself silly whilst watching it. [Mof Gimmers]