Joan Rivers dies aged 81

JOAN RIVERS has died aged 81, her daughter confirmed in a statement. The comedian died a week after she was rushed into hospital after she stopped breathing during a routine medical operation. She had been due to tour the UK in the autumn with a show called Quick…Before They Close The Lid (Seriously…this one could be IT!).

ANDREW LAWRENCE has landed a new Radio 4 series based on his 2013 stand-up show. The BBC has commissioned four half-hour episodes of There Is No Escape,scheduled to air in autumn 2015.

DYLAN MORAN has announced a new tour for 2015. The Black Books star will play 54 dates next spring on a tour entitled Off The Hook.

LEE NELSON creator Simon Brodkin has also announced a new, 37-date tour, as looks to transform his character from baseball cap-wearing chav to upstanding member of the public in Suited And Booted. Brodkin previews the show in Barnard Castle on 29 October.

FRANKIE BOYLE is to dissect the Scottish independence debate in a new BBC comedy for iPlayer. Frankie Boyle’s Referendum Autopsy will be filmed in front of a studio audience at Glasgow’s Britannia Panopticon shortly after the referendum vote on 18 September.

TV CHANNEL GOLD has commissioned a 90-minute film about all of Monty Python’s live shows. Monty Python: The Meaning of Live will air in November and promises ‘unprecedented access’ to the five remaining members.