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Bifa-winning writer, director, presenter and actor Richard Ayoade will host the 2015 Moët British Independent Film Awards. Richard was nominated for two BIFAs and a BAFTA for his debut film "Submarine" and won the Bifa for Best Screenplay. He starred in "The Watch" with Jonah Hill and co-wrote and directed "The Double," starring Jesse Eisenberg. He won a BAFTA for playing Moss in "The It Crowd" and featured in "Nathan Barley," "Time Trumpet" and "The Mighty Boosh," as well as Garth Marenghi’s "Dark Place," which he also co-wrote and directed. His first book, "Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic...

Director and comic actor to take over hosting duties for the 2015 Moët British Independent Film Awards.

Bifa-winning writer, director, presenter and actor Richard Ayoade is to host the 2015 Moët British Independent Film Awards, set to take place on Dec 6 at Old Billingsgate in London.

Ayoade was nominated for two BIFAs and a BAFTA for his debut film Submarine and won the Bifa for Best Screenplay.

He starred in The Watch with Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill, and co-wrote and directed The Double, starring Jesse Eisenberg.

Ayoade won a BAFTA for playing Moss in The It Crowd and featured in TV comedies Nathan Barley, Time Trumpet and The Mighty Boosh, as well as Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place, which he also wrote and directed.

His first book, Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey, was published by Faber & Faber in 2014.

Ayoade said: “I have come to accept that I am now contracted to host this year’s Moët...

We asked Den Of Geek’s writers to recommend brilliant comedy shows that deserve to have more of a fuss made about them. Here they are...

Banging a drum about stuff we love is more or less our remit on Den Of Geek - hence what many readers have started referring to as the ‘inexplicably regular' appearance of Statham, squirrels and Harold Bishop from Neighbours on these pages.

To that end then, we asked our writers which comedy shows (past and present, UK or otherwise, on TV, radio, or online…) deserved more praise, and here are the ones they chose. You might already like them too, or you might discover something new to dig out and enjoy. That’s the fun of it.

Please note that this list isn’t ranked in any order, nor is it exhaustive. It’s compiled from the opinions of a group of different people,...

Though he's busier than central Norwich on market day, Armando Iannucci (of On The Hour, The Day Today, The Thick Of It, In The Loop, Time Trumpet, Veep and now Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa fame) found time in his hectic schedule to drop by the Empire Podcast booth for a natter about Hitler, sneaking into Us government buildings and perfecting the ultimate Alan whine.Elsewhere, the silver-tongued Anthony Stewart Head is grilled by our own Buffy buffs about his latest, Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters, touching on everything from 'squirrel pants' to putting ice cubes in your mouth before you kiss someone.On top of all that, there are loads of important movie news this week - Inbetweeners 2! Expendables 3! Films that aren't sequels! - for you to catch up on, as well as a look forward to Toronto and Venice, plus our review of the critically-contentious blockbuster The Lone Ranger.

Forget jetpacks – predicting social change can be a fictional challenge

Despite my strong public advocacy of Lab Lit fiction, I have always been a huge science fiction fan too. As a family, we spent the 1970s clustered around the TV watching (the original versions of) Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999 and many others in the genre. Being taken to see the first Star Wars movie at the age of nine was akin to a religious experience for me.

I devoured the genre in print, too. My father subscribed to Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, which I read cover to cover religiously from about the age of seven until I left home to attend university. Not satiated, I used to go to the library every week and check out a stack of Sf so high that the librarian had to crane her neck to make eye contact with the child behind it: Herbert,...

Well, it’s actually the name of a series that they’re developing. Comedy Central isn’t actually developing robots, at least not publicly. They have, however, announced their 2011-12 development slate, and it includes an animated half-hour show entitled Robots. Here’s what they have to say about it:

What if robots attempted to take over the world well before they actually had the ability to do so? This animated show pits a group of household electronics against their slacker owner, Jeff. Unbeknownst to Jeff, the Robots plot and scheme to take over the world every day, however, their lack of ability and understanding of humans eventually foils their plans sending them into a tailspin. Executive produced and written by Kumail Nanjiani (Comedy Central‘s Hot List, John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show), Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (The Office, Bad Teacher).

Also in development is Time Trumpet,...

What at first seems like a post-Iraq gangster movie becomes a bizarre genre mash-up. "I don't envy the marketing team," admits director Ben Wheatley

In major towns, a strange pagan symbol has begun appearing on walls and bus shelters. It looks a little like a tent in the crosshairs of a gun, and if that sounds a bit weird, that's only the half of it. The image is the key selling point of a new British movie called Kill List, a genre mash-up that is frustrating to write about simply because its mysteries really must be preserved in order for it to maintain its power. At the outset, it seems to be a post-Iraq gangster movie, with lots of Pinter-esque punch as an ex-soldier named Jay (Neil Maskell) teams up with an old army buddy, Gal (Michael Smiley), and carries out a series of ever more violent contract killings in...

[Here begins a trio of Toronto-centric posts and, yes, I apologize to those of you who don't live here.]

Fans of bleaker than bleak comedy in Canada, give a nice round of applause to Evokative Films because they're about to give Ben Wheatley's award winning black comedy Down Terrace a theatrical release on these shores. Here's the official word:

Montreal, Thursday October 21st, 2010 - After screenings at the Fantasia and Vancouver International Film Festivals, Down Terrace will be opening at the Carlton Theatre in Toronto on November 12th. This is the first English-speaking film release for Evokative Films, having concentrated its releases on International, subtitled films over the last two years.

Father and son Bill and Karl have just been released from jail, but all is not well at Down Terrace. Patriarchs of a small crime family, their business is plagued with infighting: Karl has had more than he can take of his old man's philosophizing and preaching; Bill thinks Karl's dedication to the family is seriously compromised...

New York -- Comedy Central has handed out a pilot order to "Time Trumpet," based on a series originally aired on the U.K.'s BBC2 channel in 2006.

Comedy Central bought the rights to the format and will adapt it for the U.S. market with original creator Armando Iannucci overseeing scripting and production.

The show is described as an historical documentary, or a look at the news of today -- often political or social in nature -- as told from the future.

In one episode of the U.K. version, the storyline revolved around public fatigue with the monarchy and showed how noone attended the fictional 2012 coronation of King Charles. Another episode focused on reality TV and voyeuristic tendencies and said that the top-rated show of 2010 was called "Rape an Ape."

Clips of such events were interspersed with commentary from pundits and celebrities of our time -- but in their aged future form.