The comedy icon returns to mark the 25th anniversary of his BBC debut. This evening weekday magazine show is a heady mix of consumer affairs, current affairs, and lightweight frothy drivel. Presenting This Time 'as live', Alan tries to keep proceedings ticking along while everything around him crumbles. This kind of format can flip in the blink of an eye from a moving piece on child soldiers in West Africa to a VT about a vegetable growing competition in Yorkshire. With the sheer variety of topics covered, striking the right tone would be dizzyingly hard even for a skilled presenter. So, for Alan, it will be pretty much impossible.