As if there wasn't enough Richard Osman around at the moment he is back on BBC Two from Monday September 22 fronting a brand new series of House of Games following endless reruns. So no more pretending you know the answers to Answer Smash when actually you just remember them from last time round.

The first four contestants are Melanie Bracewell, Ruth Madeley, Jenny Powell and comedian Mark Steel. And in case you were asking, Jenny Powell is 57. Comedians have a very strong track record on House of Games, with Angela Barnes becoming the first person to win every edition in the same week, going on to win the Champions edition too.

So we are expecting great things of Mark Steel, who has always had a whipsmart mind, even though he is a little obsessed with cricket. His stand-up travels and his roving Radio 4 show Mark Steel's in Town might help him if any geographical questions come up. 

Anyway it's the taking part that really counts and after Steel's well-documentated travails with throat cancer it's good to seem him back in action even if he comes last.

Oh and if you are a fan of Richard Osman the film of his book The Thursday Murder Club is currently on netflix (look out for his wife Ingrid Oliver in one of the early scenes – factoid - they first met when she was on House of Games). He also has a hit podcast with Marina Hyde, The Rest is Entertainment. And a new book out, called The Impossible Fortune.

Anyway, Mark Steel has written a book about his life and his cancer. Here's something he wrote": "A biopsy makes everything seem grotesquely real. Lying on another blue plastic bench, I was told the fine needle wouldn’t be enough as the lump was too big. I need a ‘big needle’ biopsy. My head was turned away ready for the big needle, and I wondered how big this needle was. In my mind it was five feet long, the sort the wile-e-coyote would use for capturing the Road Runner.

Richard Osman's House Of Games, Monday, September 29 - Friday, October 3, 6pm, BBC Two.