Dara O’Briain is to get his own ITV chat show as a kind-of, but-not-actual replacement for Michael Parkinson. Apparently, it’ll start as a Saturday evening show but move to a later slot when Parkinson retires.

According to one of those ever-present insiders found by The Sun:

We love Dara and have great plans for him. He’s very warm and can get a lot out of people, which is what you want when you’re interviewing stars.

He’s also extremely entertaining as he has a background in comedy. He’ll be more like Jonathan Ross than Parky, but he’s exactly the kind of upbeat host we need.

In its tabloid shorthand, O’Briain is summed up as a “roly-poly comedian”.