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On his comedy inspirations...
"I wasn't interested in comedy. I didn't watch it. Honestly. I liked Dave Allen when I was a kid, but that was it. I never went to comedy clubs or anything like that. I had nobody I was trying to be like. Hopefully that's a benefit. I'm not trying to be like anyone else and I don't have a style I'm trying to copy. I do watch it now, yeah, as it's my job. I don't watch it for competition reasons though. I just like to see how people are approaching it. Who would I pay to see? I like Daniel Kitson. I like Jason Manford and Micky Flanagan. I'm not particularly discriminating. The list could go on and on."
Favourite TV Show...
"The Sopranos. I would like to work in the Scouse branch of the family. Hopefully I can do some more acting in the future, but I never planned to do that, so it's just a bonus if that happens. The problem with acting is that you have to wait for the script, do the casting and the filming and it's a long old process."
On Reality TV....
"If it's got reality anywhere near it, I don't want to know. I don't want to live in 'reality'. I've had a few things like that offered to me. Again, there's a thing where... do you want to be famous and on telly or do you want to be good at what you do? I just want to be good at what I do. If I end up on telly and being famous... that's a bonus."
On TV Hell....
"I think the talent shows have gone on a little bit too long now. I think they're a bit short on talent. I think we've got a lot of shows where it's not as realistic as I'd like. It's all very fabricated. I think it's time for a change with all of that. Any of the reality shows as well. What I like is well made dramas."
On his Sky1 panel show A League Of Their Own...
"Oh, it's a great show. I wouldn't tell anyone, but I feel like I'm stealing their money. I'd do it for nothing, I'd do it for the laugh. Do I find Jamie Redknapp funny? He is. He is comedy gold."
Watch a clip of John Bishop's Britain below:
On John Bishop's Britain...
"We wanted to create a show that was based around what people talk about in the pub. That's what we were aiming for. The format worked. The numbers we got were great last time. We just want to build on it. The format was a popular one. You always think you can do more. Last time we did it in a short space of time and we've got a little bit longer to work on it this time around. But what's good about this series is that we've got the experience now, we know what works and what doesn't so much and we just want to make it better."
On the differences between TV and stand-up...
"TV can be restrictive, but it also offers new opportunities. Like the talking heads. It allows you to bring on other people and sketches, which you can't do on a normal tour. The difference with a stand-up tour is that it evolves. It evolves because it's a moving thing and you shift around it all the time. Whereas on a show, you are locked on a point. You can't come back the following night and do it again or do it differently. The main principle is the same though. What's funny is funny."
On his Top Gear 'Star In A Reasonably Priced Car' record...
"Is it my proudest ever achievement? You mean after the birth of my children, my wedding day, Liverpool winning the Champions League. Yeah, it's up there. [laughs] What's so good about Top Gear is the size of the thing. It's a massive, massive show. It has a different name in other countries, but I was in South Africa and someone came up to me and said, 'I've seen you on the telly.' I thought that he would want me to tell a joke or knew me as a comedian. He then goes, 'Yeah, yeah, you're the driver off Top Gear'. I think I was just lucky, wasn't I? I just got my head down and went for it. Lucky I didn't crash."
On being famous...
"I don't get the thing where people stop you in the street for a joke so much, because I'm a storyteller. But it is an odd thing when it happens. You wouldn't walk up to Steven Gerrard and ask him to boot a football, would you? Here you are... have a kick."
John Bishop's Britain starts on Saturday, July 30 at 9.10pm on BBC One
