Jonathan Ross returns to the BBC

Jonathan Ross returns to the nation's television screens this evening with his first recorded broadcast since October, when the BBC suspended him without pay for making lewd telephone calls with Russell Brand to the Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.

The 48-year-old presenter starts the show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, with the words "So where were we", and proceeds with a quick gag at George Bush's expense quoting some of his famous verbal gaffes before saying: "No seriously, what kind of idiot would say stuff like that, knowing that it was going to be broadcast?"

Ross then goes on to apologise for the misdemeanor that led to his fall from grace, and which has cost him £1.5m in lost earnings. Looking straight-faced, he says: "But seriously, I am going to take this opportunity to apologise for what I said on the radio because being on the BBC, and being allowed this level of freedom to communicate openly with people, it's a great privilege and it's something I've always enjoyed and I value enormously. In future I do intend to be more aware of the responsibility that comes with such a gift. But as the kids say, it was 'my bad', so I do apologise for any hurt or distress it has caused."

He added: "Welcome to our millions of regular viewers and to our several thousand new viewers who I suspect may well be watching for the first time."

Guests on Ross's show were Tom Cruise, Lee Evans, Stephen Fry and rock band Franz Ferdinand. The programme was filmed five hours earlier than usual, with members of the audience only informed of the time change a few days earlier. During his interview, Stephen Fry, a close friend of the presenter, said: "I'm very happy to help you get off the naughty step." ·