Red Nose Day breaks new record with £74.3m raised

A record £74.3m has been raised for Comic Relief by this year's Red Nose Day telethon - the highest figure reached by the show in its 23-year history.

At the end of Friday night's show the total raised was £74,360,207 - and that figure is likely to rise.

A host of famous faces took part in the charity telethon, including Take That, Susan Boyle and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Among the highlights were comedian Peter Kay teaming up with Boyle for a comic recreation of the Elaine Paige/Barbra Dickson hit I Know Him So Well.

The clip featured Kay as alter-ego Geraldin McQueen while former Britain's Got Talent star Boyle donned a big curly wig for her role as Dickson.

And James Corden, John Bishop, Catherine Tate, David Walliams and Alan Carr got together to form 'tribute' boy band Fake That - who auditioned for Take That in one sketch.

Corden also appeared in another sketch as his Gavin and Stacey character Smithy, in which he teamed up with singer George Michael in a bid to rally celebrities for a trip to Africa.

The skit featured former Prime Minister Gordon Brown dancing along with boy band JLS.

Meanwhile David Cameron also did his bit, appearing in a Masterchef spoof in which Miranda Hart, Ruby Wax and Claudia Winkleman served him a three-course meal.

The Government has also pledged that it will donate £10m to Comic Relief, to spend on health and education in Africa.

Other highlights on the night included special editions of Doctor Who and Outnumbered, as well as a spoof version of Downton Abbey and appearances from Steve Coogan's alter ego Alan Partridge, stars of The Inbetweeners and performances from Annie Lennox and Adele.

The last Comic Relief, in 2009, raised £82.3m in total.