The sketches from last night's telethon ranked and rated

The BBC put together an ambitious three-hour telethon under social distancing rules last night, which raised £27.4million for Comic Relief and Children In Need, the first time the two charities have come together.

Here we've ranked the comedy sketches from the show. You can donate here.

1. Very Little Britain

A hugely successful comeback for the familiar characters, made all the better by the home-made wigs and props, from Vicky Pollard's spaghetti hair to 'only gay in the village' Dafydd's latex costume. It made the rubbish transvestites - even more rubbish thanks, as Lucas commented, in character: 'I'm not sure we should be doing this sketch any more.' For those who thought 'you can't do Little Britain any mote' the whole segment was surprisingly relevant. Success!

Oh and Lucas's Baked Potato song getting the full orchestral treatment it deserves is worthy of an honourable mention, too. Walliams' book plug isn't.

2. Lauren and David Tennant

Catherine Tate's schoolgirl reunites with David Tennant for a funny, pacy and spiky exchange, with a machine-gun onslaught of gags at the expense of the former Doctor Who's apparently advanced age (in his 40s!) and being Scottish. Brilliant stuff...

3. The Trip

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon recreate The Trip without going anywhere, affectionately taking the piss out of Comic Relief mastermind Richard Curtis and the self-serving nature of celebrities doing work for charity, but only if it's visible and never the best stuff.

Of course, we get impressions, too, but that throat-clearing noise that Brydon's Tom Jones does might put you on edge. Cough into your elbow, mate!

4. (The Road To) Amarillo

Thanks to TikTok, everyone's lipsynching to pop hits these days, but Peter Kay's original Comic video for the this was its apex. He's not looking as perky as he did 15 years ago, but him getting the great British public to make a new version produced this utterly jolly clip, guaranteed to bring a smile:

5. Stephen Fry and Prince William

It's the sketch that made all the newspapers, of course, as it did show what a good sport Prince William was, and proved a perfect lead-in to the nationwide 'clap for carers'. Any comedy sketch involving a Royal isn't going to be too cutting-edge, but Fry was nicely droll as the latest Lord Melchett, with references to the Blackadder crew always destined to evoke affectionate memories.

6. People Just Do Nothing

It seems exactly how this would be how the People Just Do Nothing crew of Allan Mustafa, Hugo Chegwig, Asim Chaudhry and Steve Stamp normally spend their days anyway, lazing around and exchanging bantz with each other on videophones. That just shows how fully-formed and convincing the characters are:

7. Stand-ups

There's not a clip of this, but the quickfire jokes was as mixed an affair as you might expect. Though Tim Vine of course proved he's master of the three-second gag.

And look at the classy bit of artwork on Tom Allen's wall – though for backdrops nothing beats Jason Manford's visual gag:

8. Bad Education

Jack Whitehall brought useless teacher Alfie Wickers back after a six-year sabbatical. While never being comedy gold Bad Education was always breezily amusing, and so this proved here, with the aid of Anthony Joshua giving PE tips.

9. Romesh Ranganathan

A mildly amusing skit about being in lockdown - and his kids steal the scene in their brief appearance - but you're left waiting for a bigger punchline that never comes....

10. Vicar Of Dibley

It's great to see Rev Geraldine back – a comforting sight in troubled times – but not much of a script, sadly, with well-telegraphed jokes. Maybe it was always thus, but feel underwhelming here, in an address that led into a nostalgic montage of e greatest hits clips.

11. Miranda

Is it curmudgeonly to think Hart's sincere 'it's OK not to be OK message' rather overshadowed the comedy here? Kittle more than a collection of out-of-context clips, repeated catchphrases and the galloping. Always with the galloping. Still some love it...

12. Joe Wicks

This sketch about Joe Wicks not being the fitness nut he clearly is was rather laboured. Maybe we come to a deal that he stays out of comedy and Michael McIntyre steers clear of keep-fit videos. Watching dizzy sportsmen falling over in a separate section was funnier

Published: 24 Apr 2020