The best of the week's comedy on TV and radio

Our pick of the week's comedy on TV and radio.

Sunday September 1

CHIC MURRAY, A FUNNY PLACE FOR A WINDOW: BBC Scotland launches a series of televised plays from A Play, A Pie & A Pint – the strand of new work from Glasgow's Òran Mór venue – with this tribute to the titan of Scottish comedy. Dave Anderson stars as Murray and Maureen Carr as his wife Maidie in the play, which just had a run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Writer and director Stuart Hepburn said: 'Theatre is ephemeral, so I think it is terrific that it will be immortalised with this recording for BBC Scotland and that people sitting in their own homes will get to see it and enjoy it. I'm also delighted by the way that it has been produced. It has remained true to its theatre roots but it looks good and has been produced in a fresh contemporary way which will also work for television audiences.' BBC Scotland, 10pm

Wednesday September 4

TASKMASTER: Greg Davies and little Alex Horne are back for a ninth series, putting David Baddiel, Ed Gamble, Jo Brand, Katy Wix and Rose Matafeo through their paces. Here is an interview with this season's contestants, and here Davies and Horne talk about the new batch.

THE RELUCTANT LANDLORD: It's been at least 20 minutes since Romesh Ranganathan was last on telly - so time for him to return for the second series of this semi-autobiographical comedy about a landlord taking over his late dad's pub, frequented by with a bunch of idiosyncratic regulars. Sian Gibson co-stars. Sky One, 10pm

MONTY PYTHON AT 50: THE SELF-ABASEMENT TAPES To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Monty Python, Michael Palin hunts down lost sketches. This programme contains rare material never heard before on UK radio, or anywhere else - including the Fat Ignorant Bastards sketch and a Country & Western version of Terry Jones's I'm So Worried. Radio 4, 11pm

Thursday September 5

BILLY CONNOLLY'S GREAT AMERICAN TRAIL: The comic kicks off a three-part travelogue in New York, where he opens the Tartan Day parade, before heading to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the pilgrims first landed on American soil, followed by a meeting with the Native American tribe who almost had their people and language wiped out. Then he heads to Boston, the old seaport of Gloucester, and the grave of Uncle Sam… who turns out to have been a Scot. ITV, 10pm.

GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME: The groundbreaking Asian comedy series from 1998 begins a repeat run on Gold, with Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nina Wadia and Kulvinder Ghir. Gold, 9.40pm

Friday September 6

SCARBOROUGH: Jason Manford and Catherine Tyldesley star in this new comedy series from Benidorm creator Derren Litten. 'My intention was to write the first comedy soap,' he said. 'I'm not sure if I've done that, but like a soap I think we have enough going on to keep people's interest. Also, we have the hidden gem which is Scarborough; it really is the most beautiful fishing town and some of the aerial shots of the castle, the harbour and the town are absolutely breathtaking.' The plot of episode one has Manford's character Mike putting his marriage in jeopardy when he's caught drunkenly kissing another woman… A plot that's close to home? Stephanie Cole, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Steve Edge and Claire Sweeney also star. BBC One, 9.30pm

Published: 1 Sep 2019