Motherland and Inside No 9 return | The week's best comedy on TV and radio © BBC/Merman

Motherland and Inside No 9 return

The week's best comedy on TV and radio

The week’s best new comedy on TV and radio... 

Monday May 10

MOTHERLAND: The close-to-home parenting comedy returns for a third series. As a nit pandemic sweeps the school, Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) finds herself accused of triggering a second wave - so decides to host a treatment party in her home to get back into the good books of her fellow patients.  Philippa Dunne, Tanya Moodie, Paul Ready, Lucy Punch and Diane Morgan all return, too.  BBC Two, 9pm

INSIDE NO 9: Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith star in a new season of their dark comedy dramas, starting  with Wuthering Heists, a mashup of heist movie and commedia dell’arte - though it doesn’t really matter if you don’t know what that is. Pantalone has an audacious plan to steal a consignment of diamonds - but he’s hired a complete bunch of double-crossing clowns to do it. The guest cast features Kevin Bishop, Paterson Joseph and Gemma Whelan.BBC Two, 9.30pm  

Tuesday May 11

ALEX EDELMAN’S PEER GROUP: The comedian is back to address a new series of sometimes contentious issues, beginning by asking why Jews, like him,  are still so problematic for so many, and talks about how antisemitism has crept into the mainstream, often unchecked. Radio 4, 6.30pm  

Thursday May 13

MOCK THE WEEK:Dara O’Briain and Hugh Dennis return for a 20th series with guests Maisie Adam, Angela Barnes, Eshaan Akbar, Rhys James and, making his debut, Alasdair Beckett-KingBBC Two, 10pm  

MAE MARTIN’S GUIDE TO 21st CENTURY ADDICTION: A rerun for the comedian’s 2017 series, drawing on her own experiences from a lifetime of obsessive behaviour and addiction. Radio 4 Extra, 7am (and BBC Sounds if you don’t get up that early!)

Friday May 14

HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU: Romesh Ranganathan presents with Jo Brand among the panellists. BBC One, 9pm  

TOM ALLEN'S QUIZNESS: The comedian hosts a new comedy quiz in which the contestants will ‘need to prove their brains by looking daft’. Channel 4, 8pm  

Saturday May 15

CELEBRITY POINTLESS: Quite a few comics try to display their obscure knowledge in this special episode, with Lou Sanders, Jayde Adams, Lucy Porter and Dave Johns  among those facing the questions of Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman. BBC One, 8.35pm

THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW: James Acaster is among the guests. ITV, 9.35pm

MURDER, THEY HOPE: Paul Whitehouse guest stars in this episode as Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson’s detectives investigate a string of bakery poisonings. Gold, 9pm

Whitehouse on Murder they Hope

Published: 9 May 2021

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