The week's best comedy on TV and radio

Here’s our pick of the best comedy programmes on TV, radio and on-demand this week:

Sunday December 12

GAVIN & STACEY: The excellent 2019 Christmas comeback special gets a well-earned seasonal repeat. Gold, 9pm

PRIVATE PASSIONS: John Cleese, looking back on his childhood in Weston-super-Mare and his comedy career while selecting his favourite classical music – and comedy clips from the archive, including favourite sketch from his own work: a two-hander with Rowan Atkinson on beekeeping Radio 3, midday.

Monday December 13

THE COCKFIELDS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: Joe Wilkinson and David Earle’s wonderfully relatable family sitcom returns for a Christmas special.  Wilkinson’s character Simon and fiancé Esther (Susannah Fielding) travel back to the Isle of Wight between Christmas and New Year to visit Simon's ever-doting mother (Sue Johnston), his controlling yet well-meaning stepfather (Gregor Fisher) and his celebrity-obsessed stepbrother (Ben Rufus Green). Gold, 10pm

DAVID BADDIEL: SOCIAL MEDIA, ANGER AND US: The comedian presents the latest of his serious documentaries - this time analysing the angry and hateful tweets he receives, interrogating his brain’s responses to these messages in an MRI scan, and going cold turkey for a fortnight to see if a life free of social media leads him to enlightenment. BBC Two, 9pm

RICHARD OSMAN’S HOUSE OF GAMES: It’s the second champions’ week with comedians Maisie Adam, Ivo Graham and Zoe Lyons squaring off - in the most sportsmanlike way - against radio presenter Dev Griffin. BBC Two, 6.30pm

Tuesday December 14

LIVE FROM ABERYSTWYTH PIER: Filmed in front of a live audience at Aberystwyth Comedy Festival, Kiri Pritchard-McLean introduces Priya Hall, Stuart Laws, Leila Navabi and Simon Munnery. BBC One Wales, 10:35pm

Wednesday December 15

LIVE AT THE APOLLO: Jen Brister introduces comedians Esther Manito and Adam Rowe to the famous Hammersmith stage. BBC Two, 10pm

COMEDIANS GIVING LECTURES: In the last in the series, Sara Pascoe introduces Geoff Nortcott’s lecture on ‘Gender, Class And Work’, Fern Brady on ‘What Brexit Means For Scotland’ and Tez Ilyas exploring ‘The Human/Animal Bond’. Dave, 9pm

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN CHRISTMAS PARTY: Romesh Ranganathan takes Freddie Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp to Centre Parcs for a winter break. Sky Max, 9pm

Thursday December 16

ONE NIGHT IN ALTON TOWERS: After letting three comedians run riot in toy store Hamleys last Christmas, Channel 4 begins a new series in which The Last Leg’s Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe spend the night in some of the UK's top attractions. In the first episode, they are joined by Roisin Conaty inside the country’s largest theme park. Channel 4, 9pm

I LITERALLY JUST TOLD YOU: Jimmy Carr presents a new game show with a twist. To win a cash prize of up to £25,000, four contestants must answer questions that have been written as the programme is being filmed. Testing the contestants' memory, these questions can be about anything that happens during the show, from a celebrity cameo to an off-the-cuff joke, or even something one of the contestants has shared about themselves. Channel 4, 10pm

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT CHRISTMAS MOVIES: Jennifer Saunders, Michael Sheen, Tom Allen and host Alan Carr are joined by James Acaster, Susan Wokoma and Thomas Brodie Sangster. Sky Max, 9pm

Friday December 17

NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: Daisy May Cooper, Noel Fielding, Jamali Maddix and question master Greg Davies are joined by Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Holly Johnson and People Just Do Nothing’s Asim Chaudhrey for a festive instalment. Sky Max, 9pm

Saturday December 18

PAUL O’GRADY’S SATURDAY NIGHT CHRISTMAS LINE UP: Comedy chat and games with Dame Joan Collins, Paddy McGuinness, Julian Clary and actress Sunetra Sarker. ITV. 9.30pm

THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW: Roisin Conaty is one of the guests, alongside Bradley Walsh, Andrew Garfield, Tom Hollander and Leona Lewis. ITV. 10.35pm

Published: 12 Dec 2021