The week's best comedy on TV and radio

The best of the week’s comedy on TV, radio and on demand…

Sunday January 1

ROMANTIC GETAWAY:  Romesh Ranganathan and Katherine Ryan play Allison and Deacon, a couple who are desperate for a baby, but they’ve run out of money to fund any more IVF treatment. So they decide to ‘borrow’ the £50,000 they need from their rich boss Alfie (Johnny Vegas), who  is illegally creaming off money from the company.  All of which kicks off a spiral into the criminal underworld of suburban Britain… Ranganathan wrote this ‘modern Bonnie and Clyde story’ with Benjamin Green, Sarah Morgan and Elaine Grace. Sky Comedy, 9pm

TASKMASTER NEW YEAR'S TREAT: Another one-off to kick off 20223, with Amelia Dimoldenberg, Carol Vorderman, Greg James, Sir Mo Farah and Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem) competing to impress the Taskmaster and win his eyebrows, in trophy form. Channel 4, 9pm

THE Victoria Wood SONGBOOK: Shobna Gulati – who played Anita in Dinnerladies and was seen in the Inside No 9 Christmas episode – celebrates the songwriting talent of the late comedian in this hour-long special. In 2013, Victoria explained that having some kind of musicality helped her when it came to her comedy, even the verbal kind, saying: 'Everything you write has to have a rhythm… it all comes back to music.'. This programme also features ome archive Radio 2 interviews with the comedian which haven’t been heard since their original broadcasts. Radio 2, 7pm

Monday January 2

RICHARD OSMAN'S HOUSE OF GAMES: Comedians Greg McHugh and Sukh Ojla take on master of the mundane Adrian Chiles, and Bingo Night Live presenter Jayne Sharp  as the general knowledge quiz returns to normal after its festive episodes. BBC Two, 6pm.

JAKE YAPP'S UNWINDING: A new live programme comes to Radio 4 Extra for weekday evenings in January as Jake Yapp and guests chat between classic comedy archives. Those joining him for his first week include Isy Suttie, Sunil Patel and Jessica Fostekew. Radio 4 Extra, 7pm

Friday January 6

AMANDA & ALAN'S ITALIAN JOB: In this new series real-life friends Alan Carr and Amanda Holden take on a project of a lifetime in the sun-kissed hills of rural Sicily. In a bid to breathe new life into forgotten towns, Italy is selling empty homes for €1, so Holden purchases two dilapidated apartments in picture perfect Salemi and convinces Carr to spend a summer renovating them, with the aim to create an Italian dream home. BBC One, 8.30pm

8 OUT OF 10 CATS DOES COUNTDOWN: Series 24 gets under way with host Jimmy Carr  and regulars Rachel Riley and Susie Dent. Channel 4, 9pm

Published: 1 Jan 2023