
Off Menu and off grid: James Acaster and Ed Gamble are Hunted
The best of the week's comedy on TV, radio and on demand
Our pick of the comedy on TV, radio and on demand this week:
Sunday March 26
WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS ROADS: The series continues with Darren Harriot and Ria Lina in South Africa.Dave, 8pm
THE GREAT CELEBRITY BAKE OFF FOR STAND UP TO CANCER: Tim Key, Jessica Hynes, presenter AJ Odudu and reality star Gemma Collins make sandwich cakes,a classic tart and something that relives their earliest childhood memories in choux. The comedians talk about their involvement here.Channel 4, 7.40pm
THE LARKINS: The sitcom, which originally ran from 1958 to 1964, is back on TV for the first time in more than 50 years. It stars Peggy Mount as Ada, the tough matriarch of a family in the East End of London and David Kossoff played her henpecked husband. The definitive Radio Times Guide To TV Comedy says of the show: ‘Acclaimed at the time, with justification, as the funniest sitcom British TV had produced, The Larkins was a joyful celebration of a cockney lifestyle unchanged for decades and seemingly unaffected by the poverty of the area.' Talking Pictures TV, 2.30pm
Monday March 27
THE CLEANER: Hot on the heels of series two launching on BBC One last week, the first six episodes of the comedy about Greg Davies' crime scene cleaner Wicksy are being stripped across Gold's schedules, with a double-bill at 9pm tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday. Gold, 9pm
Tuesday March 28
CELEBRITY HUNTED: In the first episode of the new series James Acaster (newly announced as joining the Ghostbusters cast) and Ed Gamble,go on the run while an elite team of hunters tries to track them down. Although few real fugitives stop to indulge in a six-course tasting menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant. How will they fare against their rivals: Strictly dancer Katya Jones and snowboarding Olympian Aimee Fuller, actors Nicola Thorp and Nikesh Patel, mathematician Bobby Seagull and social media star Saffron Barker, and TV therapists Nik and Eva Speakman? Channel 4, 9pm
MAE MARTIN: SAP: The Canadian's first hour-long Netflix special features subjects as diverse as going to rehab as a teenager and the gender spectrum in Beauty And The Beast as the comic talks about the battle between the desire to be our best selves versus the urge to gleefully give in to our more base instincts. Here's the trailer:
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: The new panel show created by blind comedian Chris McCausland and 'based on living in an audio only world'' starts a full run after a successful pilot last year. In each episode, a panel of comedians including Lee Mack, Alan Davies and Andy Parsons are asked to 'decipher brainteaser sound cues for points and pride while trying not to muck about too much along the way’. In episode one, Rhys James and Donna Preston take on Alasdair Beckett-King and Ria Lina. Radio 4, 6.30pm
ALAN DAVIES AS YET UNTITLED: Joining Alan around the table are Stephen Mangan, Isy Suttie, Jordan Gray and Seann Walsh . Dave, 10pm
Wednesday March 29
ELLIE TAYLOR'S SAFE SPACE: The comedian's stand-up show returns for a third series, starting with an episode about the Internet, and featuring Oobah Butler who created a fake restaurant that became top rated on Trip Advisor. Radio 4, 6.30pm
JESSICA FOSTEKEW - STURDY GIRL CLUB: The stand-up explores women and physical strength, with four-time Britain’s Strongest Woman champion Andrea Thompson. And we hear about the time when Fostekew, who is into weightlifting, pulled a bus. Radio 4, 11pm
Thursday March 30
TASKMASTER: The 15th series kicks off with an episode called The Curse of Politeness. introducing new contestants Frankie Boyle, Ivo Graham, Jenny Eclair, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Mae Martin. In the opener, Alex Horne unveils the new snack that's set to take the convenience food world by storm, Eclair dances around a giant golden pineapple in a wedding dress, and Boyle discovers why cats love balls of string so much… Start here for interviews will all the contestants, Horne and Taskmaster Greg Davies. Channel 4, 9pm
BILLY CONNOLLY DOES… Glasgow’s favourite son returns with three more episodes of shaggy-dog tales interspersed with 50 years’ worth of vintage stand-up and personal recollections. In the first episode, Billy tackles Heroes and Villains including legendary Scotland football manager Jock Stein. Gold, 9pm
Friday March 31
LATE NIGHT LYCETT: Comedian, presenter and scourge of big business Joe Lycett presents a new late-night comedy entertainment series live from his hometown of Birmingham. Every Friday, he will celebrate the week gone by, rope his guests into games and sketches, and offer audience members the chance to win some of his possessions. Channel 4, 10pm
WOULD I LIE TO YOU?: Tonight's guests are Tom Allen, Sarah Greene, Ugo Monye and Morgana Robinson.BBC One, 9pm
THE CLEANER: Greg Davies' Wicky is called to a theatre where a male strip show has got out of hand, resulting in a 40-woman brawl. Simon Callow guest stars BBC One, 9.30pm ABILITY: The sitcom written by and starring Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley returns for a fourth series. In this opener, his character Matt has been with his girlfriend for six month and is worried she has slipped into the role of carer. BBC Radio 4, 11.30am
THE NOW SHOW: With guests Daliso Chaponda,Olga Koch and Beardyman BBC Radio 4, 6.30pm
Saturday April 1:
VARIOUS:In what can only be described as a monumental failure of creativity and ambition BBC One runs four celebrity-led game shows back to back. At 5..45pm Suzi Ruffell is one of the contestants in Celebrity Mastermind, at 6.15pm there's Celebrity Bridge Of Lies; at 7pm the Blanket Blank panel includes Jimmy Carr and Johnny Vegas and at 7.35pm Kerry Godliman and Toussaint Douglas are in Pointless Celebrities. Meanwhile, ITV has celebrity versions of The Chase and Catchphrase.
Published: 26 Mar 2023