The best TV and radio comedy of the week

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

Monday March 13

BARBARA NICE: Radio 2 repeats the pilot episode of this new sitcom, in which Janice Connolly’s alter-ego deals with tensions from the different ideas she and her husband Ken (John Henshaw) have about retirement. Ken's happy with a marathon session of Pointless, while Barbara wants to seize the opportunities the newfound freedom gives her. It’s a curtain-raiser for four new episodes to air tomorrow and Wednesday, and the same days next week. Radio 2, 10pm

PARENTAL GUIDANCE: Also  part of Radio 2’s comedy showcase season, this family sitcom stars Romesh Ranganathan and Sherlock’s Amanda Abbington as a couple who live in Crawley with their two children. Written by Max Davis, this pilot episode is based around a school reunion. Radio 2, 10.30pm

Tuesday March 14

THE MISSING HANCOCKS: Radio 4 begins another batch of the re-recorded episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour to replace the wiped originals. Tonight's episode, A Holiday in France, originally aired in 1955, when Tony Hancock plunged the show into chaos when he went AWOL, until Harry Secombe stepped into the breach at the last moment. In this remake, Secombe’s son Andy takes his father’s role, alongside the regular cast of Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Susy Kane. The plot has Secome and  Bill Kerr heading for a holiday in Southend, but getting on the wrong train and ending up in Paris. Radio 4, 6.30pm

INSIDE No 9: This week’s story,  Diddle Diddle Dumpling, revolves around the happy family of David (Reece Shearsmith), Louise (Keeley Hawes) and their daughter. But when David brings home a single black shoe he found in the street, it sparks a life-changing obsession. The episode also guest stars Mathew Baynton. BBC Two, 10pm

HARRY AND PAUL PRESENT: THE GENTLEMEN’S CLUB: This new mockumentary sketch show is set in Wibbles – London’s oldest member’s club, populated by Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse's elderly and eccentric new characters. It also stars Jim Broadbent, Amelia Bullmore, Tom Hollander and Jason Lewis. Radio 2, 10.30pm

Wednesday March 15

JUST GRAND:  Another of Radio 2’s comedy showcases, Just Grand is a family sitcom in which a working-class Northern couple become unwilling guardians to their estranged grandchildren – a pair of over-privileged and bewildered siblings from the Home Counties. Written by Phil Mealey and Daniel Peak, it stars Siobhan Finneran, Jason Watkins and Denise Welch. Radio 2, 10.30pm

Thursday March 16

JACK ROOKE: GOOD GRIEF: This Radio 4  adaptation of the comedian’s  Edinburgh debut looks at finding happiness after tragedy, inspired by his dad unexpectedly dying of cancer while Rooke was still a teenager. Radio 4, 11pm

Saturday March 18

THE REAL COMEDY CONTROLLERS: Over the next four weeks Radio 4 Extra hands over its regular archive morning to those who have previously been responsible for deciding which shows have made it to air.  Paul Jackson, Beryl Vertue, John Lloyd and Jimmy Mulville share their thoughts with a live studio audience, while introducing classic episodes Week one looks at war and post-war radio comedy, including episodes of  It's That Man Again, The Goon Show, The Navy Lark and Hancock's Half Hour. Radio 4 Extra, 9am

Published: 12 Mar 2017