The week's best comedy on demand

This week's best comedy shows on demand.

Parkinson: The Interviews

Kenneth Williams was in his element on chat shows, holding court as he deployed his impressive arsenal of exaggerated comic voices to bring his anecdotes to life.

This compilation contains clips from five of his eight appearances on Parkinson, sometimes getting quite series as he vents his dislike of theatre critics or trade unions. But there's levity, too, including his classic rendition of My Crepes Suzette. He appears alongside the likes of John Betjeman, Tom Lehrer, Frank Muir, and Maggie Smith – all little more than passive witnesses to Williams's grandstanding.

This posthumous compilation was first aired in August 1995, but has now been put up on iPlayer. Watch here

Sitcom Geeks

The podcast for anoraks of the genre reaches its 50th episode, with a live special taped at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain event, Situation Critical?, last month. In it sitcom writers Marks and Gran and BBC Radio comedy executive Julia McKenzie discussed the future of the genre, with James Cary, the podcast's usual host and co-creator of Bluestone 42, among others, in the chair.

Chortle reported on the event at the time here, but now you can hear the discussion for yourself below:

John Finnemore's Double Acts

This returning series of two-handers hasn't been given much of a push by Radio 4… something of a surprise given that the first series won a Writers Guild of Great Britain Award earlier this year.

The opening episode of series two reunited Finnemore – who introduces the dialogues Hitchcock-style – with Stephanie Cole, who starred in his hit radio sitcom Cabin pressure. She plays Queen Victoria, who is very much hoping to see a conjuror, but instead meets Mabel, played by Kerry Godliman. Listen here.

The second episode, featuring Julia McKenzie and Gus Brown, is here, and the third, with Kieran Hogdson and Ethn Lawrence is on Wednesday at 6.30pm.

Published: 10 Jun 2017