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

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

Monday September 11

UPSTART CROW: A new series of the Shakespearean sitcom returns, starring David Mitchell as the bard. In the first episode, The Green Eyed Monster, an African Prince, Otello (Steve Toussaint), is in town and Will, always looking for a social climb, decides that befriending him is the perfect opportunity to make his way into smarter circles. Written by Ben Elton, the show’s returning, starry cast includes Harry Enfield, Liza Tarbuck, Mark Heap, Paula Wilcox and Spencer Jones. BBC Two, 8.30pm

Tuesday September 12

THE NAKED TRUTH: Vintage channel Talking Pictures TV is airing this 1957 Ealing-style comedy (though it was actually released by Rank) about a tabloid magazine publisher, played by Dennis Price, who blackmails victims under the threat of revealing their secrets in his publication. His latest targets Lord Henry Mayley (Terry-Thomas), television host Sonny MacGregor (Peter Sellers), writer Flora Ransom (Peggy Mount), and model Melissa Right (Shirley Eaton) then join forces to plot to bump him off. 6pm

Wednesday September 13

THE OTHER ONE: As BBC One’s Comedy Playhouse comes to an end on Friday, BBC Two’s series of pilots gets under way. The first, The Other One is about the two daughters of an unfaithful father who only find out about each other’s existence after he dies. Written by Holly Walsh, the show stars Siobhan Finneran, Rebecca Front, Ellie White, Lauren Socha and Amit Shah. BBC Two, 10pm

TASKMASTER: The fifth series begins with Aisling Bea, Bob Mortimer, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar and Sally Phillips taking on the challenges. Dave , 9pm

TIM VINE CHAT SHOW: There’s a new series for the show in which Vine grills members of his studio audience. In this episode, he finds a man with an interesting technique for warding off foxes and an office worker who was inadvertently responsible for half of Welwyn Garden City being closed to the public. There's also a song about allergies Radio 4, 6.30pm.

Thursday September 14

JOHN BISHOP: IN CONVERSATION WITH… The third series of the comic’s talk show kicks off with David Walliams. And in future episodes, he talks to John Cleese, Jimmy Carr, Dame Joan Collins, Craig Charles, Katie Price and others. W, 9pm

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: The James Corden fronted sports quiz returns to Sky 1 with the same old team, including Jack Whitehall. Stephen Mangan and the increasingly ubiquitous Rob Beckett are playing along, too.

NEWSJACK: The topical sketch show returns for its 17th series, with Angela Barnes continuing as host and an open-access policy that means anyone can send in jokes and sketches. Radio 4 Extra, 10.30pm

Friday September 15

STATIC: The BBC are clearly banking on Rob Beckett. Not only is he soon to be the star of shiny-floor Saturday night TV, he also stars in this sitcom pilot, which he also wrote with Shaun Pye. In it, he plays a twenty-something Londoner called Rob - no stretch there - who winds up living with his parents (played by Alison Steadman and Phil Davis) in a static caravan park in Margate. BBC One, 10.35pm.

SOUTH PARK: Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s South Park returns for its 21st ‘breathtakingly irreverent’ series. Comedy Central, 10pm

Published: 10 Sep 2017