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

The week’s comedy on TV and radio.

Tuesday February 27

DIVORCE: Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church return for the second season of Sharon Horgan’s finely-observed US comedy about the end of a marriage. After finally splitting, Frances and Robert now begin their new single lives, dealing with the aftermath of their drawn-out separation, and making tentative steps back into the dating game. Sky Atlantic, 10.10pm

HEAVEN’S ABOVE:  Peter Sellers is reunited with the Boulting Brothers, with whom he made the classic I’m Alright Jack, in this 1963 satire. In it, he plays a naive but caring prison chaplain who is assigned to a wealthy parish where he finds the locals’ assertions of Christian charity at odds with their selfish deeds. Talking Pictures TV, 6.25pm

Wednesday February 28

THE Chris Ramsey SHOW: The comic starts a second series of his Comedy Central show, and this time it’s all change as it morphs into the channel’s first topical chat show, with guests games and clips. Those scheduled to appear over the series include comics Iain Stirling and Desiree Burch, Murder In Successville creator Tom Davis and rapper Example. Comedy Central, 10pm

BENIDORM: ITV’s long-running comedy returns for its tenth series with a lot of familiar faces, plus  double act Hale & Pace joining as undercover detectives investigating Tim Healy’s character Les/Lesley, who returns to the series full-time after the actor’s health scare. Also back is Shane Richie, reprising his role as lively entertainer Sammy Valentino for four episodes, while Only Fools And Horses star John Challis becomes a series regular with his character Monty Staines. Other guest stars across series ten will include The Chuckle Brothers, Nigel Havers, Mark Heap, Bobby Ball, Claire Sweeney, Layton Williams, Carol Decker, Tony Hadley and Holly Johnson. ITV, 10pm

Thursday March 1

JOSH: Despite a fine cast, Mr Widdicombe’s sitcom was generally slated by critics for being uninspired and formulaic. Still, the makers must have been doing something right as the show, which co-stars Elis James, Beattie Edmondson and Jack Dee, has run for three series on BBC Three, and has now been given a second lease of life on Dave, which kicks off this repeat run with a double-bill. 10pm

Friday March 2

SOFT BORDER PATROL: This couldn’t be more timely, as the issue of the Irish border looks like an increasingly intractable problem in the Brexit negotiations. This three-part mockumentary set in the frighteningly near future revolves around the team set up to oversee the new border, but with no power to enforce it.  Comic Neil Delamere appears as an officer monitoring the CCTV footage, while the Alan Irwin, Diona Doherty and Patrick Buchanan play troops on patrol. BBC One Northern Ireland, 10.35pm, then iPlayer

THE NOW SHOW: Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis return for the 52nd series with guests Pippa Evans and Phil Wang. Radio 4, 6.30pm

Saturday March 3

DON’T PANIC! IT’S THE DOUGLAS ADAMS PAPERS QI and Blackadder producer John Lloyd unearths the private papers of his friend and colleague Douglas Adams, and discovers more about the agonies he went through to write The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, 40 years ago. Other contributors to the programmes include the original producer and now novelist Simon Brett,and original cast members Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Mark Wing-Davey. Radio 4, 8pm

Published: 25 Feb 2018