The week's best comedy on TV and radio

The week's best comedy on TV and radio.

Monday October 5

STAND UP FOR LIVE COMEDY:Paddy Raff introduces Rachel Fairburn, Mary O'Connell and Shane Todd on an outdoor stage in Belfast. BBC One, 10.45pm. Except Northern Ireland, ironically, where it’s half an hour later.

MO OMAR: BECOMING WELSH The comedian explores all the ways in which he has become Welsh since moving from Somalia to Cardiff as a child. In this stand-up show BBC Radio Wales, 6.30pm

PEN15: More cringeworthy comedy as Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle reprise their roles as their adolescent selves in a second series of the US comedy produced by Lonely Island. Sky Comedy, 10pm

Tuesday October 6

BOSWELL & JOHNSON’S SCOTTISH ROAD TRIP WITH Frank Skinner & DENISE MINA: The title pretty much says it all. The comedian and the Scottish novelist retrace the 1773 steps of writer Samuel Johnson and his future biographer from Edinburgh through to the Highlands and Hebrides. Armed with the two accounts of the journey – one written by Johnson, the other by Boswell – the pair will cover the same landscapes to discover what has changed and what has stayed the same. Sky Arts, 9pm

ROB NEWMAN’S HALF FULL PHILOSOPHY: The outspoken comic takes on a new topic in this four-part series, starting with a discussion of why James Bond is inspired by Nietzsche, and why horny wood wasps might take issue with Einstein. Radio 4, 6.30pm.

SORRY I DIDN’T KNOW: ITV marks Black History Month with this comedy panel show in which host Jimmy Akingbola quizzes Tom Allen, Angie Le Mar, Colin Salmon and Paul Chowdhry - as well as captains Chizzy Akudolu and Judi Love - about what they know about the subject. ITV, 10.45pm

Wednesday October 7

URBAN MYTHS: The series imagining what happened in real, and possibly real, incidents returns to Sky Arts - which is now available on Freeview. This opener is written by Steve Pemberton , who appears alongside John Bradley and Mark Addy, as it tells of Les Dawson’s pre-fame adventures in Paris in the mid-1950s. Inspired by his heroes, the writers Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, a young Dawson (Bradley) crosses the Channel to pursue his dream of becoming a serious novelist. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out as he planned, and he ended up becoming a pianist in a brothel. Dawson himself embroidered the story mightily, now the Inside No 9 co-creator has free rein to do the same... Sky Arts, 10pm

Thursday October 8

COMEDY LEGENDS: Barry Cryer returns for a third series of this show examining the careers of some of his comedy icons. Opening this series is Charlie Chaplin. Sky Arts, 9pm

Friday October 9

BETWEEN THE COVERS: Phil Wang, Tom Allen, Sara Pascoe and singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor join host Sara Cox for this new series about the joy of books. BBC Two, 7.30pm

Saturday October 10

JONATHAN ROSS’ COMEDY CLUB: Jonathan and co-host Mawaan Rizwan welcome Aurie Styla, Fern Brady, Babatunde Aleshe and Russell Kane. ITV, 10.10pm

NICHOLAS PARSONS: A MAN OF MANY PARTS: A night dedicated to the Just A Minute host starts with this new tribute featuring those who knew and worked with the archetypal straightman, including Paul Merton, John Antrobus, Gyles Brandreth and Adrian Edmondson. Some classic Parsons shows from the archives fill the rest of the evening’s schedules Radio 4, 7pm

Published: 4 Oct 2020