The week's best comedy on TV and radio

Here’s our pick of the week’s best comedy programmes on TV, radio and on-demand:

Sunday July 4

YESTERDAY: Terrestrial premier for Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis’s comedy about a struggling musician (Himesh Patel) who wakes up after an accident to discover he’s the only person who remembers The Beatles. BBC One, 8.15pm

Monday July 5

WELLINGTON PARANORMAL: The horror-comedy spin-off from vampire sitcom What We Do in the Shadows hits its third and final series. In tonight’s episode Minogue and O'Leary are called out to a mysterious home invasion with no visible signs of entry... and manage to arrest an invisible entity. Sky Comedy, 9pm

THE ESSAY: Every night until Friday, Adrian Edmondson reflects on moments of personal and social change. Not quite ready to commit to memoirs, he nevertheless says, ‘there is an autobiographical urge somewhere inside me’ that may be sated by these essays. In the first, he recalls being unhappy at boarding school in England with his family far away in Africa. He remembers his first dance at the school disco and the moment that signalled the end of his childhood. On subsequent nights he mulls his long love affair with cigarettes, the early days of The Comic Strip, his struggles to obey rules and his attempts to change his name. BBC Three, 10.45pm

Tuesday July 6

I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE WITH TIM ROBINSON: The cult, offbeat sketch show returns for a second series. Netflix

CUNK ON BRITAIN: Diane Morgan investigates the origins of the universe and British politics as the series gets a repeat airing. BBC Two, 10pm

BLACK-ISH: The sixth series of the sitcom following Dre Johnson’s determination to establish a sense of cultural identity for his family in a white neighbourhood comes to E4. Further double episodes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 4pm. E4, 4.30pm

Wednesday July 7

PLEASE HELP: Lucy Pearman writes and stars in this one-off, dropping on BBC Three today, about a normal girl, trapped in a mundane and claustrophobic life as her grandmother’s only carer and who starts to develop mysterious and unexplainable powers. The episode also stars Anna Calder-Marshall, Harry Peacock, David Mumeni and Edward Bluemel. BBC Three, from 6am

MICHAEL PALIN’S MEMORY PALACE: An odyssey set inside the strange and wonderful mind of Terry Gilliam, wherein reside memories of his films, the Monty Python foot and what it is like to have your obituary published in Variety magazine before you're dead… Radio 4, 11.30am

Thursday July 8

ROB & ROMESH VS TEAM GB: Messrs Beckett and Ranganathan return to try their hand at more things they are poorly qualified for. This time around, they join Olympians to try canoe slalom, weightlifting and hockey. Sky One, 9pm

OLGA KOCH: OK COMPUTER: In the first episode of this four-part series, the comedian - who has a degree in computer science - explores nationality, beauty, health and privacy with her trusty virtual assistant Algo.Radio 4, 6.30pm

MICHAEL SPICER: BEFORE NEXT DOOR: This semi-autobiographical sitcom, about what happens when a part-time comedian suddenly becomes a global internet hit, was commissioned following a successful pilot last year. It picks up with Michael desperately hoping to quit his day job as a copywriter for a kitchen worktop company to follow a career in comedy, as his wife tries to push her anxiety-ridden husband forward. With Ellie Taylor, Joanna Neary, Peter Curran, Kiell Bynoe-Smith and Greig Johnson. Review of the pilot episode. Radio 4, 11pm

MUSIC ON HOLD: Comedian Isy Suttie embarks on a mission to help the world by composing the ultimate on-hold music in this repeat of a 2014 Radio 4 show, being broadcast on Radio 4 Extra for the first time. Radio 4 Extra, 2.30pm

Friday July 9

THE OFFICE: Twenty years ago today, the first episode of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s sitcom aired on BBC Two. To mark the anniversary, Gold repeats the groundbreaking comedy from the beginning. Gold, 10pm

Published: 4 Jul 2021