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 October 3

THE RANGANATION: Romesh Ranganathan’s topical comedy show returns, with the comedian joined virtually by his focus group, and in the studio by celebrity guests. Ranganathan talks about the show’s return here. BBC Two, 9pm

SORRY I DIDN’T KNOW: Jimmy Akingbola presents the first in a new series of his comedy panel show with a focus on black history. Russell Kane, Dane Baptiste, Reginald D Hunter and Fatiha El-Ghorri join team leaders Chizzy Akudolu and Judi Love in this episode. ITV, 10.20pm

Monday October 4

BRITISH AS FOLK:  Darren Harriott, Fern Brady and Ivo Graham travel north of the border to ask Do The Scots Really Hate The English? Dave, 10pm

MIRACLE WORKERS: Season three of the comedy anthology series starring Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi follows the pioneers of the American West circa 1844. Reverend Ezekiel Brown (Radcliffe) leads his dying, famine-stricken town to head for a better life on the Oregon Trail, taking in notorious outlaw Benny the Teen (Buscemi) as trailmaster. Sky Comedy, 9pm

RICHARD OSMAN’S HOUSE OF GAMES: Comedians Jo Brand, Sanjeev Kohli and Tiff Stevenson take on Olympian Roger Black in this week’s series of mental diversions.  BBC Two, 6pm

Wednesday October 6

BRASSIC: Sky’s biggest original comedy returns, picking up the story of the ne’er-do-wells as Vinnie is  released from prison. Star and co-creator Joe Gilgun talks about the return here. Sky Max, 10pm 

SOUNDBLEED: This new four-part comedy series from  sketch group Tarot -  Kath Hughes, Ed Easton, Adam Drake, Ben Rowse and Kiri Pritchard-McLean. - boasts an inventive  sound design intended to create ‘the sense you are exploring an immersive world of outsiders, misfits and the people you don’t want to sit next to on a Megabus’ Radio 4, 11.15pm

WHAT’S SO FUNNY ABOUT SMACK THE PONY:?: Sally Phillips and  Victoria Pile talk to TV veterans Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman about their cult Channel 4 sketch show Radio 4, 11.30am. And an extended hour-long version of their conversation airs on Radio 4 Extra at 10.30pm tomorrow.

WATER: Michael Caine, Valerie Perrine, Leonard Rossiter and Billy Connolly star in this 1985 comedy, directed by Dick Clement. It’s a farce about a British diplomat to a West Indian island nation who finds his idyllic existence thrown into chaos when a large American drilling company finds a huge source of natural mineral water there. Talking Pictures TV, 9.05pm.

Thursday October 7

THE EMILY ATACK SHOW: The 2018 I’m A Celebrity… runner-up returns for a second series of her own sketch, stand-up and impressions show. ITV2, 10pm 

THE ATTENDANT: A radio version of the 2017 short comedy film about a hapless and hopeless romantic who has worked the graveyard shift of an isolated petrol station longer than he cares to remember. This version stars Will Merrick, Patricia Allison and Kenneth Collard. Radio 4, 2.15pm.

OFF CAMERA: CHRIS O’DOWD: The  IT Crowd and  Bridesmaids star talks to Sam Jones about how he discovered he was into the ‘drama weirdos,’ why tragedy is an essential element of comedy, and the proper way to speak pirate (Hint: It’s not ‘Oo-argh!’) Sky Arts, 10pm

UNION JACK RADIO COMEDY CLUB: A new stand-up series recorded at comedy clubs across the nation kicks off with Paul McCaffrey, Nina Gilligan and Aaron Simmonds. Union Jack Radio, 10pm  

Friday October 8

 HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU: Stephen Mangan hosts and Ross Noble is the guest panelist as the topical show returns for its 62nd series. BBC One, 9pm  

INSIDE NO 9: Series five of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s darkly twisted tales arrives on Gold, starting with The Referee’s a W**nker, set in the dressing room of a crucial football match. Gold, 10.40pm

Published: 3 Oct 2021