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

Our pick of the comedy on TV, radio and streaming this week…:

Sunday September 1

HATE THY NEIGHBOUR: The second series of Jamali Maddix's documentary show, in which the stand-up meets controversial groups across the world, comes to U&Dave, having originally been made for Vice. In this episode the comedian spends time with hate preacher Ruben Israel and his fundamentalist disciples as they attempt to disrupt the New Orleans Southern Decadence festival. U&Dave, 11.40pm

Monday September 2

IN MY OWN WORDS: Billy Connolly: After many programmes celebrating his stand-up career, this documentary, described as an 'astonishingly intimate self portrait' features the comedian looing back on his triumphs and shortcomings as an entertainer, husband and father. He talks about the failure of his first marriage, his kinship with Robin Williams, the pressure he put on himself to rise to the challenge of working alongside Dame Judi Dench and his abiding love of Pamela Stephenson, his wife of 35 years. The BBC calls it a 'delightful meditation on the joys of growing older and wiser'. BBC One, 10.40pm

THE CLEANER: Greg Davies's series, in which he plays professional crime-scene cleaner Wicksy comes to U&Gold, with the episodes stripped across the working week at the same time. U&Gold,10.20pm

Tuesday September 3

COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS: The accalimed Australian romcom created by and starring real-life couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall returns. It revolves around two single(ish), complex humans who are brought together by a car accident and an injured dog. As this run starts, Ash and Gordon have moved in together but there’s a big, Colin-shaped hole in their hearts as they try to get their beloved, special needs dog back from his new owners, and work out whether they want a relationship, or if they just wanted a dog. New cast members for series two include Celeste Barber, Virginia Gay and Aunty Donna's Broden Kelly. BBC Two, 10pm.

PHIL WANG: WANG IN THERE, BABY! The comic's second Netflix stand-up special was recorded in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe, which is London’s only candlelit theatre, in April. It covers being British, being Asian, octopuses, America, and the trappings of minor fame. Wang toured Wang In There, Baby! over two years, performing in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as 64 dates in the UK before this taping.

Wednesday September 4

ROB & ROMESH VS HEAVY METAL: The normally mellow comedians head to Download Festival to perform in front of 4,000 die-hard metal fans with the aid of Scottish band Bleed From Within. Sky Max, 9pm

FLOWERS: Both series of this dark, poetic comedy written by White Lotus's Will Sharpe and starring Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt lands on streaming service U today.‌

Friday September 6

FUNNY WOMAN: Sky's comedy-drama set in the world of light entertainment returns. We start with Sophie (Gemma Arterton) on a high as the nation’s favourite TV comedy star, with a group of good friends and a promising romance under way. New stars joining this series include Roisin Conaty playing Greta, a young folk singer with dismal self-penned songs – but as she's self-deprecating, rude and funny banter between the tracks, Sophie signs her up to appear in her sitcom. Meanwhile, Tim Key plays a divorce solicitor who's 'slightly dishevelled with a permanently hopeful, slightly baffled smile' who 'appears to be slightly out of his depth, easily embarrassed, with a propensity to say the wrong thing'. Sounds about right. Sky Max, 9pm

ROB BECKETT’S BIG HOLLYOAKS CATCH UP: The comic guides viewers through what is happened on the soap as production is affected by budget cuts. As well as reducing the number of weekly episodes from five to three, producers have culled more than 20 cast members. To explain such an exodus, the timeline is jumping forward a year, during which time several families will have moved out of the village, as Beckett explains here. E4, 8pm

Published: 1 Sep 2024