Five new stand-up shows... and the rest of the week's best TV and radio comedy

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

Sunday December 8

ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY: Peak Will Ferrell as the classic film comedy gets another airing. E4, 9pm

Monday December 9

CHANCERS: Belfast comics Shane Todd and Ciarán Bartlett lead a cast of Northern Ireland’s leading up-and-coming comedians in this one-off sketch-show. Also taking part are Diona Doherty, James McKegney, William Thompson, Aaron Butler, Micky Bartlett, Chloe Bartlett, Tommy McCarthy, Sean McAleavy, Ciaran Franco, Heather Anderson, Talal Jomar and Freya Holmes. BBC Northern Ireland, 10.40pm

I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T A CLUE: Yet another series for Radio 4's ‘antidote to panel games’ kicks off with Lee Mack, Miles Jupp, Tony Hawks and Caroline Quentin failing to impress Jack Dee. BBC Radio 4, 6.30pm

Tuesday December 10

JAMES ​ACASTER: HECKLERS WELCOME: The latest special from the comic – and Ghostbusters star! – explores Acaster’s ‘love/hate relationship with stand-up by relinquishing control of his set and accepting a healthy dose of audience interference’. It was recorded in the round at Royal & Derngate Theatre in Northampton, close to the comedian’s Kettering hometown, and aired on America's HBO channel last month. Sky Comedy, 9pm

JAMIE FOXX: WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS... The comic returns to the stage to finally talk about the health scare he suffered in April last year when he went to 'hell and back', prompting lots of wild rumours about what happened. He wasn't seen until last December, when he appeared at an award ceremony looking frail. This Netflix special should clear things up…

Thursday December 12

NO GOOD DEED: American sitcom legends Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano star in this jet-black eight-part Netflix comedy about a couple selling their LA mansion. As buyers compete for the deeds, the sellers struggle to keep the property's secrets to themself.

SCRUBS: The excellent early-2000s, hospital-based sitcom that made a star of Zach Bradd comes to ITVX in full.

Friday December 13

LARRY ​DEAN: FUDNUT: The Scottish comic today drops his last, Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated, stand-up show as a special on his YouTube channel for free.

Saturday December 14

VICTORIA ​WOOD: LOOSE CHIPPINGS: This week's Archive On 4 is a treat for Victoria Wood fans, with a wealth of previously unheard recordings. Footage includes her first ever-gig from 1973; a BBC staff training exercise the following year; and her composing Have You Met Miss Babs from the Acorn Antiques musical – complete with her doing her own percussion noises – in her own lounge. The hour hour-long documentary put together by the late comedian’s biographer Jasper Rees, who was given complete access to Wood’s enormous personal archive with the blessing of her management and family. Other archive material to feature in the show includes the comic appearing on a BBC Birmingham show called Mother Music's Muffin Stand and a secret audio diary recorded during the making of Dinnerladies. Radio 4, 8pm

MICHAEL ​MCINTYRE'S 25 YEARS OF STAND-UP SPECIAL: The comic’s latest live show, Macnificent, gets a primetime BBC One airing having been filmed at the London Palladium. BBC One, 8.35pm.

PAUL ​CHOWDHRY: FAMILY FRIENDLY COMEDIAN: Meanwhile, Sky airs the comic's latest stand-up show, as recorded at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre on Sunday October 20 for later broadcast. Chowdhry performed the show – about his bid to tone down his post-watershed comedy to become a beloved national treasure – from 2021 to 2023, culminating in a run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Sky Comedy, 9pm

• Edited 9/12: An earlier version of this story mentioned a release of Marcus ​Brigstocke: Absolute Shower on streaming platform NextUp, which has now been put back to the new year

Published: 8 Dec 2024