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

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

Sunday December 29

TASKMASTER'S NEW YEAR TREAT:David James, Hannah Fry, Martin Lewis, Melanie Blatt and Sue Johnston are the contestants trying to win Greg Davies' coveted golden eyebrows through tasks set by Little Alex Horne. Channel 4, 9pm

Monday December 30

CUNK ON LIFE: Uniquely useless documentary maker Philomena Cunk returns with her most ambitious quest to date, a 70-minute film seeking meaning in life. Along the way, she interrogates remarkably patient experts on subjects from the Big Bang to biology and art to artificial intelligence.  Charlie Brooker masterminds the mockumentary, which starsng Diane Morgan. Read an in-character interview here BBC Two, 9pm.

TOMMY COOPER: THE LOST TAPES: This new tribute programme includes footage of the comedy icon never before seen on British TV, including his guest appearance on The David Frost Show in New York in 1969 and his tour-de-force performance on an American television special in 1967. There's also a raft of performances unseen since their original one-off transmission decades ago. The programme includes testimony and memories from those who worked with or knew Cooper, as well as celebrity fans. Channel 5, 9pm

RICHARD OSMAN'S HOUSE OF GAMES: This week comedians Desiree Burch and Jon Richardson go up against choirmaster Gareth Malone, and Corrie actress for Richard Osman's Festive House of Games. BBC Two, 7pm

RHOD GILBERT’S GROWING PAINS: In a New Year special, Jon Richardson gives us a tour of his teenage bedroom, Vicky Pattison performs her favourite 90s dance routines and Loyiso Gola reveals his past as an unsuccessful rapper. Comedy Central, 9pm

JOHN & LOULIE’S NEW YEAR’S EVE EVE STREAM-A-DOODLE-DANDY: John Robins is back streaming his annual NYEE party, this time with Lou Sanders as co-host. From 8pm. Buy £8 tickets here.

Tuesday December 31

THE LAST LEG OF THE YEAR: Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker send off 2024 with guests including Chris McCausland, Sandi Toksvig, Guz Khan, AJ Odudu and Josh Pugh. Channel 4, 9pm

AHIR SHAH: SEVEN BLUNDERS OF THE WORLD: In this new three-part series the comedian examines what Mahatma Gandhi called the ‘Seven Social Sins’. BBC Radio 4, 6.30pm.

MICHELLE BUTEAU: A BUTEAU-FUL MIND: The comedian's stand-up special, recorded at Radio City Music Hall in New York, comes to Netflix. She is the first female comic to record a special there, and in it, she reflects on motherhood, marriage and more.

Wednesday January 1

MRS BROWN'S BOYS: You know what to expect by now BBC One, 10.30pm

Thursday January 2

BIG FAT QUIZ OF EVERYTHING 2025: Who were Henry VIII's Grooms of the Stool? What did the very first meme say? And what do Cilla Black, Pete Tong and Nelson Mandela have in common? Jimmy Carr will be putting questions like this to Harry Hill, David Mitchell, Roisin Conaty, Sophie Willan, Josh Pugh and Fatiha El-Ghorri. Channel 4, 9pm

Friday January 3

UNCANNY LIVE WITH REECE ​SHEARSMITH: The horror aficionado and co-creator of Inside Number 9 joins Danny Robins to discuss some brand-new listener cases of the subernatural, recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall at the UncannyCon festival. BBC Radio 4, 11pm

BEST OF THE NEWS QUIZ:Andy Zaltzman is back with the best of the jokes about the worst of the news with Smith, Lucy Porter, Geoff Norcott, Alasdair Beckett-King, Mark Steel, Ria Lina, Simon Evans and Zoe Lyons and others. BBC Radio 4, 6.30pm

Saturday January 4

WHAT? SERIOUSLY??: Dara Ó Briain and Isy Suttie unearth stories that are definitely true, but also kind of unbelievable at the same time. The twist is that the comedians have absolutely no idea how these tales will unfold and will be drip-fed the nuggets of narrative by a special guest expert. BBC Radio 4, 11pm

Published: 29 Dec 2024