Alison Graham

As Rev returns for a second series, gentle, long-suffering vicar Adam Smallbone is on retreat, savouring moments of silent contemplation and spiritual solace. But the peace is broken with the arrival of boorish fellow cleric Roland Wise (Hugh Bonneville) who isn't getting into the spirit of the thing: brandishing a brace of DVD boxed sets he announces: "I've got The History of Christianity or The Killing!".

As Rev, which had a devoted following AND won a Bafta last year, could never be accused of shouting its presence, this is as loud as it gets as sweet Adam (wonderful Tom Hollander) quietly puzzles his way through life. And he has a lot of thinking to do when he is hailed a hero after foiling a bag snatch. Except he didn't. Cue some wise words from his bishop (a lovely guest appearance from An International Star).

You suspect Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and BBC2 are getting their defence in first with this "making of" doc, screened before the start on Thursday of their new comedy series, Life's Too Short, starring dwarf actor Warwick Davis.

Gervais insists they aren't making fun of small people, though the Davis character has "a small man complex". Celebrity guests doing Extras-type cameos - Johnny Depp, Liam Neeson and Helena Bonham Carter - tell us why they wanted to take part.

Now this sounds like a corking line-up for the Norton sofa: Johnny Depp, Ricky Gervais and stand-up comedian Ed Byrne. With music by Snow Patrol! The always courteous and charming Depp is in town to talk about his new film, The Rum Diary, based on a novel by gonzo novelist Hunter S Thompson about a freelance journalist having problems working on a local paper in 1950s Puerto Rico.

Gervais, meanwhile, who is currently in all kinds of trouble for being offensive and bad-mannered on Twitter (an unedifying spectacle) will doubtless be talking about his new BBC2 series, Life's Too Short, about a company of dwarves for hire. Snow Patrol sing their new single, This Isn't Everything You Are.

All the stars are out - Dev from Coronation Street, one of the Nolans, an actor who used to be in The Bill - and they're up and dancing as Manilow runs through those peerless greatest hits. Go on, scoff if you must, but Manilow has produced some belters: Mandy, I Write the Songs, Can't Smile without You and camp classic Copacabana.

If you can get through the cheesy links (he loves his British fans and he's got a new album out, of course) and put up with Strictly's Bruno Tonioli making it all about him, then this is an unbeatable way to end the week. All together now: "Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl..."

The great Barry Cryer, stalwart of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and one of the best comedy script-writers Britain has ever produced, takes his place on Lee Mack's team in the last episode of the series (next week's is a best-bits compilation).

He remains convincingly po-faced as he tells some incredible tales. Does he really hail a local bus by saying, "Hello, darling"? Did he ever write romantic novels under a female pseudonym?

Sue Perkins just about manages to get a word in edgeways, and Lorraine Kelly is a giggly good sport on David Mitchell's team with Dara O'Briain. But, as ever, it's Mitchell and Mack's banter that steals the show.

It's hard not to like this, and believe me I've tried. But Rafe Spall is great at the whimpering, socially inept halfwit whose every action is fodder for a couple of sports commentators.

Tonight, Pete's dad (the great Philip Jackson) fetches up at Pete's house, saying he's left Pete's mum. Nothing of what follows is subtle, but it has just enough charm to keep you watching. There are some good asides about rip-off local shops and their paranoid owners and an unkind dig at Mick Hucknall.

Talk to anyone in the know about this show and the word "most" crops up a lot. It's BBC3's most successful entertainment series. It's routinely one of the most watched shows on iPlayer. And he's the most-trended Twitter topic whenever his show airs.

If the phrase "most funniest" was actually grammatically correct, that could be inserted, too, because Good News is a treat; a sillier version of Have I Got News for You. And don't let the fact that Howard looks about 12 put you off; he's grown-up and very clever. The format is a tried and trusted one: Howard will take a look at the week's news to bring us the daftest stories.

Poor Kate Winslet, she always gets a right going-over for being a bit wiffly and weepy when she accepts awards. But give the girl a break, what's she supposed to do, say "Sod the lot of you, now where's the after-show party?"

Besides, doesn't everyone like seeing actors get a bit theatrically overwrought at these kinds of ceremonies? Anyway, Kate is a game girl so she probably won't mind if Graham Norton has some sport poking fun at her tonight when his fantastic chat show returns after its break.

Winslet will be on the couch talking about her new film Contagion, and she'll be sharing the spotlight with young Jamie Bell, who's come a long, long way from Billy Elliot to star as Tintin in Steven Spielberg's film of Herge's beloved boy adventurer. Rob Brydon also guests, while Noah and the Whale provide the music.

Radio Times review

You can guess where writer Tony Roche (The Thick of It, Fresh Meat) throws the TV Biographical Drama Rule Book, can't you? Yes, right through an open window, because Holy Flying Circus, about the furore of moral panic and hypocrisy that greeted the 1979 cinema release of Monty Python's Life of Brian, usurps every bio-pic trope and convention.

Thus Holy Flying Circus is littered with dream sequences and wanders off down some fantastical little byways (a bit too often, if truth be told) as we build up to the infamous ambush, on the live TV chat show Friday Night... Saturday Morning, of John Cleese and Michael Palin by an epically supercilious Bishop of Southwark and religious commentator Malcolm Muggeridge.

Roy Marsden is majestically effete and patronising as the bishop, Mervyn Stockwood, but the film belongs to Charles Edwards, who just IS Michael Palin, and Darren Boyd as John Cleese.

Oh, and Stephen Fry plays God. Of course. The whole thing is a mad mash-up of self-reference, cross-dressing, ribaldry and nonsense. I loved it!

Louisa's thoughtless, feckless mother (Louise Jameson) arrives in Portwenn to meet her new grandchild. But granny isn't welcome as it becomes obvious that Louisa and her mum have Big Issues from way, way back in Louisa's childhood.

But that doesn't stop Louisa, who seems to spend a disproportionate amount of time pushing that unwieldy pram around the village, from asking mum - who is smoking a fag at the time - to babysit. Yes, of course, it all goes a bit wrong. Meanwhile the Doc continues to change his new son's nappies while wearing rubber gloves.

The only sane note is struck by splendid Auntie Ruth (the divine Eileen Atkins) who is very gamely making a go of the farm.