Catherine Tate

It's comedy and charity combined, not to be confused with a comedy about charity, which would be plain wrong. Twenty-three of our funniest people (and Michael McIntyre) are at the 02 Arena in London competing to win your laughs at Britain's largest-ever live stand-up show, all in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Charity. Take your pick from Alan Carr, Noel Fielding, Catherine Tate and plenty more. If you still haven't had enough laughs for the evening, stay tuned for Frank Skinner recorded live at Birmingham's NIA. He's on the same channel at 11.05pm, so no action is required.

For this two-hour bonanza in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, Channel 4 recently assembled 24 of Britain's best comedians to perform in front of a live audience at the O2 arena in London. So - deep breath - Jack Dee, Andy Parsons, David Mitchell, Fonejacker, Jack Whitehall, Jo Brand, James Corden, Jason Manford, John Bishop, Kevin Bridges, Kevin Eldon, Lee Evans, Mark Watson, Michael McIntyre, Noel Fielding, Patrick Kielty, Rich Hall, Rob Brydon, Ruth Jones, Sean Lock, Catherine Tate and Shappi Khorsandi take turns on stage to make it the biggest live stand-up show in British history. If that's not enough for you, Alan Carr and Bill Bailey perform with Stomp and Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Johnny Depp provide additional sketches.

Now here's a treat for an Easter Monday night; just as you look back fondly on the four-day bank holiday weekend and look forward not too fondly to returning to work tomorrow, Channel 4 have taken it upon themselves to cheer you up. They've skimmed the cream of comedy talent for a gala night dedicated to making us laugh, while raising funds for the Great Ormond Street Hospital's Children's Charity. The night will fund two new anaesthetic rooms, allowing parents to stay with their children right up until they enter the operating theatre. Make sure you watch tomorrow's brilliant documentary, Great Ormond Street (9pm BBC2), to get some idea of the astonishing work done at the hospital. The cast of comics is a glittering one: David Mitchell, Bill Bailey, Catherine Tate, Jack Dee, James Corden, Jo Brand, Jonathan Ross and many, many others will perform stand-up routines in front of a capacity crowd at the massive O2 Arena in London. As a nice little bonus, Robert Webb, Ricky Gervais, Derren Brown and Johnny Depp, who can't be there in person, have filmed comic sketches especially for the night.

This stand-up comedy show at the O2 Arena in London features a barnstorming roll-call of British comedians all stepping up to the mic in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. The bill includes Alan Carr, Bill Bailey, Catherine Tate, David Mitchell, The Fonejacker, Jack Dee, Jo Brand, Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Noel Fielding, Patrick Kielty, Rich Hall, Rob Brydon and Shappi Khorsandi. If you can't find somebody in that list who makes you laugh, it's possible that you have, indeed, had all your funny bones surgically removed.

Channel 4's Comedy Gala, The 02, London

There was a curious mix of something old, something new, something borrowed (such as BBC stars Catherine Tate, Rob Brydon, James Corden and Ruth Jones) and plenty of blue for this mammoth charity gig housed by a venue that was once itself a standing joke when it was the Millennium Dome.

Catherine Tate hate mail shock

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Catherine Tate's Nan, a ruthlessly truthful creation, is best taken short. Nan's Christmas Carol (BBC1, Friday), longer than usual and later than usual because of Nan's language, cast her as a combatative Scrooge making three ghosts and her deceased husband sorry they were born. Or died. The most eye- catching ghost was David Tennant, who bore a striking resemblance to Russell Brand.

I haven't always been a fan of Catherine Tate's Nan either, admiring the character work but finding the essential joke a little repetitive. But Catherine Tate: Nan's Christmas Carol managed to refresh two overworked franchises simultaneously: Tate's horrible old lady gag and Charles Dickens' snow-dusted morality tale. Nan makes a perfect Scrooge, hideously unseasonal when Uncle Bob Cratchit turned up on a visit from Yorkshire with his queasily cheerful children. She wasn't exactly pleased with the gift they'd given her - a charity donation to the Mobile Library of Sudan. "It's a picture of an Arab man standing next to a donkey with half-a-dozen copies of The Da Vinci Code strapped to its back," she said witheringly on opening the envelope. It's an alternative present, her great-niece explained. "What... alternative to something I wanted?" she snapped back. She demanded ID from the Ghost of Christmas Past and told the Ghost of Christmas Future that his introductory video was rubbish. Offered the chance to change the future after her admonitory vision of a loveless old age and lonely funeral, the first thing she asked was, "Could they bring back Lovejoy... I do love it."

A Christmas Carol has seen many film and TV incarnations over the years. But this is perhaps the most bizarre and clever of all a comic retelling with Catherine Tate's acid-tongued Nan as Scrooge.

The writers have taken some bleedin liberties with the original story (Tiny Tim is a dog and the ghost of Christmas Present wears skinny jeans) but its a laugh-fest from beginning to end.

The three ghosties are played by Ben Miller, Roger Lloyd Pack and an almost unrecognisable David Tennant, who all attempt to convince Nan to swap her miserly ways for some seasonal cheer.

Nan's Christmas message

Writing specially for the Telegraph, Catherine Tate's famously candid (i.e. spectacularly foul-mouthed) Nan character passes on her seasonal good wishes...