Chris Harvey

The phone-hacking comedy Hacks might have been the first entry in a new genre: the reverse satire.

Written and directed by Guy Jenkin, the co-creator of Drop the Dead Donkey and Outnumbered, it took a swipe at a real-life farce that has aroused intense public ire - the parade of newspaper executives explaining that they never asked where the stories on their front pages came from - and turned culpability into one big joke.

Its characters included an Antipodean media magnate (Stanhope Feast, played by Michael Kitchen) with a much younger wife called Ho Chi Mao (Eleanor Matsuura), plus a tabloid editor, Kate Loy (Claire Foy), who was aware of the nefarious means used to extract celebrity pay dirt, and oblivious to its human cost and cruelty.

Except she wasn't oblivious - the voices of phone-hacking victims were keeping her awake at night - and Foy, promising actor though she is, has something about her that suggests warmth and vulnerability.

This put Hacks in the indelicate position of making its targets sympathetic. Kitchen's character even got all the best lines. Now where's the fun in that?

Holy Flying Circus, BBC Four, review

Constantly inventive, often very funny, the drama followed a fictional religious group intent on pillorying the Pythons and having Life of Brian banned.

Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain, ITV1, review

Chris Harvey reviews Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain (ITV1), which explored enduring elements of British comedy.

Griff Rhys Jones: I don't care what young people watch

The presenter talks ageism, his serious side and his new BBC Two series Hidden Treasures of...

Jo Brand on For Crying Out Loud, her BBC4 doc on crying

The comedian explains why she finds it hard to shed a tear and has no time for the celebrity crying game.

A revealing rifle through Hattie's knicker drawer

This wasn't just a glimpse behind closed doors, it was a thorough rifle through underwear drawers and dirty laundry. And for Jacques, events were always arcing towards that hotel room at the start. It was beautifully shot and acted. I put on one of the Saw movies afterwards for some light relief.

The US writers exposing the follies of American TV

A new BBC Two sitcom, from Friends creator David Crane, lifts the lid on the bizarre ways TV studios really work. Chris Harvey reports.

The second series of the sitcom set in an NHS geriatric ward opened up even darker, richer seams of black comedy than the first. Written by and starring Jo Brand (world-weary Nurse Kim Wilde), Vicki Pepperdine (tactless Dr Pippa Moore) and Joanna Scanlan (Sister Den Flixter), it was directed by The Thick of It's Peter Capaldi - and the influence of the political comedy was evident in every frame. The posturings of hierarchy and bureaucratic idiocy were skewered relentlessly, scatological humour was allied to brutal deadpan, and the timing was perfect. Getting On also hid a beating heart at its centre that gave it surprising emotional power.

Dirk Gently: Douglas Adams' detective finally cracks TV

After 23 years, Dirk Gently is bringing distinctly English sci-fi to the small screen. Chris Harvey reports.

Why stand-up comedians have taken over TV

With a new series of Live at the Apollo starting this evening, Chris Harvey analyses the growing popularity - and ubiquity - of TV comedians.