Chris O'Dowd

It's the turn of The Thick of It's Rebecca Front to head up tonight's short comedy from Sky. Like the majority of these gently amusing films, Rainy Days and Mondays is a little self-indulgent in its nostalgia, trading as they do on their creator's childhood (Chris O'Dowd's effort spawned the brilliant Moone Boy), but the strength and breadth of talent involved make it an enduringly intriguing project.

In her episode, a young Rebecca develops a death-anxiety complex that belies her years and stops her going to school. These films tend not to delve far beneath the surface of the sometimes dark subject matter, leaving their success resting almost wholly on the subtlety of the young actor at the centre. In this case, Lucy Hutchinson does an impressive job of capturing both overbearing childhood dread and the magical moment its shadow lifts.

Sky's star-filled success story of recent years has been this yuletide anthology, a sprinkling of cheer across the festive schedules. Two of the autobiographical shorts have even sired fantastic series - Kathy Burke's Walking and Talking and Chris O'Dowd's Moone Boy.

The third series opens by whisking us back to the swinging and sexist Sixties. Baby, Be Blonde sees the young Joanna Lumley (played with wide-eyed charm by newcomer Ottilie Mackintosh) contending with haircuts and wig-fittings before her jittery first assignment.

Daniel Ings is uproariously awful as a photographer who marshals his models like animals ("Put the hippo at the back"). And Lumley, making her directorial debut as well as a cameo as a dragonish fashionista, reveals the facts behind the fun in a 15-minute look behind the scenes. The next Little Cracker, featuring Rebecca Front, is on Sky1 tomorrow.

All too soon this gem comes to an end. Based by Chris O'Dowd on his memories of an Irish smalltown childhood, the star is David Rawle as 11-year-old Martin Moone. What gives the drama its heart is his pairing with O'Dowd as imaginary friend Sean, less an escape mechanism, more a cheery counterpoint to Martin's dysfunctional life.

The end of primary school and 'a hugely mediocre era' looms for Martin as the first series of Chris O'Dowd's amiable, occasionally inspired sitcom concludes. Martin has a week of pure anarchy in mind: 'burning all the Capricorns', perhaps, or 'shaving naughty words into our beards'. His innate rubbishness precludes such chaos, of course, but imaginary friend Sean (O'Dowd) is on hand to make sure things don't peter out entirely. And Martin's slight haplessness is of course genetic, as confirmed by his parents' attempts to thwart Sinead's exam preparation and thus avoid having to send her to Girl Guide Jamboree. A smattering of wonderful sight gags and light-touch nostalgia complete another charming half-hour; the already-announced series two and three can't come soon enough.

Moone Boy - review

Chris O'Dowd's nostalgic sitcom is a fine mixture of the gently innocent and comedically knowing.

When our adolescent hero gets hot under the collar at the sight of a topless cartoon on TV and wakes up with damp sheets, he knows something is amiss: has he contracted some sort of groin-based salmonella? Even more worryingly, his imaginary friend (Chris O'Dowd, the real star and joker behind this endearing comedy) has disappeared. Cue an excruciating scene in which Dad - who really does look ill - has to explain the birds and the bees while Mam looks on, cringing. It's a gag as dated as the 80s backdrop but no less funny for it.

Chris O'Dowd's comic re-imagining of his childhood in Ireland sees Martin (David Rawle) ditch his imaginary friend Sean (O'Dowd) when Uncle Danny (Steve Wall) pays a visit to the family home. Danny is the cool one in the family - he is a musician who has busked around Europe and once worked with U2 - and it's he Martin turns to for advice on dealing with the opposite sex. The ostracised Sean, meanwhile, consoles himself by hanging out with some of Martin's other forgotten imaginary friends, including Crunchy Danger Haystacks (Johnny Vegas).

New cast details for Family Tree announced

Christopher Guest has enlisted a roster of familiar faces for his upcoming HBO/BBC Two documentary-style comedy series Family Tree, featuring Chris O'Dowd.

Gently does it, as Chris O'Dowd's imaginary friend helps cute little Martin Moone through more childhood challenges in this cockle-warming tale. This week, there's a trouser incident after wide-eyed Martin watches one too many TV shows involving "grunty Argentinian tennis ladies". Sean (O'Dowd) is too busy enjoying a night at the pub with fellow fantasy figures including the legendary wrestler Crunchy Haystacks (Johnny Vegas) to offer Martin much-needed advice. Luckily, Uncle Danny the busker arrives home with wise words and tales of hanging out with U2. Subtle laughs all round.

Martin (David Rawle) wakes up, doesn't bother to wash his face and thus fails to avoid falling victim to one of his sister Sinead's pranks. A prank that leaves him wandering into school caked in more make-up than Widow Twankey. What to do? Why, break down the wall at the back of his house to shorten his commute, and thus allow more face-washing time in his morning routine. Naturally - after all the Berlin Wall happens to be coming down at the same time. There's a gentle sense of whimsy to this third episode of Chris O'Dowd's sitcom, which means that, while it's not exactly packed with belly laughs, it's nonetheless a sweet, enjoyable way to while away half an hour. Then again, it's hard to go wrong when your lead character is such a cherubic little kid.