Gillian Reynolds

Setting a sitcom in the world of British politics is a difficult business - you're likely to find yourself tripping over other heavyweights of the genre such as Yes Minister and The Thick of It, for one thing; and will have to work hard to keep it from slipping into chortle-chortle-aren't-politicians-stupid clichés, for another. But blow me if writer Tom Basden hasn't pulled it off with this four-part politcom following a group of young, woolly-headed idealists as they attempt to set up a new political party. Neither Right- nor Left-wing, they prefer to see themselves as "inside the plane".

Marcus Brigstocke - Radio 4's adenoidal prince of light comedy - returns for a third series of this half-decent celebrity chat show, in which each guest is compelled to try five things they've never done before. (Actually it's the fourth series if you count last year's BBC Four TV version, but it seems the BBC has chosen to forget this ever happened.) This week's guest is Sanjeev Baskar, whose experiences include watching Sex and the City, reading PG Wodehouse and visiting a Pentecostal church on men-only night which, he says, was "like a really bad audition".

As Rory Bremner well knows, understanding a nation's sense of satire is a good way to start understanding that nation at large. Starting with Holland and the spiky musical comedian Hans Teeuwen ("I'm once, twice, three times Hans Teeuwen!"), Bremner embarks on an unapologetically intellectual quest to take the satiric pulse of three nations (Ireland and Switzerland are to follow). Tonight's edition is smart, engrossing and - providing you've a stomach for edgy, Bill Hicks-style jokes - occasionally very funny.

Melissa Murray's witty play, based on a true story, is about how Richard Brinsley Sheridan (played by Lorcan Cranitch) is, in 1796, a producer down on his luck, needing some. He's been offered the find of a lifetime, a lost play by Shakespeare about an ancient British king and queen. His star, John Philip Kemble (brilliantly played by Alex Jennings) has agreed to take the lead. But what's this? The young man who claims to have "discovered" the play, William Henry Ireland (Rufus Wright) seems suspiciously familiar with the text.

A mother is driving her sulky teenaged son to school. She's complaining about his father, being broke, him. He's bored, unresponsive. Suddenly a man jumps into the car. He's got a gun, tells her to drive. And then all kinds of unexpected, but quite logical, things start to happen. This is, after all, a comedy by Simon Brett which means cannily observed characters and sparkling dialogue. It also has the huge benefit of a delicious performance from Samantha Bond as the mother and a most convincing one from Angus Imrie as the son.

Matt Lucas (Little Britain, Shooting Stars) with a new panel game. It's an awards show, the Lucases being awarded for the best, worst, ugliest, scariest, etc. Tonight's guests, comedian Katy Brand, actor and writer James Corden (Gavin & Stacey) and TV writer Graham Linehan (the immortal Father Ted, the sublime Black Books and the underrated The IT Crowd) nominate contenders then hand out Lucases for The Lamest Excuse of All Time, Most Pointless Member of the Royal Family and Greatest Song By a Musical Artist Who Is Otherwise Rubbish.

Bright new comedy, which could well expand into half hours because it's so well written, thought out and acted. It's about Lloydie and Johnno, two Australians who first met up in the UK in the mid-90s. They played the scene a bit, split, haven't seen each other since. Now Lloydie's back from France and moves in again to theold shared house in Shepherd's Bush. But things have changed Landlords are stricter, housemates more serious, needing more sleep, less noise. Lloydie dossing on the sofa isn't the lark it was as Johnno soon discovers.

Ray Connolly's play is gently comedic, about two middle-aged people who fell in love over a book trolley and married. Both of them were, actually, already married to God, as he was a priest and she was a nun. Leaving their orders was difficult, learning to live in a changed world proves even more so. If you think you recognise the voice of the man, Michael, it's because if you're a Coronation Street fan, you'll know it as that of Roy Cropper, cafe proprietor and train enthusiast. David Neilson, who plays them both, gives a fine performance here.

The News at Bedtime is a brilliant Today show spoof by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman which went out at Christmas and rather got lost in the nation's annual drowse. Catch up now as John Tweedledum (Jack Dee) and Jim Tweedledee (Peter Capaldi) present the latest from the land of nursery rhymes. It is so funny you can hear each episode five times (thanks to the marvellous iPlayer) and still find new things to laugh at (thanks to producer Simon Nicholls).

Mordrin McDonald: 21st-Century Wizard (Radio 4, Wednesdays) is proof that, somewhere beyond the usual shouting and swearing, real comedy still exists. It's written by David Kay and Gavin Smith, stars Gordon Kennedy (as Mordrin) and Jack Docherty (as fellow wizard Bernard the Blue) and concerns a 2,000-year-old being who fights evil whenever he isn't jam-making or chatting to the neighbours. He is a Scot and lives in Scotland which imbues in him a world view like those of the great Chic Murray or the marvellous Arnold Brown, tending to the school of rueful reflection and deflation of expectation. Asked if wizards can sense each others' presence he replies, "No, I just look out the window." He knows how to disarm a dragon and what to do when the binmen don't arrive. Every urban village needs a Mordrin. I hope this one stays longer on Radio 4 than his four allotted episodes. His chances of doing so are enhanced by good casting and strong production (by Gus Beattie, for independents The Comedy Unit).