Hugh Bonneville

There's a particularly challenging guest tonight - the voluptuous and very shrewd Miss Piggy who is joined by her adored Kermit to promote their new film The Muppets. Miss Piggy is well known for being wanton, so Ross had better watch out or she'll be all over him like a big pink fluffy duvet.

Hugh Bonneville, star of that unstoppable costume drama juggernaut Downton Abbey, who was recently seen smiling broadly as the series was showered with Golden Globes in Hollywood, turns up to talk about his life and career. Stand-up comedian and actor Jack Whitehall completes the bill, while Arctic Monkeys provide the music.

Ever since Rod Hull and the terrifyingly blank-eyed Emu gave Michael Parkinson a mauling on his programme in 1976, chat show hosts have been understandably cagey about inviting puppets into their studios. Top marks for bravery, then, to Jonathan Ross, who welcomes Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy onto his sofa tonight. They'll be there, ostensibly, to discuss the forthcoming Muppets movie, but it'll be a small miracle if Ross manages to avoid at least a mild handbagging.

The balance of civility should be redressed by his other big-name guest of the night, Hugh Bonneville, who - in spite of having become one of Britain's best-known actors for his starring role in Downton Abbey - remains the picture of a modest English gentleman. He'll be talking, amongst other things, about the much-anticipated third series of Downton, which is set in the Twenties and is due to begin on ITV1 in September. Completing the line-up, the young comedian Jack Whitehall - whose cocksure manner and fondness for one-liners is reminiscent of a young Jonathan Ross - is given a chance to crack wise, and Sheffield-born indie rockers Arctic Monkeys provide the music.

To an entire generation, Griff Rhys Jones might be famous for being the man who takes Rory McGrath and Dara O'Briain sailing, climbs mountains, and presents It'll Be Alright On The Night.

The last in this series of three sees him back at the BBC performing the kind of sketches that made him a household name on Not The Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones.

And while the humour is so comfortably old-fashioned your first impression might be that these sketches have been sitting in a drawer since the 1990s, on closer inspection you'll see that there's a whole new bunch of modern obsessions to joke about.

The Reservoir Dogs spoof featuring Griff as Mr Green and former EastEnder Larry Lamb is a lovely mix of the old and the new. But one sketch about firearms in schools, is so mis-judged it wouldn't be a laughing matter in this or any decade.

Griff's other guest stars, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander and Kevin McNally, are well chosen.

But the real draw of the night sees him reunited with his comedy and business partner Mel Smith for a brand new head-to-head sketch - their first together in 16 years.

After resurrecting the comedy of Lenny Henry and Jasper Carrott, there are plenty of other folk who were funny in the 80s who we'd like to see dusted off. More please.

"We want to return to the old-fashioned comedy sketch standard," the young lad from the BBC tells Griff Rhys Jones. "There'll be a set with sofas, fat suits and highly coloured wigs, and you dressed as a woman,"he adds encouragingly, as if Jones needed persuading back into the comedy spotlight.

Some impressive guest stars (Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander and Larry Lamb among them) pop up in sketches that certainly have that old-fashioned comic quality - you could safely watch them with your granny. However, it's the updating of their trademark Alas Smith & Jones head-to-head sketch with his old partner Mel Smith that really makes this special.

It's the first time they've performed it for 15 years and, as Smith and Jones meander their way through a discussion about their alleged rift, they come to realise that friendship is important and grudges are irrelevant. "It's taught me the value of camaraderie," concludes Mel. "Well ... it is a lovely cheese," agrees Griff.

Surprisingly, this is the funniest so far of these one-off sketch shows by faded comedy stars. Maybe it's because Griff Rhys Jones has moved successfully on to other TV ventures, but he's clearly not taking his return to comedy too seriously and as a result the laughter flows quickly and easily. Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander and Larry Lamb are among the excellent supporting players in sketches skewering everything from bankers' bonuses to football supporters. Plus, 16 years on, there's even a face-to-face with his old Alas Smith and Jones partner, Mel Smith.

Hugh Bonneville, best known these days as the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, has an amazing range as an actor, spanning Shakespeare, Jonson, Alan Bennett and John le Carré. Here he plays Robert Purcell QC, a perfect example of the British Establishment, mannerly and thorough, in a new comedy by Jon Canter. Purcell's problem is that while his legal thinking is flawless it doesn't work when he tries to apply its logic to his private life. In this first episode, he sails through all his exams but finding a girlfriend proves to be much more of a test.

Now in their 21st year, the British Comedy Awards have long served as a bellwether for the state of British comedy, from the quirky satire of the early 1990s, through the energetic sketch shows of the mid- to late-90s, to the recent success of family-friendly stand-up comics like Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and John Bishop. Thanks to a sharp host, a ready supply of funny clips and a suitably witty audience, they've also been one of the few live awards ceremonies actually worth watching.

Tonight's event is hosted live by Jonathan Ross. Leading the nominees is Miranda Hart, who is up for four awards, while Harry Hill gets three nods. Hart, last year's Queen of Comedy winner, is up for the award again, with David Mitchell, Telegraph agony uncle Graham Norton, Jack Whitehall, Jo Brand and Sarah Millican also in the running. Tamsin Greig and Tom Rosenthal are nominated for best TV comedy actress and best comedy breakthrough artist respectively for their roles in Friday Night Dinner, while Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner have been singled out for their contribution to Outnumbered. Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville receives a nomination for his role in the Olympic comedy Twenty Twelve.

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).

A welcome second series for Tom Hollander and John Wood's gentle, exquisitely observed comedy about the quietly determined, morally conflicted vicar of a rough East London parish. Hollander is superb as the diminutive Rev Alan Smallbone, who tonight finds himself an unlikely nominee for a heroism award. There's a terrific supporting cast led by Olivia Colman, Miles Jupp, Hugh Bonneville and Ralph Fiennes.

This Olympic-themed mockumentary's screening in the stadium of BBC Two as opposed to the school athletics track of BBC Four, where it was first shown, magnifies its flaws. John Morton's script isn't ambitious enough to go for the laughs it could wring from the subject matter, despite the actors' best efforts. Tonight, the Olympic Deliverance Team, run by Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville), recruits ex-athlete Dave Wellbeck (Darren Boyd) to tour schools inspiring youngsters, but it turns out he has all the dazzle of a frayed jock strap.