Joanna Lumley

Apparently it's 20 years since Absolutely Fabulous burst on to our TVs. How can that be when it only feels like five minutes?

But at least it's an excuse for Jennifer Saunders to chat to her chums about the decade when comedy became the new rock 'n' roll and the alternative became the norm.

Reminiscing with her comedy partner Dawn French and hubby Ade Edmondson, the show gets off to an awkward start. Interviewer isn't a role that suits Jennifer and like the decade itself, this two-hour special only gets going at the midway point.

Clips of The League Of Gentlemen, The Royle Family and The Fast Show make a great case for a 90s revival.

And when Jen catches up with Joanna Lumley, there are hints that another series of Ab Fab might be on the cards.

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Another laughable (in a good way) telethon from Richard Curtis and friends hosted by Fearne Cotton, Jonathan Ross et al, and featuring sketches and silliness from James Corden, the cast of Outnumbered, Miranda Hart, Harry Hill, Steve Coogan and Armstrong & Miller to name but some. Most exciting-sounding is a Downton Abbey spoof featuring Ade Edmondson, Victoria Wood, Kim Cattrall, Harry Enfield and Joanna Lumley. And the special Red Nose Day edition of MasterChef, which will, if there's any justice, feature Gregg and John trying to perform simple tasks while contestants tut smugly.

Comedy, music and good causes - it can only be the show that makes you laugh until you give.

Harry Hill, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Ant and Dec and Armstrong and Miller are all doing something funny for money this year, along with the casts of The Inbetweeners, Outnumbered and Miranda.

We can also look forward to a specially shot mini-episode of Doctor Who, and James Corden will be back with the third instalment of his iconic Smithy trilogy - calling in favours from some very big names in showbiz.

Corden will also be one fifth of Fake That - a tribute band which boasts the talents of David Walliams, Alan Carr, Catherine Tate and John Bishop.

Never fear, though, the real Take That will be performing too. In fact, the night's going to be awash with boy-bands, as JLS are in the studio and it's The Wanted's turn to do the official Comic Relief single, Gold Forever.

The music line-up also includes chart-busting Adele, Annie Lennox, Elbow and Gareth Malone, who will be trying to turn some TV chefs into a Comic Relief choir.

Your hosts through this comedy marathon will be Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross, Michael McIntyre, Graham Norton, Claudia Winkleman and Fearne Cotton.

There have been 12 Red Nose Days since 1988, helping to raise more than £500million to help needy people in the UK and abroad.

There'll also be films from David Tennant, Jack Dee, Ruth Jones and Comic Relief stalwart Lenny Henry, each providing frequent reminders of how your money can help change people's lives for the better.

Audio: Enfield in Downton Abbey spoof for Comic Relief

It's Red Nose Day on Friday and the TV show begins tonight on BBC1.

BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast spoke to Harry Enfield who told Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogarty about the special spoof Uptown Downstairs Abbey he's starring in alongside Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and Kim Cattrall.

Tonight Roger and Val have a row. But being the characters they are, it's a slightly hopeless and unimpressive row about fish fingers, and it leaves them wishing they had more glamorous rows, as they imagine their friends do. It's hard to think of another sitcom covering this kind of territory (the episode is subtitled 'The Unglamorous Row'). In its muted character comedy Roger and Val recalls other works from Hugo Blick (the executive producer here) such as Sensitive Skin (with Joanna Lumley) and Marion and Geoff (with Rob Brydon). The laughs come from minutiae, in this case the trivial details of the way two long-married, idiosyncratic characters interact, biting off the ends of their own sentences when they're cross, stirring a teaspoon with aggressive intent or lying about something minor just to score a point. As slightly pompous, easily riled Roger, Alfred Molina is wonderful, his every mannerism believable. If he doesn't remind you of someone you know, count yourself lucky. And if, gentlemen of a certain age, he reminds you of yourself at all, you're probably not alone.

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