Jolyon Rubinstein

At times this show resembles a strange hybrid of Trigger Happy TV and Da Ali G Show, with Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein adopting a collision-course policy to satirising current affairs by thinking of ways to intervene. It's an approach that's redolent of countercultural pranks: not always funny, but often admirable. Tonight, they inform the people of Lincoln that they will soon, in part, be policed by security firm G4S, and serve up glasses of crude oil at the BP portrait awards. Their acting may be bad, but their interaction with the public shows real chutzpah.

Imagine if the Jackass boys sacked Steve O and replaced him with Mark Thomas. At times, that's the vibe of this prankishly political comedy show. Every now and then, creators Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein nail it; the tax affairs of Vodafone are put under the spotlight in a brilliantly ballsy guerilla rebranding exercise, while a nicely placed blue plaque testifies to the rampant inconsistencies in the economic vision of George Osborne. Elsewhere, the pranks are less successful - no one's going to match Chris Morris in the absurd public vox pops stakes, so it's probably not worth trying. Still, it's great that this kind of material is getting an airing on BBC3 - perhaps comedy's response to the parlous state of the nation is beginning at last.

The Revolution Will Be Televised is quite possibly the most intellectual show BBC Three has ever broadcast, which is odd seeing as this is a hidden camera show, a genre not know for its challenging material.

Created by Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein, the series revolves around various satirical pranks and stunts. In this first episode the duo attempted to clamp ambassadors' cars for not paying the congestion charge (they try to claim they don't have to because of diplomatic immunity); try to enter the London 2012 Olympic stadium wearing shirts with protest slogans on them; and pretend to be sadomasochists asking MI6 to send someone somewhere for some "fun".

BBC Three has had much success with satire in the past. After all, arguably its most successful comedy is Russell Howard's Good News. However, these two shows are the different ends of two funny extremes. Good News mocks all the weird and odd stories that somehow filter into our papers and news channels. It's admittedly not that satirical, but it is fun. TRWBT however is much more vicious and subversive. It tells you things you need to know. It has a huge nerve to go and do the things it does. And I'm surprised that Prowse and Rubinstein haven't been arrested yet.

Politically aware pranksters Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein continue their mission to lampoon hypocrisy, greed and corruption in their satirical comedy series. Pointed references to a mobile phone company, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a Guantanamo "demo" outside the US embassy in London make their point succinctly, but other ideas such as right-wing correspondent Dale Maily (a smart idea which could work better) and the energy and water company sketches fall short, while the ongoing Coalition prank just isn't very good.

You can't imagine Jolyon Rubinstein or Heydon Prowse getting elected as prime minister but they do wage a bold revolution against 'hypocrisy, greed, and corruption' in this snortingly funny satire. There are street pranks targeting bankers and government officials, spoof news pieces that have a whiff of The Day Today about them, and a campaigning zeal that would make Mark Thomas proud.

There's more than one way to make a prank show, as we're reminded tonight by BBC Three's new series The Revolution Will Be Televised (10pm).

Rather than just winding up random people for the hell of it, although obviously that's great fun as well, pranksters Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein set out to humiliate the greedy, the corrupt, the hypocritical etc.

In one sketch tonight, for example, they take to the streets to raise funds for a spoof organisation they call GUBOFMYC, designed to humiliate bankers.

I couldn't possibly get away with telling you what those initials actually stand for, but trust me, you won't disagree with the sentiments...

A colourful collision of Mark Thomas and Dom Joly, this political hidden-camera prankathon is fact-packed, judiciously targeted, scarily well performed and, often, splutteringly funny.

The stars, Jolyon Rubinstein and Heydon Prowse, set out to satirise tax avoidance, state violence, banker bailouts and other 21st-century injustices - their main weapon being sheer cojones. I was laughing and stuffing my fist in my mouth at the same time as they fired stupid questions at policemen mid-riot, tried to climb over MI6's front gate and, in the best sketch, proved that Tony Blair's central London mansion isn't as heavily guarded as it's cracked up to be.

There are shades of Chris Morris, Mark Thomas and Dom Joly in this new series, a politically skewed news and sketch-based satire. The programme-makers have already hit the headlines in a stunt when the Chancellor George Osborne was handed a GCSE book to help with his maths skills at a speech to bankers. Now seeking out corruption, greed and hypocrisy, Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein aim to humiliate and expose everyone from bankers and celebrities to Olympic organisers and tax-avoiding diplomats. Funny up to a point, even if you get the impression it's been done more artfully before.