Mark Wright (I)

Sunshine is a very frustrating drama to watch. There are moments when it threatens to be consumed by a sense of overarching pathos and a need to be gritty and northern yet always lovable. But within the on-going story of bad lad with a heart (and a huge gambling problem) Bing and his attempts to do right by his young family, there is a lot to like. Steve Coogan as Bing is the draw, displaying a talent for underplayed drama that is usually lost beneath his penchant for constant improvising. Here, however, he is magic. And when he's acting alongside an old pro like Bernard Hill as Bing's dad, you appreciate just how good he is.

Beautiful People is enjoyable enough to make a point of watching it, especially for Olivia Colman's sublimely brilliant performance as Simon's bonkers mum.

Peter Kay's first new TV comedy work for four years has been heavily trailed by Channel 4, and who can blame them? I still think Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere was a brutal misfire for the popular (and undeniably brilliant) comic actor, but hopefully this will bring him back to comedy greatness. The explosion of reality talent shows might be an easy target for satire, but Kay, steeped in popular TV culture, should be able to get something from the show. Kay is Geraldine, a finalist on a talent show, hosted by Cat Deeley and judged by Pete Waterman, Nicki Chapman and Neil Fox. But is Geraldine keeping a deep, dark secret, and will 'she' win out in the end?

Craig Cash and Phil Mealey script this bittersweet comedy drama about 'Bing' Crosby, a lovable loser with a destructive streak of gambling addiction that keeps him never too far away from the bookie's counter. It has that essential northern grit to it that you'd expect from the writers of Early Doors and The Royle Family, and Steve Coogan is great as Bing, giving the character a more paired down reality than grotesques like Alan Partridge and Tommy Saxondale. Cash and Mealey pop in as comedy bin men, but the real honours here go to the exceptional Bernard Hill as Bing's dad. A highly promising start.

I like Beautiful People, it has a really nice nostalgic sheen to it that, while not laugh out loud funny, is certainly watchable in a quirky way. Simon and best buddy Kylie are in raptures at the prospect of headlining the school's production of Joseph, and hysteria ensues as they prepare to audition. The best thing about Beautiful People is the divine Olivia Colman, who shows her range here beyond being a foil for Mitchell and Webb.

Mmm, not sure about this to be honest. My opinions on Little Britain have wavered from declaring Lucas and Walliams as comedy gods (around the time of series two), to charlatans who were happy taking huge pay checks to write barely constructed sketches that insulted the audience's intelligence (around the time of the woeful - no, it really was - series three).

But this might just be a different beast as the pair bring the Little Britain format to life across the pond in a series made for HBO. There are new characters - I particularly like Bing Gordyn, the bitter seventh astronaut to land on the moon - but old favourites like Vicky Pollard are still on hand to keep things familiar enough for the home crowds. The jury is out, but they might just get away with it...

A promising new sitcom, based on the best-selling memoirs of Simon Noonan, the now creative director of Barney's department store in New York. Growing up in suburban Reading of the 1990s, the young Simon dreams of escaping a dreary existence that is seriously lacking in glamour. Where, oh where, are the beautiful people? Quirky and fun, this might just do the business - the cast includes Olivia Colman, Aidan McCardle and Meera Syal.

BBC3 continues its mission to be painfully hip and down with the young audience it is desperate to attract with this woefully misfiring sitcom about a group of sixth form students. It's hackneyed and feels like it was made about 10 years ago with gags that fail to hit their mark with alarming regularity. Just because it's written by a 19 year old doesn't mean it's going to appeal to the youngsters. Avoid.

The second episode continues to show the potential in this daft sitcom about off duty superheroes, but you do get the sense that so much more could be done with the format. This week, two of the heroes aren't too pleased to be guests at a fan convention, but sometimes superheroes have to do things they don't want to. A lot of the gags misfire, but there are enough laughs to keep me coming back - just.

After my blasting of the woefully shoddy The Omid Djalili Show, it's a totally different story on Friday night, thankfully, with Armstrong and Miller. It's good to see some solidly funny sketch comedy for a change, and this has more hits than misses. The big hit of the series are the spitfire pilots with their clipped street slang lines, and this kind of comedy isn't a million miles away from Mitchell and Webb's equally top material. In fact, Armstrong and Miller could be the reformed older brothers of the more anarchic Mitchell and Webb.