Miles Jupp

Having offered up an episode largely focused on Mick the local crack addict and rubbish conman last week, tonight's offering puts pedantic, pursed-lipped Nigel at the centre of events. Beautifully played by Miles Jupp, the lay preacher is a smarmy bureaucrat, always brown-nosing to Archdeacon Robert when the opportunity arises. Secretly, Nigel has long thought he might be a better priest than Adam. How will he fare when an opportunity to prove this arises? Meantime in an ambition-themed episode, Robert dreams of career advancement.

Downton Abbey, an Old Etonian government, a striking workforce and rioting on the streets - it seems that class is, once again, dominating the headlines. And class is always a fruitful subject for comedians to kick against, which is exactly what they're doing in this one-off special. Frank Skinner is joined by cockney-made-good Micky Flanagan, 'salt of the earth' Roisin Conaty and Rev's well-heeled Miles Jupp to dissect the issue with some comedy chat and experiments in front of a studio audience.

There are further un-Christian goings-on in the east London parish tonight in this gentle comedy that never fails to hit the spot. Lay reader Nigel (Miles Jupp) grabs an opportunity to prove he'd be a better priest than Reverend Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander) while Archdeacon Robert (Simon McBurney) tries to climb further up the greasy pole. The mild-mannered Adam, meanwhile, ponders his future.

Frank Skinner takes a light-hearted look at a topic the British can never quite escape - class. He's joined by comedians Roisin Conaty, Miles Jupp and Micky Flanagan, who embark on various class-oriented missions, before bringing their findings to a studio audience. Conaty goes on a date with a man who struggles with the concept of fish fingers, Flanagan tries to get to the bottom of Modern Art, and Jupp has his home counties accent softened to see if he can fit in at the local market.

Apropos of absolutely nothing, Frank Skinner hosts a vaguely awkward cross between a televised debate and a generic comedy panel show on the subject of class. Observations are made by Skinner (not posh) and guests Miles Jupp (posh), Micky Flanagan (not posh), and Roisin Conaty (not posh, so skewing the balance quite considerably), interspersed with each guest going out and doing something that makes them feel socially awkward.

Genial inner-city vicar Adam is nervous about the forthcoming religious inspection at the C of E school run by the comely Ellie. He's particularly disturbed by Matthew, a cool new teacher whose credentials are in doubt after he gave a school assembly on Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene.

So jealous Adam gets all pompous and defensive when he agrees to put together a team to take part in the archdeacon's beloved interdenominational football tournament. But Adam has problems raising enthusiasm. His fey curate Nigel (Miles Jupp) is appalled and wonders aloud: "Can we do bowls instead?"

As ever, gentle Adam (Tom Hollander) is at his funniest when his less-than-godly side starts to show, this time when he behaves disgracefully during the match. But we are all brought up short by a tragedy, and a final, genuinely moving few minutes when Adam is called upon to bring solace.

"Do Muslims go to heaven?" is just the sort of question to throw hapless vicar Adam into a bit of tizz - especially when it comes from a small child in school assembly. And it sets him off on a quest to learn about the Islamic faith. Of course it is a very lackadaisical, Adam-style quest, which ends up not in a voyage of discovery but an inter-faith football tournament. Which proves a little embarrassing because Adam's attempts to put together a St Saviours' team demonstrate his usual brand of hopelessness. A church notice fails to attract much interest. "One name! Why hasn't anyone else signed up for our football team?" he demands. "Because you have a congregation of women of 60 with hip problems," replies Nigel (Miles Jupp), the lay reader, pointedly.

Just to make life worse, Adam's highly admired headmistress Ellie (Lucy Liemann) has a hunky new member of staff who, it appears, is more than just her work colleague - causing some very unvicarly jealousy to raise its head. And some unvicarly language. "Is it me, or is Mr Feld a bit of a d---?" demands Adam when his patience runs out. As usual, this series proves more charming and whimsical than actually funny, but Tom Hollander as the bumbling Adam is a class act.

In and Out of the Kitchen is irresistible. This is a sly comedy by and starring Miles Jupp. He plays a cookery writer who so closely resembles a real one, much read and seen, that it adds an extra frisson to every radio adventure yet makes it unlikely he will ever transfer to TV. The spoof recipes would deserve a health warning if they weren't so blissfully silly. Only one show to go. Don't fret. Radio 4 is soon to have even more repeats.

Inner-city vicar Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander) is perturbed when his vulpine archdeacon appoints a young female curate. And Abi (Amanda Hale) is so clever and enthusiastic that both he and Nigel (Miles Jupp) dislike her on sight. When she piously declares she wants to say a prayer before the meditation class, Nigel adds, helpfully: "It's just fat mums doing yoga."

Adam knows such thoughts are ignoble, but he can't help himself. Soon Abi is a big hit and Adam's world falls apart. It's another sweet episode of this soft-centred comedy held aloft by the wonderful Hollander. The scene where he joins in a children's service while tripping on ecstasy is a sight to behold.

Cookery writer and fusspot Damien Trench headed for Umbria and ended up on Bodmin Moor in the latest edition of Miles Jupp's comedy-with-recipes, In And Out Of The Kitchen - fast becoming my guilty pleasure.