Miles Jupp

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.

Thanks to having young children, I'm more familiar than I'd like to be with the early work of Miles Jupp, known to vast legions of minors as Archie the inventor in Balamory.

Since then he's been busy establishing himself as a regular radio presence, and on the evidence of In and Out of the Kitchen, life after CBeebies superstardom should hold no fears.

It purports to be the diary, written for publication, of a somewhat minor celebrity chef, Damien Trench. Radio 4 comedy generally leaves me deeply disappointed, but this was a delight, beautifully written, and unafraid to bite the hand that feeds it. "Washing up with Radio 4 this morning there was a terrific documentary about socks, their origins and their uses - quite a heavy topic in the wrong hands but delivered with a very light touch. Well done BBC!"

We follow Trench as he makes an awkward contribution to another radio doc, about French beans, while back at home he and his partner are seeing in the New Year by finally committing to each other. "We've been umming and ahhing about it for a while but we've decided: we're to go ahead with our extension ... Anthony is determined that we move our relationship on to the next level." I know I say this a lot, but you should hasten to the iPlayer.

If Fanny Craddock is no longer available, to console us we have the daily ramblings of cookery writer Damien Trench. Written by and starring Miles Jupp, In And Out Of The Kitchen is a delicious comedy that goes from pokerface to hilarious as Damien - Mr Pooter meets the Galloping Gourmet - recounts his cuisine-centred diary.

Be warned, this isn't the real thing however much it sounds like many a TV show these days. Written and presented by Miles Jupp, it's a pretend diary of things cooked and eaten across a year by Jupp's imaginary writer, Damien Trench. It's supposed to be a diary of good food and good company, "however grisly or gristly". As it starts at New Year, the first recipe is for an explosive hangover cure, the first topic is New Year's resolutions. Damien's is to retain his professional integrity. Anthony, Damien's partner, wants to lose weight.

The third Comedy Lab pilot of the series is a mockumentary tackling the issue of disability, an issue rather important to me as I suffer from Asperger's syndrome.

Rick and Peter begins with T4 presenter Rick Edwards (whom I'd never heard before) becoming an internet sensation following a YouTube montage clip of him repeatedly mocking the disabled. As a result he's ordered by a Channel 4 executive (Miles Jupp) to attend a school presentation given by Hollyoaks and Cast Offs star Peter Mitchell, who is paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair.

In terms of mockumentaries, it's not the most innovative ever made. Many shows have covered the supposedly nasty (albeit fake) attitudes of a celebrity. And it also features other guest stars like Nicholas Parsons and Giles Cohen in self-deprecating roles, but this idea has been implemented numerous times in shows such as Extras.

However, my main problem with Rick and Peter is actually the relationship between the two. Since Rick mocks the 'mind disabled' rather than the 'leg disabled', surely the character should be made to do something with someone with a more relevant disability?

The problem with that, of course, lies with TV networks' obsession with the visibly disabled. I know that I'm 'mind disabled', but I look normal - and TV doesn't like that. It seems to me that unless you have a disability in which you look different (missing limb, dwarfism, etc.) or require some sort of, for want of a better term, hardware (wheelchair, white stick, hearing aid) you'll not get a look in on TV because they'll be asking: "How can the viewers tell you're disabled?"

In the end all that happens is that we get comparisons with Rain Man, which is inaccurate because he's a savant and most autistic people are not. Either that or it's Tourette's syndrome and you get someone swearing their head off, which again most Tourette's sufferers do not do. If we don't do something odd we don't get a look in, which really frustrates me. In terms of my disability, the only one I can think of appearing in a British sitcom was one of the children in the Jasper Carrott sitcom All About Me, which is widely regarded as being one of the worst sitcoms ever made. Plus that child is somewhat overshadowed by the main narrator of the story, a boy in a wheelchair suffering from cerebral palsy.

I don't think that Rick and Peter will get a full series, but if it does I hope they cover all ground when it comes to disability, not just what you can see.

Sometimes it can seem as if standup comedians are everywhere. Clustered on panel shows, chat shows, sitcoms; hosting clips programmes, commenting on the news, making you chicken pie when you get home at night...

That's just me (I'm married to a standup), and that's a bad joke. Not quite as bad as some we heard on Stand Up For Comic Relief, but close.

Last week, Radio 4 took us through the now familiar process of established comedians mentoring novices for charidee (you phone in to vote for the best, and the money goes to Comic Relief). Thus, Dev from Radio 1 was tutored by Chris Ramsey, Radio 2's Tony Blackburn got Julian Clary, Tom Service (Radio 3) by Sandi Toksvig, Jenni Murray (Radio 4) by Mark Steel, Tony Livesey (5Live) worked with Justin Moorhouse and Shaun Keaveny from 6Music was paired with Miles Jupp. (If there was ever a sign that the BBC are now fully supportive of 6Music, Shaun doing Comic Relief is it.)

Before we heard the routines, in the "funny" 6.30pm slot on Wednesday, Radio 4 offered us two half-hour puff pieces on Monday and Tuesday, where the newbies expressed their fear and competitiveness and their mentors cracked funnies. Tony Blackburn was the coolest, his shtick so tough that Clary's advice could only slide off it like an egg chucked at a tank. Blackburn refused to meet Clary more than once, and was as corny as can be, his light-ent persona carrying him through hoary gags such as getting the whole audience to look under their seats for a nonexistent prize. Tony Livesey was cheesy too, in ye old working men's club manner: terrible jokes, delivered with a wink and some panache. Shaun Keaveny was likable, as were Jenni Murray and Tom Service. But best by far was Dev, who told a truthful, funny, well-constructed story about asking a girl out complete with call-backs to earlier jokes. He should win.

As an aside, much as Comic Relief is an admirable institution, it should be held at least partly responsible for all these standups and their hijacking of mainstream culture. Funny is God, these days. (And God, though good with a one-liner, wasn't actually much of a giggle.) Oh, I'm so sick of listening to people say stuff that sounds as though it's a punch-line, but isn't actually, you know, funny. Hey ho. Adam and Joe will be back on 6Music next month. They really do make me laugh.

It's Your Round marks a radio comeback for Angus Deayton. Deayton, like [Nicholas] Parsons, is a born host, an arch, deadpan foil to contestants' excesses. The twist in this format is that guests invent their own round, and in the first episode, Rufus Hound devised "Them Next Door" in which contestants had to guess famous neighbours from a sound recording. Sex Pistols and a sewing machine made Vivienne Westwood, "Nessun Dorma" and weeping meant Gazza, and the sound of complete silence suggested Charlie Chaplin. Miles Jupp dreamt up "What Does My Dad Know?" in which contestants guessed whether his father, a church minister, would have seen Titanic, or understand what an emo was.

It was jolly and high spirited, but the threat to this game, apart from the cruel 11pm scheduling, is that it may have inbuilt obsolescence. It's Your Round promises something different each week, whereas everything we know about radio tells us that audiences like continuity. Just a Minute is Britain's longest-running quiz show for a reason. People like to know what's coming and then to have it repeated. Again and again for several years.

It's Your Round, a new late night Radio 4 quiz show where four contestants devise a round each. Presented by old hand Angus Deayton, it was a jolly listen, with most of the jolliness provided by Miles Jupp's dad, who gave the answers for Miles's round, and Rufus Hound, who has quite the most infectious chuckle on radio.

Going Off Air with The News Quiz

And so, the last News Quiz of the series is in the bag, with the usual funnies from our esteemed panel of Andy Hamilton, Miles Jupp, Phill Jupitus and Jeremy Hardy.