Ricky Tomlinson

Ricky Tomlinson in bid to clear name with Labour Party

Ricky Tomlinson will address a fringe meeting of the Labour Party conference this week as he campaigns to overturn a 39-year-old conviction for picketing offences.

The irrepressible Ricky Tomlinson, best known for The Royle Family, introduces clips from festive editions of classic sitcoms, from Rising Damp to Blackadder. The likes of Hugh Dennis and Miranda Hart discuss what it takes to make the perfect Christmas special. Meanwhile, cast members revisit memorable locations used in One Foot in the Grave, Gavin & Stacey, Father Ted and The Vicar of Dibley.

And welcome, for example, to a special Christmas Shooting Stars (BBC2). No, I don't know what that "for example" is doing there either, but that's what Bob Mortimer says - and it's funny. Shooting Stars is about the baffling, the surreal, the unexpected and the unbelievably silly. This festive episode begins with a hanging (of a mouse) and ends with a race (between Ricky Tomlinson and Ronnie Wood, on mobility scooters). In between is half an hour of the usual lunacy.

Bob is impaled, up the arse, on the end of of Vic's electric guitar; Walter Hottle Bottle jumps in slow motion; Ulrikakaka downs a pint of Advocaat in one, then burps loudly; Jack Dee has a face like an abandoned winkle-picker, or a willy warmer with mouse droppings all over it; Joanna Page is Welsh and pronounces words funny; Thandie Newton is pestered by Bob; Angelous has been hiding in the trees outside Ulrikakaka's bedroom; the Christmas tree catches fire; a stuffed buzzard loses its confidence when a cocktail is thrown in its face; Ricky rides a rocking horse while eating chicken drumsticks.

And there are some fiendishly difficult questions. Like: true or false, muesli is a byproduct of coffin-making? (true). And will bacon stick to Bob's face? (Yes). And what's the latest Ron ever stayed up? (Very).

I'm still not convinced it was a good idea to bring back Shooting Stars. It was a show that fitted so perfectly into the 1990s, like Seinfeld and Britpop. But this Christmas special was a party.

The lovable, manic hosts of the revived 90s panel show are doing their bit to promote festive cheer. How? By presenting a special episode. They're on fire. And so is the studio Christmas tree, thanks to Bob's dodgy wiring job. In other hot stuff news, booked guests include Hollywood beauty Thandie Newton. She's likely to be the first choice recipient of Vic Reeves's lady fawning, but Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page serves as a useful backup. And there are male guests, too: Ricky Tomlinson and pineapple-haired Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. In the final challenge, Ronnie and Ricky race. That has to be worth a look. Also tonight, expect sketches from the folk duo Mulligan and O'Hare, and a visit from the people's scorekeeper, Angelos Epithemiou.

Mirroring scenes around the country, the Mancunian clan slump stuffed onto their sofa. As guests arrive, Barbara (Sue Johnston) is doing all the work because Jim (Ricky Tomlinson) is chair-bound after an accident in the precinct. Joanne Froggatt (housemaid Anna from Downton Abbey) plays Anthony's pregnant girlfriend. Surely she won't give birth on Christmas Day?

So it was back to the kitchen for No Angel by Andy Lynch, on Radio 2's Comedy Showcase. Martine McCutcheon played a TV producer, trying to get ahead while coping with her ghastly star (Clive Anderson). She keeps meeting a disreputable man with a heavy Liverpool accent (Ricky Tomlinson). Is he stalking her? Could he be her father? No, he was her guardian angel. She took some convincing. I didn't. The title rather gave it away. But the real surprise here was how awful Clive Anderson was in a straight role. Perhaps he didn't want to pretend to be vain, bossy, unreasonable and demanding which was why he made his lines sound like plasterboard. McCutcheon and Tomlinson certainly did better with theirs.

Vic and Bob are as winning, and deranged, as they've always been, their unique humour a mixture of the obscure (references to Dutch prog-rock group Focus; a suicidal mouse) and the general ("Ulrika Jonsson: 50 Christmases spent in bed!"). Guests include Ronnie Wood, Ricky Tomlinson and Thandie Newton, a trio of festively good sports among the madness. "So Ron," says Vic, "what's the latest you've stayed up?"

No Angel was squarely in the tradition of Radio 4 sitcoms in that it was rubbish. Martine McCutcheon and Ricky Tomlinson were wasted on a promising set-up - she's a harassed radio chat-show flunkey, he's her guardian angel. When they were together you could forget the pedestrian script and the lack of laughs. When Clive Anderson was on, as the chat-show host, you couldn't. His scenes were excruciating: he needs to get back to the day jobs.

Chat-show hosts make great fodder for writers as it's so tempting to imagine huge egos going hand in hand with those large salaries. This comedy drama by Andy Lynch finds Clive Anderson taking a wry dig at his own CV as a self-obsessed frontman who's not impressed when his careerist producer gets herself a stalker. The all-star cast includes Martine McCutcheon, Ricky Tomlinson, Andy Parsons and Emily Head, from Channel 4''s The Inbetweeners, in her first radio role.