Russell Tovey

Sponsored innuendo, anyone? Graham Norton hosts seven hours of celebrity chat to raise money for Comic Relief. He's gunning for the Guinness world record for most questions asked on a TV chatshow, and Keith Lemon, Sarah Millican and Russell Tovey are among the stars queuing up to answer them. Terry Wogan and Nick Grimshaw are ready to take the hot seat once Norton runs out of chat (unlikely) and to give viewers a break from his lovable face. With music from Example, Hurts and Laura Mvula.

If his chat show is anything to go by, Graham Norton could keep up his chirpy line in celeb quizzing in his sleep. Which is just as well, for tonight he embarks on a mammoth six-hour chat-athon in a Guinness Book of World Records bid to pose the most questions asked on a TV chat show. All in aid of Comic Relief. Our Graham's not flying solo, though - Frank Skinner and Terry Wogan are on the subs bench and there's music from Example, Paloma Faith, Hurts and Laura Mvula. Celeb guests chatting along include Louis Smith, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, Heston Blumenthal and Sarah Millican.

Norton foregoes the usual physical challenges beloved of Comic Relief for a more sedentary affair: attempting to set the Guinness world record for most questions asked on a TV chat show, which should see him broadcasting into the wee hours of Friday morning. We can only hope that Graham also dispenses with his usual tipple of wine with guests, otherwise this chatathon is going to get very messy.

So far guests announced as appearing on the sofa include Ronnie Corbett, RT's Sarah Millican, Martin Freeman, Elle Macpherson, James Nesbitt, Louis Smith, Heston Blumenthal, Warwick Davis, Russell Tovey and Jimmy Carr, though you wouldn't bet against an American superstar or two turning up, too. Music acts will include Example, Paloma Faith, Hurts and Laura Mvula.

Graham will be assisted by co-hosts Terry Wogan, Frank Skinner and Nick Grimshaw, and viewers can help, too, by submitting questions via Twitter and Facebook. And by donating money.

The Buzzcocks producers atone slightly for BBC2's achingly silly decision to cancel Shooting Stars: Bob Mortimer is your host for the seasonal edition of this still-funny music quiz. You can expect... actually, I've no idea what you can expect from Mortimer, that's why he's such a good pick. Captains Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding, are joined by drum 'n' bass producer DJ Fresh, Melanie C from the Spice Girls, Him & Her star Russell Tovey and comedian Joey Page.

Poor old Steve (Russell Tovey) has spent the whole series trying to pluck up the courage to propose to an unsuspecting Becky (and stealing the ring back off her light-fingered sister Laura). Tonight is the perfect moment - their first anniversary - so your heart will go out to Steve when Laura barges through the door, even viler than usual. Don't forget to tune in to the Christmas special next week.

There are so many dramas that drop us in on couples' relationships where you can't imagine what they saw in each other in the first place, that it comes as a surprise when you're confronted with a pair of living, breathing lovers.

So my nomination for Most Believable TV Couple Of The Year 2012 (they won last year, too) goes to Steve and Becky from Him & Her, as portrayed in all their grubby, glorious affection by Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani. They're not the usual portrait of love's young dream but there's not a heartbeat when you don't believe they are made for each other.

The third series of Him & Her has seen Steve and Becky's relationship picking up a gear, the over-arching storyline - inasmuch as a slacker comedy can muster an overarching story-line - built on Steve's plans to propose. So last night's penultimate episode took the bold step of taking us right back to the roots of their relationship. Seventeen episodes is a long time to wait to see how they first got together and it could have come a cropper. But it was a comic gem.

Writer Stefan Golaszewski gave his stars plenty of empty spaces to shuffle around each other nervously and you could almost touch the awkwardness. Tovey and Solemani were note-perfect as a pair who couldn't quite believe they fancy the bones off each other, wondering if anyone would ever make the first move.

It was all about the chemistry, and these two could bottle it up and sell it. Catch up with them before next week's finale - it's a corker.

The weekend schedules are packed with choice comedy at the moment. Like Him and Her, which is back on BBC3 for a third series. A little bit Royle Family (Becky and Steve never leave the flat), a little bit Gavin & Stacey, with a hefty dollop of toilet humour, it maintains just the right balance between scuzzy and warm and fuzzy.

Stefan Golaszewski's beautifully observed scripts spin something adorable out of nothing. This week's episode boiled down to Becky and Steve trying to find a can of beer to drink while watching Children in Need. Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani give lovely, self-effacing performances in the central roles but, as is traditional in sitcom, it is the social climber character - Becky's sister Laura, now with added smug pregnancy hormones - who steals the best lines. She kisses everyone on both cheeks, drinks only plum juice and, when handed a mobile phone that isn't quite up to scratch, pouts, "Now, how does one unlock a Nokia?" A marvellous monster.

"Too far," grunts Russell Tovey's character, Steve, at his good-for-nothing neighbour who's describing his toilet habits in stomach-turning detail. It's deliciously ironic in a comedy that revels in over-stepping the mark, especially tonight when we discover more than we - or Steve - ever wanted to know about his mum's love life. We also meet tarty Shelley's little boy who peers solemnly at his badly behaved babysitters from behind oversized specs. You'll squirm as much as you giggle.

TV review: Russell Tovey's Him & Her impresses

I enjoy scenes where Becky and Steve are alone more than when their families drop round (which is almost every episode these days), so the opening of half-naked Becky with a hangover and Steve hiding wine and an engagement ring ready to pop the question were the most memorable.

BBC3's cult hit returns for a third series, as disgustingly funny as ever. If you've yet to have the pleasure, our (anti) heroes are a couple called Becky (Sarah Solemani) and Steve (Russell Tovey), who spend their days loafing around their dingy, dirty flat, sharing everything from their toilet habits to the stale sausage roll they discover down the back of the sofa.

Equally repugnant - if less endearing - are their friends and family: Becky's vindictive sister (pregnancy seems to have made her meaner), her blockhead of a fiancé and the bloke from upstairs who looks like he hasn't seen a bath since the 90s. Tonight's double bill begins with a sparkly ring and a bottle of bubbly - and is as refreshingly unromantic as ever.