Sally Phillips

The "Them" of the title refers to comedy stalwarts like Sally Phillips and Blake Harrison. But what's startling about this patchy sketch show is that it also features comic cameos from serious actors such as Denis Lawson, Jane Asher, Bill Paterson and even Simon Callow. The sketches, ranging from unhinged to downright surreal, come thick and fast, so when they don't work so well (the talking blancmange man), there's a better one round the corner, like the stretched-head boy whom doctors diagnose as being born at the wrong aspect ratio). Continues tomorrow.

Kayvan Novak, Sally Phillips, Morgana Robinson and Blake Harrison take turns to spoof a series of generic dramatic set-ups (the crime scene, the politician's mea culpa, the workplace) in this promising new sketch show scripted by a team including Charlie Brooker and Ben Caudell. A quality supporting cast of 'serious' actors, including Simon Callow, Ewen Bremner and Bill Paterson, provide the essential foundation of gravitas - it's worth a look just to see a poker-faced Denis Lawson ask, 'What kind of trousers does a cunt wear?' - while someone has also taken the smart decision not to risk trying the audience's patience with catchphrases or recurring characters. The result is fresh, funny and, impressively, even springs the occasional surprise. Better still, there's more tomorrow.

Channel 4's Funny Fortnight continues with this ultra-starry two-part sketch show. A crack-team of comedians including Smack the Pony's Sally Phillips, Facejacker's Kayvan Novak and impressionist Morgana Robinson all appear, aided by cameos from Jane Asher, Simon Callow and Denis Lawson. It's a pleasure to see them at work together, even if the material doesn't always tally with their talent. Highlights include Novak as a manic Scots auctioneer and Robinson and Asher as frustrated policewomen desperate for a meaty murder to solve. Part two follows tomorrow night.

Considerably less impressive [than Toast Of London] is C4 Comedy Presents: Them From That Thing an almost entirely mirthless sketch show that wastes 
a core cast of able comic performers such as Sally Phillips and Fonejacker's Kayvan Novak on weak, strained material (some of which was apparently written by the usually reliable Charlie Brooker).

Its gimmick, such as it is, is casting straight actors such as Bill Paterson and Sean Pertwee in comic roles, but that just comes across as a desperate attempt to give it some identity. This is committee-formed comedy, lacking in 
singular vision.

Last in the series of this adorable sitcom starring Sally Phillips and the venerable Tom Conti. Jenny applies for a job at the local surgery, meaning that the family could finally be on their way back to independence from her parents. Becky gets a little over-excited and starts booking viewings with estate agents to look at posh, modernist flats with sleep pods and espresso taps in the kitchen. The whole thing has been beautifully written with a lightness of touch not seen since the last series of Rev. Let's hope there's more to come.

More family hijinks in this above-average comedy drama about a family of four who are forced to move in with the grandparents. Mother Jenny (the excellent Sally Phillips) gets into a spot of bother when she smokes an old cigarette she finds and leaves the butt in the garden - prompting grandmother Alma (Susie Blake) to blame teenager Becky (Jadie Rose Hobson).

The sitcom about "boomerang children" - adults who move back in with their parents - continues. When Jenny (Sally Phillips) stumbles across an old diary from her school days, feelings of resentment towards her mother Alma (Susie Blake) resurface. In a fit of 25-year-late teenage rebellion, she smokes a fossilised cigarette she finds inside the diary. Elsewhere, there are suspicions of an extra-marital affair.

Is it big and broad? Is it light and well observed? Sky's intergenerational sitcom is a bit
of both and the mix makes for a frustrating watch - one of those comedies you're willing to succeed instead of just enjoying.

The premise is a winner: when Jenny Pope (Sally Phillips) loses her London job, she and her family are forced to move in with her parents in parochial Kettering, Northamptonshire. Tom Conti adds a touch of class as her dad, but there are glaring lapses. At the climax of tonight's episode a blast of Adele signals that we've hit a plot point calling for Real Emotion. The crunch of gears could make your eyes water.

When Jenny Pope (Sally Phillips) loses her job due to a violent outburst against a colleague, her self-styled entrepreneur (read 'jobless') husband Nick (Darren Strange) and their children Becky and Sam are forced to move in with Jenny's parents. With three generations thrown together, there's a hint of Modern Family about Parents, not least in Nick's Phil Dunphy-esque role: Nick's desire to sway Jenny's father Len (Tom Conti), who thinks Nick needs to get a job, is very reminiscent of Phil's failed attempts to impress Jay. But although there are some amusing moments, Parents is rarely laugh-out-loud funny, with the possible exception of Jenny's rendition of the company mission statement to the Dad's Army theme tune. Ground-breaking it certainly is not, but it does have its moments.

Sally Phillips: 'Please God, let it not be My Family'

Sally Phillips and Tom Conti talk about their new recession-era family sitcom Parents.