Sharon Lougher

Graham Linehan: I'm not a very subtle comedy writer

Graham Linehan, the writing genius who brought us brash Bafta-winning sitcoms Father Ted, Black Books and ]The IT Crowd], speaks to Metro about his new project, The Ladykillers.

Charlie Brooker's hotly anticipated comic horror series launches tonight, with Rory Kinnear starring as prime minster Michael Callow. A move away from his sneering, one-man topical shows, the first in the Black Mirror three-part series represents Brooker's first foray into TV dramas. Expect it to be dark, expect to be clever and expect it to be very, very funny.

The bits that end up on the cutting room floor of a panel show are invariably better than what goes out for broadcast, so you can expect some even funnier or risqué tall stories and banter in this series finale of outtakes. Featured with regulars David Mitchell and Lee Mack are the always-entertaining Dara O'Briain and Frank Skinner, plus leading ladies Sarah Millican and Miranda Hart.

For a night of razor-sharp one-liners, you can do far worse than Jimmy Carr, who can be seen here performing at the SECC Glasgow on his latest tour. Expect gags on obesity, homosexuality, abuse and disability - Carr takes no prisoners.

It's clearly not November in the world of Rev - the vicars are hot under the dog collar, necking holy water and wafting fans under their cassocks as the temperature reaches its height. Rising out of the heat is the devil, causing most grief, inevitably, for Tom Hollander's beleaguered vicar Adam: old ladies are being haunted by ghosts, members of his flock claim to be possessed, plus he has tyrannical god daughter round to stay, forcing him to question whether fatherhood is really for him.

If you've yet to visit the Victorian seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare, now's your chance: it's home to the debut sitcom from Ralf Little and stage actress Michelle Terry, and yes, its precinct is a café in which Terry's struggling writer Sarah and her loveable mum, Carol, banter with dotty grandmas, schoolboy sweethearts and sexy visitors from the capital. Gentle but endearing.

This time around, co-writer Ricky Gervais has his 3ft 6in protagonist Warwick Davies involved in an excruciating improv session with Johnny Depp - before turning the humour on to himself. When Depp turns up in Gervais's office, he jokes how the comedian came off Twitter because it had 140 characters... '139 more than he has ever managed to come up with' - a cracking piece of self-reflexive comedy that's all too aware of the ghost of David Brent hanging over it. The formula ain't fresh, but it still raises plenty of bold, daring laughs.

Jon Richardson: What I'm watching on TV

Jon Richardson, host of Stand Up For The Week which airs every Friday on Channel 4, tells Metro about his love for the Food Channel, what makes him chuckle at the box - and why he has a soft spot for Stewie from Family Guy.

Stefan Golaszewski's grubby but warm-hearted comedy is on top form tonight: Becky has moved into boyfriend Steve's flat so it's time for the two families to meet - an excruciatingly awkward occasion in which awful presents are exchanged, surprising political alliances bubble to the surface and everyone is very out of their depth.

This vicar comedy may be gentle in tone but its cast, direction and script is often first-rate: witness the scene in which Adam Smallbone's appearance at the impending Pride Of Britain awards is snootily sized up by two well-known guest stars in a sauna. Yes, Tom Hollander's Smallbone is a hero in this series two opener, though he's more intent on forcing fresh air down the lungs of inner-city school kids, via a trip to the White Cliffs of Dover.