Simon Callow

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.

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.

New sketch show enlivened no end by the prodigious talent of performers like Simon Callow and Kevin Eldon cranking some laughs out of the hit-and-miss material. It doesn't help that every routine is punctuated by the sort of hideous synthesiser riff a junior manager of Dixons would demonstrate on a Casio keyboard circa 1988. Worth it, though, for Charlie Brooker's input and the professionalism of those on show.

Comedian Sarah Millican's new show is a jumble of stand-up, sketches and chat, but it serves her talents well. Tonight she swaps banter with actor Simon Callow, weatherman John Kettley, and Downton Abbey's Phyllis Logan. She seems that unlikeliest of creatures, a happy clown, and her jokes hit more than miss. On why Millican never watches Top Gear: "If I wanted to watch slightly racist middle-aged men driving, I'd just take a cab."

"She just likes working so if someone offers her a job, she takes it. She's crazy," says Geoffrey Palmer affectionately in an attempt to explain why Dame Judi Dench has had so many disparate roles during her lengthy career. Having started out as a Shakespearean actor, she cornered the market in gritty TV drama before becoming the queen of middle-class British sitcoms.

Then Hollywood caught up and cast her as M in the Bond films, since when she's played Queen Victoria, Elizabeth I and Iris Murdoch, among others. Her peers, including Simon Callow and Samantha Bond all talk fondly, telling stories of her mischievous side, illustrated by the occasional outtake that'll bring a smile. "You always wanted to be in Judi's gang because they had the most fun," says As Time Goes By's Philip Bretherton. And you can absolutely see why.

From classical stage work to Hollywood blockbusters, 77-year-old Judith Olivia Dench is our finest actress working today. This documentary charts the Dame's distinguished career via the roles she has played over the past half century. We discover how she disliked drama at school in York but "had a go" and rose to prominence in 1960s theatre. She impressed during an early small screen appearance in Z Cars, which led to later TV work including Cranford and A Fine Romance, alongside late husband Michael Williams. Her career was redefined, though, by an extraordinary run of films: whipping James Bond into shape in GoldenEye; her acclaimed turn as Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown; and the Oscar-winning Elizabeth II in Shakespeare in Love. This otherwise pedestrian programme is made by the quality of the clips which include last year's Proms tribute to Stephen Sondheim, out-takes showcasing Dench's dirty laugh and footage from the original stage production of Cabaret. Michael Parkinson, Simon Callow and Geoffrey Palmer also share their anecdotes. It's preceded at 7.00pm by another chance to see the final episode of As Time Goes By.

Dame Judi Dench may be a Hollywood superstar now, but to say she's paid her dues is a bit of an understatement. This documentary, which spans her 50-year career, shows her first TV appearance in Z Cars and her time in gentle sitcom-land with A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By. But it wasn't until she became "a newcomer in her 60s" playing M in Goldeneye and bagging awards for Mr Brown and Shakespeare In Love that she was unleashed as an international star. Friends and fans Michael Parkinson, Geoffrey Palmer and Simon Callow bow down.

Word of mouth is growing: This Is Jinsy doubled its audience in its second week. If you're coming in now, you've hit upon the best episode yet.

It's snowing, which is bad for shorts-wearer Arbiter Maven (Justin Chubb) even before he has to trek across country with his fearsome former teacher - a delicious guest turn from Simon Callow. Nigel Planer is equally fantastic as a madman who lives in a miniature chalet, while Harry Hill returns, in that figure-hugging coral skirt, as sensual law enforcer Joon Boolay.

Amid the nonstop gags, Chubb and co-creator Chris Bran always steal the show with their songs. Tonight they're dusty geriatrics Retch and Hoik, authors of the rousing march Put in Your Teeth. Plus, the ever-present, eight-strong Island Singers - Chubb and Bran in four different wigs and frocks, superimposed next to each other - offer thoughtful comment on the futility of working life.

Comic Relief's mix of mirth and misery done to a turn

BBC show features appearances from Andy Murray, Kim Cattrall and Simon Callow - plus Ronnie Corbett hiding in the bushes.

Review: The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry

Simon Callow revels in a warm and finely crafted work, but longs to glimpse the real man beneath it.