Will Smith (I)

Damned preview

The world, inspired by Brand's mother's lifetime career in social work, seems utterly genuine - thanks largely to that central friendship between Al and Rose, both robust characters with difficult lives and a dry sense of humour, which gives the show a warm heart.

Damned: Jo Brand and Himesh Patel excel

Ultimately I feel that Channel 4 have struck gold with Damned and airing it directly after the equally brilliant National Treasure means that I know which channel I'll be tuning into every Tuesday night.

Damned paints social workers as laughably hopeless

Unlike Twenty Twelve, W1A and Borderline, this summer's latest fly-on-the-wall mockumentary from Channel 5, there is little humour to be had in the work itself. Other than one line about being "tasked with making streamlined cluster teams", there is little jargonised nonsense to laugh at. But with five more episodes to come, we can only hope there will be more to look forward to.

Damned pulls off feat of being both funny & poignant

Jo Brand's new sitcom Damned stars herself and Alan Davies as overworked employees in a Children's Services department who employ black humour to help them get through each day

TV preview: Damned, C4

Not wall-to-wall laughs but then it isn't meant to be because life isn't like that. But this is definitely a comedy. There are a lot more gags here than I've ever come across working in offices, some excellent performances and a cameo from rising star Aisling Bea. Looks good to me.

Will Smith's novel "Mainlander" optioned for TV

Mainlander by British comedian Will Smith has been optioned for television by See-Saw Films.

Though its fourth season has been its least impressive, Armando Iannucci's political satire will none the less go down as one of the best ever British comedies: sharp and cynical. Tonight, after last Saturday's excellent Leveson and Chilcot-inspired special, it finally bows out, with an instalment overflowing with delicious duplicity and inventive insults - not least from Malcom Tucker (the ever-wonderful Peter Capaldi) who gives Ollie Reader (Chris Addison) a hilarious dressing down.

The episode picks up with the Home Office having cut police numbers, which in turn has created a huge backlog of arrest paperwork. Cleverly, however, they've managed to shift the blame onto the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship for the burgeoning queues at police stations. "I doubt there are any major criminals on the loose," says Phil Smith (Will Smith). "This is about paperwork; it's not Con Air." Elsewhere, Dan Miller (Tony Gardner), at Malcolm's suggestion, is sent on a fact-finding mission to a police station in an attempt to make the Government look unresponsive. To say any more about the plot would give too much away, but viewers can expect a climax that is as poignant as it is amusing.

Comedian Will Smith's self-penned starring role in this sitcom about a young married couple has gone from a hopeful but wobbly pilot in August 2010 to an impressive, well-written and smartly observed new series in 2012.

The scenes are split between a counselling session for the couple with an oleaginously smug therapist and glimpses into events at home that have led to these heart-to-hearts. It's unashamedly middle class and Middle England, but that does not stop it from being funny.

Radio 4's It's Your Round, hosted by Angus Deayton, is another show that tests the knowledge of a group of eager-to-please comics, and is so aware of its shortcomings that this week's episode began with the disclaimer: "Any similarity between this and other panel games either past or present is something we hope you don't notice." Guests are asked to think up questions based on themes of their own choosing, thus saving producers the bother of hiring writers. This week, Will Smith, the stand-up rather than the Oscar-winning actor, masterminded a series of questions about his birthplace of Jersey, while the Australian comic Celia Pacquola got fellow contestants to pitch a charity through which they might rid themselves of their greatest irritations such as flip-flops or Jennifer Aniston, with Deayton audibly arching his eyebrows throughout. For the guests on the show it was doubtless filler for their CVs; for us it was mere filler.