Comedy

Fleabag series two casts Kristin Scott Thomas and Fiona Shaw

The stars will be joining Andrew Scott (Sherlock) as new cast members for the second series of the hit BBC Three comedy.

“Phoebe Waller Bridge cannot be ignored,” said Dame Thomas. “She manages to hit core issues with sledgehammer brutality as she trips along with a spring in her step.”

Fiona Shaw added, “Phoebe's mind is like nothing else.”

The Russell Howard Hour returns for a third and fourth series

(Credit: Sky)

The topical entertainment show sees Howard offer his unique and funny perspective on news and current affairs, heckling the headlines and hosting a celebrity guest each week.

Filmed in front of a studio audience, the comedian also talks to children about global politics, champions the nation’s generosity and addresses his fear of mortality and tries various life prolonging activities.

“I absolutely love doing this show,” commented Russell Howard. “It’s such a ridiculous privilege that I get to write jokes as the world spins out of control.”

UKTV announces cast of Dad’s Army remake

Robert Bathurst, Kevin R. McNally and Bernard Cribbins (Credit: UKTV/Gold)

Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes will recreate three episodes of the classic sitcom Dad’s Army that were lost from the archive.

The series will celebrate 50 years since the first broadcast of the original episodes, written by David Croft and Jimmy Perry, who devised the idea for Dad’s Army back in the 1960s.

In the original series, which ran from 1968 until 1977, Arthur Lowe played Captain Mainwaring, the pompous bank manager-turned-leader of the local group of Home Guards during the Second World War.

Stath Lets Flats returns for a second series

Stath (Jamie Demetriou) in Stath Lets Flats (Credit: Channel 4)

The six-part series stars the show’s writer, Jamie Demetriou, as Stath, the UK’s worst letting agent.

After the chaos of the previous series, which included Stath setting fire to a property, the well-meaning lettings agent has been denied a promotion at his own family’s business.

Now under the management of Stath’s nemesis Julian (Dustin Demri-Burns), the hopeless estate agent must re-think what he wants out of life, just like his sister Sophie (Natasia Demetriou), who has failed her exams at Dance College.

Comedians head home for Comedy Central

Tom Allen hosting the RTS Craft & Design Awards 2018 (Credit: RTS / Richard Kendal)

The Comedy Bus (w/t) will follow six comedians as they travel to each of their hometowns to see how they have changed over the years.

Joining Dommett and Stirling for a trip down memory lane are Mock the Week regular Tom Allen, Suzi Ruffell, Darren Harriott and Kiri Pritchard-Mclean.

The series will be produced by Sacha Baron Cohen and Andrew Newman’s company Spelthorne Community Television

Russell Howard heads to Asia for Comedy Central

(Credit: Comedy Central UK)

The duo’s warm and funny relationship is once again dissected for the third season of their travelling adventures.

Following the success of the pair’s USA Road Trip, the new 6-part season will see mother and son discover a world of Samurais in Japan, advanced technology in South Korea, and an island paradise in Thailand.

Their journey continues with a visit to a 5-star acting academy in Mumbai to learn what it takes to make it in Bollywood. The pair also attempt folkoric water puppetry in Vietnam and care for rescue elephants in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.

Top TV picks: 27th December

Morecambe & Wise in America 

Gold, 8.00pm

Jonathan Ross hosts new documentary Morecambe & Wise in America, which will focus on the comedy double act’s attempt to break America.

Iconic duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise’s working relationship is explored in this three-part series, which features over an hour’s worth of footage never seen before in the UK. Morecambe & Wise in America follows the pair on a series of trips they made to appear on one of the USA’s largest variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show.