Dawn French

When William Fenton (Heap) dies, his wife Debbie (French) doesn’t spend a lot of time grieving. She’s too busy thinking about the life insurance payout. There’s just one problem: William isn’t actually dead.

After a clerical error sees William declared deceased, the couple cook up a scheme. All he needs to do is camp out in the loft for a few months until the payout arrives, and both will be set for life. Their son Harry has to deal with the pair, who he comes to realise aren’t much more emotionally developed than his toddlers.   

The product of Jennifer Saunders’ acerbic wit, Ab Fab also starred Saunders as a boozy fashion PR mogul called Edina Monsoon. Together with her sidekick magazine fashion director Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley), the two are high-functioning addicts who resort to desperate measures to fight off old age.

Julia Sawahala played Edina’s long-suffering daughter Saffy, and Jane Horrocks her foolish PA Bubble.

These days, TV comedies created and written by women, and starring a predominantly female cast, are rightly everywhere. It wasn’t always like that, especially in the UK where, not that long ago, female characters in sitcoms were often typecast as the butt of male jokes and relegated to the stock roles of sexpot, nagging wife or harridan mother-in-law.

In a welcome shake-up of the celebrity-on-celebrity interview format, each episode sees Burke invite a famous friend to bring their best gallows banter and fantasise about their deaths.

She has described it as her “fantasy football” version of death and funeral planning. The likes of James Acaster, Jamali Maddix and Stewart Lee are on the line-up. But the draw is undoubtedly Burke herself, and it’s as sweary and smutty a podcast as you could hope for from her.

The iconic duo will pair up once again to film on the set of their classic sketch show to talk about the wealth of female contributions to the comedy landscape across history and across the globe. 

They will discuss the women who were the very first trailblazers in the industry, to those who inspired a young French and Saunders and today’s generation of comedy stars. 

The special will be a fun and eye-opening celebration of the many women in comedy past and present. 

The documentary will reveal never-before-seen footage of rehearsals and what really occurred behind the scenes. 

Produced by Expectation, the special will see Dawn French and Richard Curtis partner talk about their favourite moments from the sitcom with writer Paul Mayhew-Archer, producer Jon Plowman and James Fleet, who played Hugo Horton, and guest stars such as Hugh Bonneville, Kylie and Joanna Lumley. 

Dawn French commented: “It was a total treat to revisit such a happy place and time for this documentary. Part of my heart is still, and forever will be in Dibley.”

With three ten-minute episodes, the vicar will be reflecting on the past extraordinary year, giving sermons on everything from making home-made wine to the danger of having Owen Newitt cut your hair. Geraldine will be joined by Hugo Horton (James Fleet) and some local primary school children.

The three sermons will then be compiled into a thirty-minute compilation which will air over Christmas on BBC One.

Dawn French said: “Back in the dog collar, back in Dibley and back on your telly at Xmas. I couldn’t be happier. Bless you.”

Inspired by the true story of when Roald Dahl met his hero Beatrix Potter at six-years-old, Roald & Beatrix promises to be a magical Christmas film combining live action filming with puppetry and stop-frame animation.

Dawn French (French and Saunders) will play the children’s author Beatrix Potter, who created beloved characters such as Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck.

Jack Whitehall and Rosie Perez (Do the Right Thing, White Men Can’t Jump) will pair up in new action comedy Bounty Hunters.

Uptight Brit Barnaby Walker (Whitehall) is sorting out his family’s antique business after his father is hospitalised following a mysterious accident. He unwittingly buys a blood antiquity looted from the Middle East, and as a result sets off a chain of events that he is evidently not trained or prepared for.

Judi Dench - All the World's Her Stage

BBC One, 8pm

This documentary celebrates one of Britain’s best-loved actors Dame Judi Dench, by looking back over her remarkable 60-year career.

Narrated by Colin Salmon, with contributors including Daniel Craig, Ann Mitchell, Sam Mendes and Sir Ian McKellan, the film reveals why Judi Dench has become the ‘second most popular woman in Britain’.