Kayvan Novak in Julian Assange-inspired comedy

Fonejacker star Kayvan Novak is starring in a new comedy inspired by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's stay in the Ecuadorian embassy. The BBC Four show, called Asylum, is described as "a satirical comedy about a government whistle-blower and a millionaire internet entrepreneur trapped together in a London embassy".

Kayvan Novak: I plan to do more prank stuff on the TV

Kayvan Novak, the creator of Fonejacker and Facejacker, has said he hasn't finished doing pranks.

Radio Times review

St Saviour's Church is under threat as we return to east London and the pastoral care of the Rev Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander), who's now dad to a sweet baby daughter. As he changes nappies, the new Area Dean and Diocesan Secretary (Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine) drop dark hints of closure.

There aren't any belly laughs in Rev., but that doesn't matter as there are plenty of smiles, because it's that rarity, a good-hearted sitcom without guile or meanness. Adam is a genial pragmatist (except when it comes to fixing the church's dangerously faulty wiring), devout, of course, but without any of that off-putting zeal. He wants to improve his community's grim children's playground and launches a fundraising campaign with the local imam (Fonejacker Kayvan Novak).

All of Rev's great characters are back, notably the terrifying Archdeacon (Simon McBurney) and the decrepit Colin (Steve Evets).

Back (at last) for a third series, Tom Hollander's beleaguered cleric Adam Smallbone and wife Alex (Olivia Colman) are now the parents of a baby daughter, but the finances of St Saviour's are still threadbare. Enter two welcome additions - played by Getting On's Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine - an area dean and diocesan secretary intent on shutting down Adam's church. Can an ecumenical church fête, shared by the go-ahead imam of a nearby mosque (and played by Kayvan Novak) save the day?

Series 3 gets off to a quite unforgettable start tonight as we witness the sudden birth of Adam and Alex's baby daughter in the back of a black cab. But what will burn this scene forever into your memory is the unlikely member of the cast who has the honour of acting as midwife.

Fast forward several months and while Adoha and Colin (Ellen Thomas and Steve Evets) are both desperate to be godparents to baby Katie there's a much less welcome arrival in the shape of two church officials.

The new area dean and diocesan secretary (the great double act of Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine) will put the future of St Saviour's in doubt. Adam (Tom Hollander) has to go all out to convince them that his church is thriving, even if it struggles to achieve even a tenth of the turnout of the nearby mosque. So he teams up with the local imam (Fonejacker's Kayvan Novak) to raise funds to pay for a children's playground.

Apart from that terrific opening set piece, Rev isn't a comedy that tends to go in for grand gestures, preferring instead for the humour to bubble up gently from the depth of its wildly assorted characters ranging from Archdeacon Robert (Simon McBurney) at the top all the way down to Mick (Jimmy Akingbola).

Review: Rev, BBC2

Best of all in this episode is the aforementioned Kayvan Novak as Yussef. Novak has come a long way since Fonejacker and really is a very versatile comic actor.

Rev series 3 to tackle gay marriage

New run of comedy will tackle serious issues and see the introduction of Dexter Fletcher and Kayvan Novak when it returns to BBC Two next month.