Pete Naughton

Acerbic broadcaster and columnist Charlie Brooker is behind this new three-part satirical drama series, which examines the ways technology has changed our lives. Tonight's first episode, which he wrote, is billed as a "twisted parable for the Twitter age", and follows the crisis that engulfs a fictional Prime Minister when a beloved member of the Royal family is kidnapped.

Although it doesn't quite reach the heights of either The Office or Extras, this new mockumentary series from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant does have its moments. In tonight's third episode, Warwick Davis, the show's star (who, in case you missed the pun, is a famous actor who also happens to be a dwarf) launches his new website, which does rather less well than he was hoping.

There can be little argument, after tonight's episode, that this sitcom about the long-suffering vicar of an inner-city church - which is currently midway through its second series - is among the funniest things on television. It begins with the vicar, Adam (Tom Hollander) rising with a start from a hilariously saucy nightmare only to find that his waking life is no less strange, with an elderly parishioner demanding an exorcism for her new room. Watch out especially for a scene involving the parish's malevolent archdeacon (Simon McBurney) and a lavatory full of snakes.

Between 1953 and 1983, the Leeds City Varieties music hall was known around the country as the home of the BBC's Victorian-style entertainment show The Good Old Days. In this enjoyably droll and observational tour through the BBC archives, Paul Merton investigates the history of the venue - which has recently undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment - and wonders if the music hall tradition is due a comeback after years in the wilderness. He's aided in this task by a handful of evocative clips from the TV show as well as interviews with three of the oldest hands in the business: Ken Dodd, Barry Cryer and Roy Hudd.

The News Quiz] (Radio 4, Friday) returned for a 75th series last week, its host Sandi Toksvig and contestants Dominic Lawson, Jeremy Hardy, Andy Hamilton and Fred MacAulay keen to get at what must be one of the richest current affairs harvests in living memory. As ever, Hamilton had the best lines, noting that the name of Libyan diplomat Moussa Koussa "sounds like an ABBA track" and comparing the all-party select committee responsible for grilling Rupert and James Murdoch to "a panel comprised of Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, Dale Winton, Jim Bowen and Sooty". (Listeners were left to guess which MP most closely resembles a small glove-puppet bear.)

The format may now be as well worn and familiar as an old cardigan, but it's no less welcome for that.

Fans of the whimsical quiz show QI can look forward to a long night on the sofa tonight, with a run of four repeated episodes (the first of which is at 9.00pm) sandwiched around this jolly documentary about the making of the series. Featuring clips from the archives as well as interviews with Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Jo Brand et al, it goes back to the genesis of the series - which was originally conceived as a radio show - and includes a rare glimpse of the bashful research team affectionately known as the "QI Elves".

Following on from the success of her Christmas Cracker and Easter Treat, the ebullient actress Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey) returns for another one-off chat show. It promises to be a jovial affair, with Jonathan Ross, Geordie comic Sarah Millican and the actor Stephen Mangan all joining her on the sofa, as well as music from an irrepressible Irish rockabilly star called Imelda May.

Ronnie Corbett - the pint-sized national treasure, retired comedian and arguably the finest anecdotalist of the last century - is now 80 years old and as sharp as he ever was. Disregarding a slight limp, he also doesn't appear to have aged much in the last 20 years - proof that laughter is indeed the best medicine. Tonight, feeling that it's time for "a new adventure", he embarks on the first leg of a two-part tour through the history of British comedy.

It's basically a victory lap, in which Corbett meets up with a variety of comedy luminaries - from John Cleese to Stephen Merchant to Miranda Hart - and chortles about the good old days. In the hands of a less charming figure this could easily have been a piece of self-indulgent schedule filler, but Corbett has a wonderfully light touch and the programme skips along. The first leg is dedicated to double acts, touching upon Morecambe and Wise, Mitchell and Webb, Matt Lucas and David Walliams and, needless to say, The Two Ronnies. Jokes, anecdotes and clips from the archives abound - look out for the story of how Corbett and Barker made the TV big-time, thanks largely to a power outage and some clever ad-libbing.

Anne Reid, Paul Copley and Justin Moorhouse star in this new four-part sitcom by Moorhouse and Jim Poyser. Justin Moorhouse, naturally, plays Justin the successful, famous and outwardly upbeat Manchester DJ whose real life reflects a greyer reality. His mother is cranky, old and in a home. His wife has left him, taking their eight-year-old son and setting the lawyers on him. So he's back on the market. And so is his house. That's why he's living in his father-in-law's spare bedroom in Bury. The studio audience laughs loud, long and often.

When the comedian and television presenter Bob Monkhouse died in 2003, his family became the custodians of a 50,000-strong collection of videotapes and film reels that he'd amassed with what can only be described as fanatical zeal since the late 1950s. This fascinating documentary, which went out on BBC Four last month, uses clips from the archive to profile Monkhouse's life and career, from early home-movie footage right through to his final stand-up performance.