This prank show was one of a series of online pilots for BBC Three, which I reviewed for a previous Gigglebox column.

Out of all of the pilots that BBC Three had to offer earlier in the year, this was deemed to be so successful that it needed a series almost immediately (after all, prank shows are cheap to make, especially in these financially tight times). I was glad, because out of all of them this one was the most surprising, in the sense that it's a prank show that's actually good.

The premise is that four comedians, Joel Dommet, Roisin Conaty, Paul McCaffrey and Marek Larwood, are each given a series of challenges. As one comic performs in front of hidden cameras, the other three force them to do humiliating things in front of their unsuspecting audience. The comedian who fails to do as they're told the most is forced to do a final forfeit at the end of the show. Great stuff.

The show's so successful, of course, because of the people involved. They're all professional comedians. In most prank shows, it's just members of the public who are all unwittingly doing something stupid. In Impractical Jokers however, all four performers know how to get the most from the situations and get those extra laughs. It can be as simple as constantly saying "peek-a-boo" while washing someone's hair, to pretending you're remembering something by tapping your nose on a customer's knee.

If I were to have any complaints about the series it would be with the cartoonish opening sequence and animation that they use, which is too annoying for my liking. Other than that it's a hit.

The hidden camera show is given a cruel twist in Impractical Jokers, awarded a full run here after a pilot earlier in the year. Here the stooge thrown out into the general public is forced to perform increasingly embarrassing acts of humiliation at the hands of the other performers in the show, who gleefully order fellow cast members to do the unspeakable through an earpiece while watching them squirm on a monitor. Joel Dommett, Roisin Conaty, Paul McCaffrey and Marek Larwood are the victims/perpetrators.

This week's new live comedy

Paul Foot: Kenny Larch Is Dead, Roisin Conaty: Lifehunter, Hal Cruttenden: Tough Luvvie.

A new comedy series in which three comedians (this week Frank Skinner, Josh Widdicombe and Roisin Conaty), presided over by Jack Dee, mock the lives and habits of four selected (and willing) audience members. Each round sees the spectator with least comic value being voted off. Desperately unfunny.

Watch television with Roisin Conaty

The standup comedian on her viewing habits, from Come Dine With Me to Blind Date.

Sun comedy meets Roisin Conaty

In 2010 Roisin Conaty scooped the coveted Fosters Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

Pure silliness abounds as Dave Gorman hosts a one-off show in which he asks his contestants - Chris Addison, Roisin Conaty, Geoff Lloyd and Seymour Mace - to compete for gold medals in, quite frankly, ludicrous rounds. For example, Usain Bolt can run the 100m in 9.58 seconds: what do the panellists think they could do in 9.58 seconds? It's fantastic to see Absolute Radio's Geoff Lloyd pop up on a panel show. He's one of the sharpest wits on air.

Downton Abbey, an Old Etonian government, a striking workforce and rioting on the streets - it seems that class is, once again, dominating the headlines. And class is always a fruitful subject for comedians to kick against, which is exactly what they're doing in this one-off special. Frank Skinner is joined by cockney-made-good Micky Flanagan, 'salt of the earth' Roisin Conaty and Rev's well-heeled Miles Jupp to dissect the issue with some comedy chat and experiments in front of a studio audience.

Frank Skinner takes a light-hearted look at a topic the British can never quite escape - class. He's joined by comedians Roisin Conaty, Miles Jupp and Micky Flanagan, who embark on various class-oriented missions, before bringing their findings to a studio audience. Conaty goes on a date with a man who struggles with the concept of fish fingers, Flanagan tries to get to the bottom of Modern Art, and Jupp has his home counties accent softened to see if he can fit in at the local market.

Apropos of absolutely nothing, Frank Skinner hosts a vaguely awkward cross between a televised debate and a generic comedy panel show on the subject of class. Observations are made by Skinner (not posh) and guests Miles Jupp (posh), Micky Flanagan (not posh), and Roisin Conaty (not posh, so skewing the balance quite considerably), interspersed with each guest going out and doing something that makes them feel socially awkward.