Tamsin Greig

A satire on TV production, specifically when hit British comedies get remade into terrible US remakes, Episodes was a leaden and unfunny misfire on most levels. There were performances from Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig (as a British screenwriting couple trying to keep their principles in the face of adversity), with a fairly amusing turn from Friends' Matt Le Blanc playing "himself", but it simply wasn't enjoyable to watch all the way through. It limped along after a poor start, with perhaps two episodes that actually rose to an acceptable quality level, which isn't enough. Given the talent involved and subject-matter that felt like it could have something to say about Anglo-American cultural differences, Episodes was one of this year's bigger disappointments to me. A comedy that had its handful of targets in mind, and bludgeoned them over and over, week after week...

Gemma Arterton, in saucy hotpants, returns to her native Dorset village to wreak emotional havoc on the local menfolk, in Stephen Frears's take on Posy Simmons's update of Far From the Madding Crowd. It's diverting enough as tragi-comic Aga-saga soap, but Tamsin Greig is superb as a novelist's wife who runs a writers' rural retreat.

Now in their 21st year, the British Comedy Awards have long served as a bellwether for the state of British comedy, from the quirky satire of the early 1990s, through the energetic sketch shows of the mid- to late-90s, to the recent success of family-friendly stand-up comics like Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and John Bishop. Thanks to a sharp host, a ready supply of funny clips and a suitably witty audience, they've also been one of the few live awards ceremonies actually worth watching.

Tonight's event is hosted live by Jonathan Ross. Leading the nominees is Miranda Hart, who is up for four awards, while Harry Hill gets three nods. Hart, last year's Queen of Comedy winner, is up for the award again, with David Mitchell, Telegraph agony uncle Graham Norton, Jack Whitehall, Jo Brand and Sarah Millican also in the running. Tamsin Greig and Tom Rosenthal are nominated for best TV comedy actress and best comedy breakthrough artist respectively for their roles in Friday Night Dinner, while Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner have been singled out for their contribution to Outnumbered. Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville receives a nomination for his role in the Olympic comedy Twenty Twelve.

Tamsin Greig: the question everyone asks me

Tamsin Greig talks to Jasper Rees about The Archers, her latest stage role - and snogging Joey from Friends.

Doon Mackichan joins Tamsin Greig in 'Jumpy' play

Doon Mackichan will join Tamsin Greig in cast of April de Angelis' Jumpy which opens at the Royal Court on 19 October (previews from 13 October) and runs until 19 November 2011.

Tamsin Greig to take on Royal Court role

Tamsin Greig is to star in a new comedy at London's Royal Court Theatre about a former Greenham Common protester as part of its new season.

Robert Popper's vaguely autobiographical sitcom isn't black-hearted, cruel, vituperative or blushingly filthy, yet on C4 earlier this year it still secured a devoted following of viewers who liked its inherent good-heartedness and lack of guile. Certainly this E4 rerun is very welcome and might help to keep fans going until the arrival of series two. Popper has adapted his own early family life to bring us the Goodmans: Mum, Dad and two grown-up kids, who gather round the dinner table every Friday. Mum (splendid Tamsin Greig) is daffy and obsessed by MasterChef, while Dad (Paul Ritter) is a bit bonkers, and has a bizarre obsession with his yellowing collection of ancient New Scientist magazines. It's all a bit Mike Leigh, only funnier.

That's Mine, This Is Yours (Radio 4, Wednesday) was a wryly romantic comedy by Peter Souter whose success on radio (Goldfish Girl, for one) sent him rocketing off to ITV where writers with a gift for the wistful are not cherished as much as those whose scripts come dripping in murder. Here, with brilliant Tamsin Greig and Alex Jennings as the divorced couple meeting to divide up the leftovers of their marriage and clever Gordon House as director, he shone again.

Peter Souter's play is a romantic comedy. Alex Jennings and Tamsin Greig play a couple who are splitting up. They meet in their old, cold house to divide up their joint possessions. There's a locked sea chest, an old tandem, a little tin chicken that lays tin eggs, that sort of stuff. As they go through it all they're bound to think of how they got them (just like in that great song, Thanks For the Memory) and the icy atmosphere warms up. They know each other well. And this writer (remember his Goldfish Girl?) knows how funny that can be.

Adam arrives for dinner at mum and dad's, but things seem a little off-kilter. Dad Martin (Paul Ritter, who should be crowned a comedy king in a special ceremony) is dressed in a suit, the table is laid with flowers and "mum's posh bowls" - and there's an extra place set for dinner. Of course, it's a trap, one that Adam (Simon Bird) walks straight into when mum (super Tamsin Greig) announces that Tanya Green will be joining the Goodman family for their end-of-the-week get-together. Poor unsuspecting Adam has been set up on a date by his infuriatingly well-meaning mother and what follows is excruciating: an acutely painful succession of burps and nosebleeds from dad and inappropriateness from mum ("Give her a kiss hello, Adam"). But even these levels of raw embarrassment count for nothing when weird neighbour Jim (Mark Heap) arrives with Winston, his lugubrious dog. Winston has swallowed Jim's keys, which is the cue for a toe-curling sequence with man, beast, a newspaper and a twig. It's the last episode of Robert Popper's cheerfully silly comedy. Oh, how I will miss it. There'd better be a second series, Channel 4.