Bruce Dessau's top TV comedy for 2016

It's been a bad year in all sorts of ways, but not in terms of TV comedy. I sat down today to come up with a top ten of the year and had difficulty narrowing it down to ten. Of course there were disappointments and programmes that didn't quite live up to expectations, such as Sky's Andrew Lawrence documentary, but there was still plenty to laugh at here. And if you are quick some of them are still available on various catch-up services. And in case you are wondering, I decided not to include Black Mirror - it was brilliant but just too painfully real to be funny.

Jo Brand and Morwenna Banks's beautifully bittersweet comedy of life at Elm Heath children's services department concludes with Denise intent on laying down the law. Cases must be closed and "there will be a head count" to make sure nobody skives off; bad news for Al, who needs to leave early for a mini-break in Paris. Meantime, Rose and Nitin investigate a report that a baby has been abandoned in Superbrands; bound to be a "prank baby" ... right?

As if the welfare of children wasn't already demanding enough for Rose, caring for her elderly mother at home piles on further pressure as this downbeat but likable Jo Brand sitcom continues. Meanwhile, at the office, a pair of Muslim teens go missing from their foster home. The police officer tasked with tracing the pair seems determined to channel Jack Bauer, while Al remains convinced that more traditional teen behaviour is to blame.

Jo Brand interview

Jo Brand on being a nihilistic teenager, her 'humiliating' stage debut - and the most important thing in life.

Jo Brand co-writes and stars in this downbeat but lovely social workers comedy. The third episode sees Al (Alan Davies) being sent to help a gay couple who are being hassled by locals, and Nitin (Himesh Patel) managing to get stuck in an air vent while trying to handle a hostage situation. The subject matter allows the scattering of some very real-world grit in among the frequent laughs, with Isy Suttie's jarring temp a particular highlight.

Jo Brand and Morwenna Banks's public-sector sitcom continues, with the social workers' patience evaporating as inexorably as their department's budget. Rose's former husband continues to revolt, as do the staff kitchen in an altogether different way. Al visits some new parents and finds something worth fighting for, while Nat has some bad news that even her meticulously colour-coded Post-It arrangement can't quite quell.

Damned, damn it, didn't quite get going. It features Jo Brand, Alan Davies, Kevin Eldon, which should be enough for most, and is a kind of amalgam of Brand's Getting On and The Office. Set in a social work centre.

Much of the first episode had, perforce, to establish scene and characters: the arsewit idiots, the kind idiots and the thudbucket incompetents. Wincingly funny in parts, but the whole has yet to surpass the sum of its parts. Social workers don't exactly need a bad press these days, but Brand might just have pulled off a neat little trick, a la W1A, by getting us through laughter to acknowledge the flawed humanity that inhabits any specific world. There is much hope, though I fear for the moment when it gets labelled in TV Quick or somesuch as a "documentary series".

Damned review

Brand is back with another celebratory, respectful, mucky sitcom.

Damned: Jo Brand strikes comedy gold

This set-up could easily disintegrate, unless the cast keep working on ways to make us like their unlovable characters. So far, they're giving it everything.