Russell Howard's Good News, Thursday 10.30pm, BBC Three

Posted by Will Parkhouse

Poor Russell Howard. The Mock the Week comic’s breakout show, a topical news programme, clashed with another, marginally more anticipated topical news programme over on BBC One. Really, with nearly eight million viewers tuning in to see a fat racist getting shouted at on Question Time, was there anyone left to watch this?

Oh well, on the positive side for Russell, it’s a nine-part series, Nick Griffin probably won’t be invited back to QT for a while, and BBC Three’s schedule apparently has time for six repeats, an extended spin-off show and a repeat of the extended spin-off show (seriously!). Who needs an iPlayer, eh?

Boris Johnson makes his EastEnders debut

Posted by Will Parkhouse

Tuning into EastEnders last night, you might have noticed a rather strange scene in which giggly matriarch Peggy Mitchell, standing behind the bar in the Queen Vic, suddenly went all gooey over a round-faced customer with an identical haircut to hers.

“Oh, please call me Boris,” said the Mayor of London, for it was he. Apparently Mr Johnson’s bike had got a puncture, leaving him stranded in Walford. During the stilted chat, he rather pointedly declined a top up of his beer, and for some reason we got a close-up of Boris thrusting his hand over his glass, as if concerned Peggy might be about to spike his drink.

Dispatches: Cops on the Cheap, Monday 8pm, Channel 4

Posted by Tom Murphy

As you go about your day-to-day doings, chances are that if you suddenly need some help from the long arm of the law, the first person you're going to come across will be a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) – one of the 10,000 uniformed personnel who act as the police's “eyes and ears”, as well as the visible and accessible face of community policing.

Journalist Antony Barnett – whose nodding physog loomed large on the screen throughout – questioned the point of PCSOs. He suggested that not only are they unloved by the public and their regular police colleagues, but they're also left vulnerable on the front line, without the necessary powers to provide effective policing or defend themselves from certain members of the public who regard them as a soft target.