NEW comedies for this year from BBC4 include Detectorists, a six-part comedy written, starring and directed by Mackenzie Crook.

He stars as wannabe archaeologist Andy, who, alongside friend Lance, spends time in muddy fields with a metal detector and a packed lunch, dreaming of finding that priceless Saxon hoard that will make them rich and cement their place in detecting history.

However, they embark on a journey of greed, betrayal, rejection and redemption as they hurtle towards Danbury Metal Detecting Club’s greatest ever find.

The Walshes is a three-part series co-written by Graham Linehan (The IT Crowd, Father Ted and Count Arthur Strong) and the five-strong comedy troupe Diet of Worms.

Emmy award-winning documentary maker Rhys Thomas and fellow Fast Show comic Simon Day combine in rock doc parody The Life Of Rock With Brian Pern. Paul Whitehouse, Nigel Havers, Matt Lucas and Michael Kitchen also feature in the cast. Guests playing versions of themselves include Jools Holland, Rick Wakeman, David Arnold and Roger Taylor.

In And Out Of The Kitchen is a three-part programme based on the BBC Radio 4 comedy created, written by and starring Miles Jupp about cookery writer Damien Trench (Jupp) and everything that happens to him both in and out of the kitchen.