Laughter in the dark

In the light of decidely disappointing recent sitcom offerings such as The Function Room (a cheap studio laughter-track-fest in which Kevin Eldon and Reece Shearsmith are wasting their talents) and the pilot of Toast Of London (a collaboration between Arthur Mathews and Matt Berry, the latter of whom also stars), it's encouraging to learn that Julia Davis is about to return with a new series of her own. Hunderby is described as a "historical comedy drama", so quite different to Nighty Night - but, it seems, with a similarly dark edge. Just as you'd expect from a comic who claims that meeting Chris Morris, likeminded "in the weirdness sort of thing", was "such a relief".

The new show will air on Sky Atlantic, which - given that it's also been screening the latest Alan Partridge series Mid Morning Matters (which was initially online only) - appears to be staking a serious claim in the comedy game. At this rate, surrendering to Murdoch might be inevitable.