This was never going to be as spectacular as your usual Comic Relief/Children In Need nights. Put together in record time with everyone filming in their home (or to be more precise for many of the affluent stars, in one of their homes) it was very much on the hoof. Sometimes it felt as if it wasn't just the costumes that had been put together quickly, it was the scripts too.

Maybe it was my own optimism/imagination running away with me, but I was expecting a full Vicar of Dibley sketch. Instead we got a serious/comic sermon from Dawn French in character followed by a series of brilliant, if well-worn, clips. It was the same with Miranda. At least all the cast was reunited, but apart from some larking about from Hart and everyone pretending to be horses many of the laughs came from seeing old footage of Miranda losing her dress in a cab door or making a fool of herself.

There was more fun in the fundraising to be had when David Tennant and Catherine Tate teamed up – on separate screens – as not bovvered Lauren and her long-suffering teacher. This had a real comedy element to it and was well done, culminating in a beautifully lip-synced Tik Tok rock duet.

Sometimes it was the simplest gags that worked best. The highlight of the stand-up showcase was Jason Manford's bookcase. Or at least a scribbled sign saying "Bookshelves" where we normally see actual books when people appear on Zoom in their homes.

Was the much-talked about Little Britain reunion worth the wait? Well, yeah, but no, but ultimately yeah. Matt "Baked Potato" Lucas and David WalIiams presumably had a dilemma about whether to do funny accents or dress up as women again, but then decided to do it anyway, adding the classic postmodern get-out clause of asking onscreen whther it was OK to do them. Their Ennio Marchetto-style D-I-Y costumes – cartoon hair, ringlets made out of toilet roll cardboard – added to the fun and, overall, it as good to see them again, complete with cameos from Ruth Jones and Anthony Head. Though they are going to have to think long and hard about their characters if they decide to return with a new series.

There were decent contributions from Romesh Ranganathan showing how he was coping with lockdown and Jack Whitehall sparring with Anthony Joshua for a Bad Education skit. Chabbudy G showed that he had shaved his head for charity – Chabaldy G – in the People Just Do Nothing sketch.

And I couldn't stop myself from smiling at Peter Kay's update of Amarillo featuring clips of key workers dancing along. Certainly better than the original, which featured Jimmy Savile dancing along. My biggest disappointment was that when "Lord Melchett" was introduced it wasn't a full Blackadder reunion but merely Stephen Fry introducing Prince William and his family for the eight o'clock clapalong.

My favourite comedy of the night, however, came, courtesy of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. It wasn't really an episode of the Trip but it did have the same spiky banter as they talked about trying to avoid the phone when Richard Curtis rings because he only calls when he wants a charity favour. As ever, there were hints about the status games they like to play – Coogan appearing in front of his Bafta Award. Their contribution worked particularly well because there is never any studio audience when we watch The Trip, we always have to provide the laughter ourselves at home. And so that's what we did in our house. Firstly when Brydon did his coughing Tom Jones, but best of all when Coogan did his strangled-cat Mick Jagger impression, even if it was filmed badly so we hardly saw him as he did it. I guess you just can't get the staff these days. Laugh of the night, no contest.

Watch Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in Big Night In below.