Dara O Briain and Hugh Dennis (pictured) kick off 2021 with a look back on the last seven days on Mock The Week in the company of guests Ed Gamble, Ed Byrne, Maisie Adam, Rhys James and Ria Lina.

OK, we know that O Briain and Dennis have been around for yonks – and Ed Byrne too – but Mock The Week is very good at giving newer comedians a break.

Ed Gamble is pretty well established now and Rhys James is also a smart, fresh stand-up, who is also very good on Twitter.

But it's great to see Ria Lina, who has been a circuit regular for years, usually accompanied by her ukelele, getting more mainstream screentime. She was on Have I Got News For You? recently too. Lina is the only female Filipina comedian in British stand up and has performed for audiences across the world and has been the finalist in multiple comedy competitions. She won Best Comedy Show at the Greater Manchester Fringe and was a finalist in Amused Moose Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe. 

Lina has a BSc in Experimental Pathology, an MSc in Forensic Science and a PhD in Virology, so she is better qualified to comment on Covid-19 than most comedians. 

And as for Maisie Adam, the more we get of Maisie the better. You can also currently catch her doing the voiceover on ITV reality show The Cabins. Adam said of The Cabins, "It’s got all the sexiness of Love Island, the cuteness of First Dates, the intensity of Married At First Sight, the madness of Love Is Blind, and THE VOICE OF A SWEET NORTHERN ANGEL, what more do ya want?!"

Adam has picked up an Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination and won the Amused Moose National New Comic Award 2018 and So You Think You’re Funny? in 2017.

Mock The Week, Thursday, January 14, 9.30pm, BBC Two.

Picture: BBC