HOW ironic that Dawn French’s new TV series is about a middle-aged married couple sharing the trials and tribulations of their day. Roger And Val Have Just Got In arrives on screen only weeks after she and husband Lenny Henry announced their marriage was over.

The timing can’t have been lost on French, never one to court media attention anyway. But Roger And Val Have Just Got In was her idea, so she has a commitment to get people to watch it.

That could be difficult, as it’s not a simple sell. “It really isn’t like anything else, is it?” she asks, knowing that once you’ve seen it you’ll agree with her.

The series follows Roger and Val Stevenson (French and Alfred Molina) in the half-hour immediately after arriving home from work as they slip into a comfortable routine, sharing the trials and tribulations of their day.

“It came from my desire to do something small and quite controlled,” she says.

“I wanted to set it in real time with just two actors and to explore a functional, good marriage, rather than a flawed and desperately bad one. And, rather than characters that were on the brink, I wanted a comfortable couple, who were functioning well.

“That’s quite difficult to pull off.”

Although the idea was hers, she decided against writing the series herself, instead inviting twin sisters Emma and Beth Kilcoyne, creators of BBC Three’s Live! Girls! Present Dogtown, to do the honours.

“I have a lot of respect for their work,”

says French. “I felt this had a kind of drama tone with which I’m not familiar.”

For Molina, the series marks his return to British TV after a 20-year absence, during which he has carved out a successful film career in the US.

Both actors agree that it’s a comedy of observation, and viewers will doubtless spot little traits in their own families, friends and even in themselves.

The secret of Roger and Val’s happiness, says French, is that they amuse each other and are comfortable together.

“They play a lot and it’s quite good fun to be in their marriage. The comedy comes from the minutiae of their everyday lives and is very recognisable.

“The first episode is about finding a guarantee, and how many of us have looked for those in a messy drawer you dread having to go into? But their lives have really become a distraction and the normality conceals a defining moment that happened to them years ago. Since then they’ve been trying to survive it.”

THERE are some people who can’t help but shout “what a recovery!”

when they nearly trip, and who hear John Motson’s voice yelling “off the woodwork” when they bounce drunkenly off the doorframe and into the house.

Sport, and more particularly sports commentary, can take over your life.

That’s definitely the case for Pete, the central character in new comedy, Pete Versus Life.

Pete Griffiths (played by Rafe Spall) is a young sports journalist who wishes that life had clearly-defined rules, like football.

His daily routine is commented on by two professional sport commentators – anchor man Colin King (Simon Greenall), and former international footballer Terry McIlroy (Ian Kirkby).

Like a Greek chorus, Colin and Terry discuss and analyse Pete’s domestic mishaps with accompanying statistics, on-screen graphics and slow-motion replays.

SCISSOR SISTERS at Glastonbury 2010 does what it says in the title.

Although the New York quintet remain a cult band in their homeland, British fans have taken them to their hearts, turning their debut album into the best-selling album of 2004. The band brings its third collection, Night Work, which they showcased at the festival, as well as finding time for crowd-pleasing favourites such as Laura, Take Your Mama and I Don’t Feel Like Dancing.