Comic Relief 2021: When is it, what time does it start and who is on it this year?

Stars from Olivia Colman to David Tennant are appearing in comedy sketches throughout the night

The BBC charity fundraiser for Comic Relief is back on Red Nose Day later this week, and is set to serve up a night of star-studded entertainment despite the pandemic.

From Sir Lenny Henry and Olivia Colman to David Tennant and Keira Knightley, the UK’s biggest names are getting together to raise money for a number of initiatives including the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, Make Poverty History and Covid-19 emergency support measures.

Here’s everything you need to know…

When is it on TV?

The telethon airs on BBC One on Friday 19 March, from 7-10pm.

What can we expect?

David Tennant and Michael Sheen in their Staged sketch (BBC/Comic Relief 21)

The evening will be a mix of comedy, music, live performances, sketches and updates from Comic Relief’s global fundraising efforts.

It will be presented by Henry, Tennant, Alesha Dixon, Davina McCall and Paddy McGuiness.

Read more:

• Patsy Palmer ‘does a Piers Morgan’ and storms off Good Morning Britain live on air
• The Simpsons producer defends series after Homer is rewritten as a teenager in the Nineties
• Netflix secret codes: How to access hidden films

Dawn French will be reprising her Vicar of Dibley role, lip-syncing along to “Juice” by Lizzo, accompanied by an actual priest, Reverend Kate Bottley.

Keira Knightley, Michael Sheen and YouTuber KSI will star in 2020: The Movie, which is billed as "part biopic, part disaster film".

Olivia Colman, Anya Taylor-Joy and Guz Khan will be joining Jack Whitehall’s Zoom Meeting, and Michael Sheen and David Tennant are putting on a special of their lockdown comedy Staged.

Back To The Future: The Musical is a sketch penned by one of the trilogy’s creators, Bob Gale, and Daniel Craig and Catherine Tate will feature in a James Bond sketch.

Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page will star as Prince Charming in Comic Relief does Cinderella.

A Normal People vs Fleabag sketch, originally seen on RTE Does Comic Relief last summer, will also be shown, starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

What else is on?

At 10pm, turn over to BBC One to see Later… with Jools Holland for Comic Relief, where Henry will choose and discuss his favourite performances from the archive.

Also, at 10.45pm on BBC One, there is the Great Comic Relief Prizeathon, where viewers can win big prizes.