Why did shameful BBC hide this glorious tribute to one of Britain's greatest comedians?

On Tuesday, Jasper Carrott told his studio audience he hadn't been on telly for a while "for a very good reason - I can't dance, I can't skate and I'm a crap cook". Like every good joke, there is a kernel of truth in that. Modern TV execs spoil us with thrilling evenings of competitive pottery and cut-throat sewing yet making us laugh is often beyond them.

The Beeb's belated tribute to Jasper, who turned 80 in March, was tucked away on BBC4. A shame. The evening over-flowed with comic joy as Carrott noted "a cougar for me would be 98 with an insatiable lust for bingo... Where would you go after a date? Back to her place, the care home!"

Bird-faced Jasper (born Bobby Davies) has always had a nice line in smart, relatable stand-up. Jasper Carrott: Back To The Front found him reflecting on teenage boys: "Surly, rude, uncommunicative, spotty... and what do we do? We make them into shop assistants."

He claimed he'd argued with his son about piercings. "Grandad's had his body pierced," said the boy sulkily. An exasperated Jasper replied, "That was World War II!"

No wonder Robin Williams was a fan.

Like Billy Connolly, Mike Harding and Richard Digance, Carrott started performing in folk clubs, writing observational jokes to stand out from turns who recycled other people's. After his accidental hit single in 1975, he became a TV fixture for decades hosting shows like Carrott's Lib and Canned Carrott, and starring in The Detectives (co-written by Steve 'Peaky Blinders' Knight), a deadpan spoof of crime detective dramas.

One scene had George Sewell's DI telling the two tecs to crack down on drug users. "Drugs ruin lives," thundered Sewell while chain-smoking and knocking back whisky.

Elsewhere, Jasper told us, "Last week my daughter came home with a yo-yo. I think his name was Gordon - a 6ft 3 troglodyte with a forehead that kept the rain off his feet". Sadly that troglodyte would be more likely to get his own TV series now than a sharp, down-to-earth comedian with universal appeal.

• Mark 'The Beast' Labatt hit E4's Celebs Go Dating "like Gandalf meeting the hobbits". Unfortunately on his first date he couldn't stop yawning. He also tried to drink a candle. Mark needs to click with a dominatrix, just to prove she can beat the chaser.

• The odd thing about TV's Real Housewives? None of them ever come close to housework. Like a virus, the original format has mutated into 20 different varieties, ranging from the Orange County originals to Cheshire. Now Real Housewives Of London (Hayu) has landed with a new gang of loaded ladies living shallow but glamorous lives. Episode one found Aussie-born ex-actress Juliet Mayhew rowing with fragrant British-Iranian socialite Panthea Parker over a private dentist. You know how it goes. You send your brat to have his braces fixed and he comes home with six pricey fillings and not a single x-ray to validate the dentist's decision.

• Not exactly Peggy Mitchell vs Pat Butcher behind the Queen Vic bar, but the cast's "car-crash" debut on ITV's This Morning was genuinely unforgettable. Fashion designer Karen Loderick-Peace, Panthea and Amanda Caroline all fluffed their lines; two of them looking at the wrong camera. Television gold! said the compilers of When TV Goes Horribly Wrong.

• BBC3's Tommy: The Good, The Bad & The Fury catches up with Tyson Fury's cruiserweight half-brother as he tries to resurrect his boxing career - and his family. In thoroughly modern style, Tommy, 26, met his fiancée, fashion influencer Molly-Mae Hague - mother of his daughter Bambi - on ITV2's Love Island in 2019.

Months later, he defeated Polish fighter Przemyslaw Binienda in 62 seconds flat. But the right he threw to the Pole's temple ending the bout also nobbled his hand.

Tommy needed immediate surgery but chose to keep fighting, bolstered by cortisone injections, instead. He beat YouTubers Jake Paul and KSI before finally realising he couldn't carry on without an operation. During the long recovery period, he was boozing like Shane MacGowan with a camel's thirst, drinking "to get black-out drunk". Molly-Mae left him. Envious trolls might say he had it coming, yet the Tommy we see on screen is not dislikeable. He might be as bright as a 5-watt bulb, but his love for his ex and their daughter is palpably as genuine as his desire to restart his boxing career.

Fury made his comeback in May, beating Kenan Hanjalic on points. He's no Holyfield but he is determined and disciplined.

He seems morose alone in his Cheshire mansion, but he lights up whenever he speaks to Bambi.

I suspect most BBC3 viewers, like Rocky Balboa's home crowd, will be rooting for Tommy to win the bout that matters most to him - the fight to heal the rift with Molly-Mae.