By Jeremy Clay

This is a chap called Russell Brand. You might have heard of him.

The current holder of the title of Most Reviled Man In Britain was back on the box last night with the storm over those wince-inducing calls to blameless Andrew Sachs showing no sign of abating.

Twenty seven thousand complaints, and rising. Far, far more, by the way, than ever rang in when TV was pumping out racist guff like Love Thy Neighbour. Make of that what you will.

There don’t seem to be many winners in this now-rather tiresome Manuelgate business, though I’d guess there have been some high-fives in the newsrooms of a few national papers, who are old masters at the dark art of whipping up public rage to their own private delight.

Channel 4 comes out of it quite nicely, though. The whole out-of-control fuss will have landed Russell Brand’s Ponderland (10.35pm) a bigger audience. Including journalists, hoping for new things to find offensive.

Ponderland is essentially a clips show, so shares a bloodline with stuff like It’ll Be Alright On The Night. Not that you’d notice, as Brand does a neat job of masking its humdrum roots.

This opening episode was all about pets. There was bizarre footage of an old boy who dyed pigeons yellow and blue, and a woman who talked lovingly to her parrot about their pact to die on the same day.

The real stars of the show are the researchers who unearthed these nutty old interviews from the archives.

Brand merely strings it all together. But he does that brilliantly, in a series of freewheeling links which fizz with manic energy.

I like Brand, despite his slip-up. He’s said sorry; he’s quit the BBC. Let’s not try and crucify him.

Mind you, I think his penance should stretch to a nice pressie for the poor souls who man the BBC’s complaints hotline. Imagine having to soak up all that indignation.

Life (9pm, ITV3) is a new drama starring Damien Lewis as a cop jailed for 12 years for a crime he didn’t commit.

He’s a jumble of quirks, is Detective Charlie Crews, but it’s characterisation at a price: and the price is the plot.

The beautifully-filmed opener spent so long on his idiosyncrasies - he’s obsessed with fruit and forever quotes Zen proverbs - there was barely any room for a story.