Peep Show star David Mitchell and former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe are to examine the “state of modern manners” in a week of programming on BBC Radio 4 in the new year.

Mitchell, currently appearing in the last series of Channel 4 comedy Peep Show, will look take a light-hearted look at burning questions on etiquette, such as how often can you look at your phone in a meeting with colleagues, and whether it is acceptable to wear shorts to a restaurant in the evening.

He will explore how the British developed such complicated manners, and how in an attempt to be free of the “shackles of Victorian etiquette, we got lost”, in four episodes airing in the morning from Monday 4 January.

“Britain is a baffled country that used to have rules,” says Mitchell. “We’re often presented with a rather gloomy picture of a civilisation falling to bits. I’m going to work out whether things really are that terrible, whether there’s some cause for hope, or whether a future of relentless rudeness might not be that bad at all.”

Widdecombe will front a five-part series, which will air daily in the early afternoon from Monday 4 Janaury, looking at the way manners, mores and etiquette have evolved over the centuries, looking at written guides to behaviour “from Erasmus to internet bloggers”.

“Over the centuries, the mark of a civilised country is to know what it is to be civil,” she said. “Each age has defined good manners, standards of behaviour and etiquette in its own image. It’s not just about how best to eat an artichoke or address an archbishop. Manners have a real bearing on how our private lives, our business and our society is best organised.”

The week of programming will conclude on Friday 8 January with William Hanson, author and etiquette coach, explaining why there is such demand for British politeness around the world.

“Issues such as freedom of speech, online trolling and respecting others are all high on our list of concerns right now,” said Mohit Bakaya, commissioning editor, factual, at Radio 4. “So this is a timely exploration of the rules, written and unwritten, that influence the way we behave with one another, as well as the place manners have in our modern world.”