In November 2005, Tate appeared as Lauren in a special sketch for the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon. The segment was a crossover with EastEnders, featuring Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell), Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo) and Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater).

The sketch saw Lauren arrive in Walford in search of revenge on Stacey, who had stolen her boyfriend. When she made an appearance in the Queen Vic, Peggy found herself getting increasingly frustrated with the visitor, who asked, "Are you a Cockney? Are you a Cockney sparrow?" ('Cockney' was pronounced 'Cockeney') and "Do you know Chas and Dave? Are you their mum?" repeatedly. Peggy also used some of Lauren's catchphrases without realising, such as "Are you disrespecting my family?" and "Are you calling me a pikey?" Lauren eventually left the pub after mixing some famous lines from the soap, including "Hello princess" and "Rickaay!" with her usual catchphrase, "Bothered?"

Catherine Tate Show

Also in November, Tate was a guest at the 77th Royal Variety Performance and once again appeared in the guise of Lauren. Looking up at the Royal Box, she mimicked the Queen's accent and asked, "Is one bothered? Is one's face bothered?", adding, "Who is looking after the corgis?" The Queen was seen laughing (at least politely) at this joke, and Prince Phillip also appeared to take this in good humour. There were, however, reports in The Sun Newspaper that the Prince was extremely unimpressed by the performance.

A Christmas show was aired on 20 December 2005. It featured appearances from celebrity guests Richard Park, Charlotte Church and Chas and Dave. In this show we met Paul and Sam's two children, who have identical characteristics to, and look like, their parents. According to official overnights figures, over 5.3 million viewers watched the show, making it the most-watched programme at the time.

The second series started airing on UKTV G2 in January 2006. Series one still airs on UKTV Gold. The second series is also being screened on BBC America, and repeated on BBC2, from June 2006.

Following the success of Series Two, Tate will be launching a range of merchandise based on characters from the show in 2006.

In the BBC's Sport Relief she did a sketch as Nan Taylor, commenting on the 1966 world cup win.