Recorded during the BBC’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1972, a special edition of the much-loved radio comedy show, which took place before a distinguished audience at the Camden Theatre.
These were made by video technicians and were generally used to amuse colleagues and friends at the BBC Xmas parties, hence the name "Christmas Tapes". In relation to British television, Christmas tapes are unendorsed videotapes compiled by technical staff for their personal amusement and peers' enjoyment. The name originates from the 1950s, when the material was filmed at the staff's Christmas parties where impromptu sketches were carried out. As time progressed, other types of material (such as outtakes and deliberate misbehaviour) were included on the videos. Some of the most notable examples of the Christmas tape genre were made in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before the digital television era, when VT engineers started recording errors and out-takes to disk - for some viewers who saw these, it was surprising to hear television stars making mistakes and swearing onscreen.
A BBC charity comedy and music show, recorded At The Apollo Theatre London 1st June 1981, introduced by Alexei Sayle, featuring Rik and Ade, Not The Nine O'Clock News, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Chas and Dave and more.
81 Take 2 was a sketch-based review of 1981, produced by BBC Scotland for the BBC-1 network and broadcast on Hogmanay from 23:20–23:55. The cast of four main performers were all Scots — John Bett, Celia Imrie, Robbie Coltrane, and Ron Bain.
Eric Sykes gives a tongue-in-cheek account of his follies and fortunes as an actor, gag writer and comedian in a long and successful career in the theatre, on radio and television. He pays tribute to his friends in showbusiness and in particular to Hattie Jacques, Richard Wattis and the team of his long-running Sykes series. With special guests Eddie Lester, John Evans and Tony Hayes.
Sketches, stand-up comedy and songs combine to create the latest daytime show to be hosted by a popular husband-and-wife team. There are tips on female problems like seriously split ends, calorie reports, keep-fit with Jolly Polly , Agony Uncle Gerard's phone-in, and Britain's first four-times-daily soap, set in a cosy corner of a shopping mall. With Julie Walters , Celia Imrie , Susie Blake , Duncan Preston and Lill Roughley. Written by Victoria Wood
Private Eye's Bore of the Year Awards
Angus Deayton and guests Richard Wilson, Jack Dee and Maureen Lipman look back over 1995. Including Big Ben at midnight.
A couple on a first date in London are determined to find a drink after closing time, to prove to themselves that they are not careworn and middle aged. A romantic comedy written by and starring Alexei Sayle.
Ulrika Jonsson gets her own showcase thanks to the writing of her 'Shooting Co-Stars', Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. The former weather girl stars as Public Baywatch Lifeguard, crazy pop drummer, wild eyed chef Mary O'Connor, a pancake flinging stripper and the parent from hell.
A mockumentary taking a comic-look at how the Lewinsky scandal is perceived in the year 2028.
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything is a collection of sketches (produced in 1999) broadcast in two parts on 2 and 4 January 2000 on BBC 1.
Victoria Wood serves up a great big Christmas pudding of a show, stuffed full of stars in plum roles. An impressive list of celebrities pop up in a series of pastiches, ranging from a big band show from the 50s to a period Dickens saga. There is also a tale about a northern brass band and a documentary aboard a cruise liner. The all-star cast includes Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Pete Postlethwaite, Celia Imrie, James Bolam, Delia Smith, Richard E Grant, Derek Jacobi, Bill Patterson, Geraldine McEwan, Billie Piper, H from Steps, Michael Parkinson, Robert Lindsay, Hugh Laurie, Hannah Gordon, Lindsay Duncan, Bob Monkhouse, Betty Boothroyd, Angela Rippon, Alan Titchmarsh, Roger Cook and Imelda Staunton as well as other surprise guests.
Angus Deayton hosts an A to Z of the year's scandals and gossip, from the millennium bug, bridge and dome to Judy Finnigan, Anthea Turner and Victoria Beckham.
The former stars of a TV sci-fi series are reunited for a cruise with members of their fan club.
Bafta and the BBC join forces to celebrate one of Britain's best loved entertainers with a special gala event. Julie Walters, Lenny Henry, Richard E Grant and Jim Broadbent pay tribute to Victoria Wood, with contributions from Peter Kay and French and Saunders. Featuring a look back over her career with clips of her work. Wood will then be given the prestigious Bafta Special Award followed by a preview of Acorn Antiques - The Musical.
BAFTA award-winning actress and comedian Victoria Wood is back with a Christmas special. Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas features highlights from the Midlife Olympics 2009, the popular costume drama Lark Pies to Cranchesterford and the further adventures of soap star Bo Beaumont played by long-term collaborator Julie Walters.
When the Monty Python film Life of Brian opened in Britain in 1979, it broke box office records in its first week of release. The film was banned by many local authorities, but by the start of 2009 only one ban was left - in Aberystwyth. The mayor of Aberstwyth successfully campaigned to get the ban lifted. To celebrate this historic event, Pythons Michael Palin and Terry Jones attended a special charity screening at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Slapstick comedy special narrated by Miranda Hart, charting the highs and lows of physical comedy and examining the audience's love of visual humour. Featuring pies and pratfalls from over a century of comedy and entertainment programming including Monty Python, Charlie Chaplin, Morecambe and Wise and even Hole in the Wall. From the craft of the Buster Keaton classics to the cartoon antics of The Goodies and the absurdly violent anarchy of Bottom, the genre has shifted through silent films, surrealism, sketch and sitcom, and today even filtered in to Saturday night family entertainment. Featuring analysis from great physical gag practitioners including Vic Reeves, Mathew Horne, Reece Shearsmith, Ben Miller and Sally Phillips. A festive treat that features physical comedy both classic and contemporary, including the inappropriate manhandling of Manuel from Fawlty Towers, the roller-skating Frank Spencer epic from Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em and more funny physical pain than you can fling a frying pan at!
Teenage comedian Daniel Sloss gets his own BBC Three pilot where, as is the theme in new comedy, he mixes the subjects of his stand-up into a life story sitcom with occasional cutaway sketches. The awfully named Adventures of Daniel is presented like Seinfeld targeted at adolescents minus the clever writing.
Recorded on May 22nd 2010 at Vicar Street, Dublin, Simon Amstell's acclaimed live show, Do Nothing, proved to be a hit across the UK and in New York and also impressed at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. A departure from his popular Never Mind the Buzzcocks presenting role, Do Nothing - Live reveals an awkward and honest side to Simon.
It's official; class is back! Riots on the street, old-Etonians in government, a workforce on strike, Downton Abbey, The King's Speech, the royal wedding and vajazzling... In this one-off special, Frank Skinner is joined by comedians Micky Flanagan, Roisin Conaty and Miles Jupp to assess whether class is still relevant in the 21st century. Probing analysis meets comedy chat, as our comics become intrepid reporters, examining the subject through their own unorthodox reports. The well-heeled Miles attempts to turn himself into a working-class hero. Newly bourgeois Micky asks why he still hates modern art. Salt-of-the-earth Roisin seeks love across the class divide. Frank and the team dissect their findings in front of a studio audience as they explore the funny side of class.
Mime with noise; stand-up with no talking. A one-man show that speaks for itself.
Potentially-viral sketch show featuring iPads for horses, a YouTube-obsessed prime minister and Sherlock blinded by his own deductions, from the writers of The Blackberry Sketch, That Mitchell & Webb Look and The Peter Serafinowicz Show.
This one-off stand-up special is a performance of Simon Amstell's stand-up show, 'Numb', which he toured to sell-out audiences around the UK and Ireland in 2012, as well as Australia and, more recently, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Recorded specially for BBC Four at TV Centre, it's a stripped-down, intimate performance, with no set and minimal lighting - a painfully raw, honest and deeply funny exploration of disconnection and loneliness.
Chris Moyles hosts a gala evening of comedy to kick-start BBC Three's coverage of the London 2012 Festival. Recorded at the iconic Hackney Empire and featuring some of the funniest names in comedy including Jason Byrne, Andrew Maxwell, Mark Watson and Ava Vidal, alongside some fantastic comics born and bred in Hackney. It's guaranteed to be the funniest thing that ever happened to you on a Monday night.
Low-key British comedy about the near-hereafter. Dead, but earthbound, Martin shuffles newly deceased people through the boring bureaucracy. Then, just before a make-or-break assessment, he loses his latest young charge and must turn detective to track him, hindered by mouthy new partner Rash.
Ventriloquist and comedian Nina Conti performs a show in Sydney, accompanied by characters like Monkey and Gran.
Catherine Tate returns with her well-loved character Nan in her own sitcom for the BBC. While Jamie, Nan's grandson, is away in Africa doing voluntary work, a young girl called Alice has been allocated to Nan by the Young and Old Buddy-Up Foundation to keep her company and cheer her up. Alice soon discovers that Nan's kitchen tap is broken, and accompanies her to the council office to arrange to get it fixed. Unfortunately Nan, in her usual style, causes mayhem and upset at the offices, ending with her being given a community service order to work in the local hospital. Meanwhile Jamie, who is Skyping regularly from Africa, is concerned when he sees Nan in hospital, thinking she is seriously ill. At the same time, new neighbours have moved in across the corridor, and Nan gets involved in preparations for their family wedding party.
Filmed at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, Lee Nelson and best mate and 'fat legend' Omelette entertain the audience with an unmissable night of jokes, games and banter.
Largely in his own words, Graham Chapman's wry and ribald recollections are brought to bizarre life with the help of a few friends and assorted animation teams.
Seann Walsh hosts the most exciting new acts in comedy from the Edinburgh Fringe.
An anthology of Dave Allen's finest, funniest and most irreverent material, compiled from his time at the BBC from 1971 to 1986.
Jack Dee is at his deadpan best, bringing his unique brand of casual misery to the legendary Hammersmith Apollo in his first live recording since 2005. Jack is as bitterly hilarious as ever as he lets rip at life's petty annoyances and everyday frustrations with his trademark mix of deadpan cynicism and understated fury.
Featuring Rory Bremner, John Bird, Matt Forde, Sara Pascoe and Jan Ravens, this half hour special is Rory's long-awaited return to the BBC after 20 years. With special appearances from Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Paul Hollywood and a galaxy of fresh and not-so-fresh voices, the master impressionist is back doing what he does best - taking a satirical swipe at the political scene. Filmed just before transmission in Manchester, Rory Bremner's Coalition Report is part of a season of programmes exploring the political landscape 800 years after Magna Carta was written. With a mixture of sketches, stand-up, songs and archive, Rory and the team take on the combined might of Cameron, Clegg and Miliband... and also Nigel Farage. Lively, informed, irreverent and timely, the Coalition Report offers the antidote to a diet of traditional political programmes. Before you go to the polls or after you've just been referendum-ed, this is a bite-sized look at all that's good, bad and indifferent, and provides enough political calories to see you through until May 2015.
Featuring Rory Bremner, John Bird, Matt Forde, Sara Pascoe and a light scattering of guest stars, this half-hour special is a follow up to Rory's Coalition Report broadcast earlier this year. We peek inside Westminster to see the mandarins at work during the political break, look ahead to election night 2020 and learn how a house brick may be the answer to all our political worries. Filmed just before transmission in Manchester, Rory Bremner's Election Report offers a chance to hear about the political scene that we're not being told about. Who really governs the country? Can the election bring real change? And most important of all, who was Nick Clegg? Lively, informed, irreverent and timely, the Election Report offers the antidote to a diet of traditional political programmes. One week after the country limps over the election finishing line, it's time to start all over again as the easy world of campaigning comes to an end and the reality of running the place sinks in.
David Walliams stars in this sketch spectacular alongside very special guest Joanna Lumley. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, the show also features comedic talent from Morgana Robinson (House of Fools) and Mike Wozniak (Man Down) and was written by David Walliams and the Dawson Bros.
In this Christmas Day special, Michael presents leading comedians including Dara O Briain, the fabulous Dame Edna Everage, and ventriloquist and winner of America's Got Talent Paul Zerdin.
Set in Bristol in the small town of Bamford, A Gert Lush Christmas is a feelgood comedy about loved-up couple Dan and Lisa and how introducing her to his eccentric family leads to unexpected yet hilarious consequences. What begins as an over-enthusiasm to welcome Lisa into the family ends with Lisa running away and making Dan regret ever introducing her to them. The dysfunctional family pull together in their own unique and crazy way to put things right.
Mel Giedroyc casts her gimlet eye over comedy gems trawled up from the depths of TV archives of sitcoms like Miranda, Mrs Brown's Boys, Not Going Out and Ab Fab, and sketch shows like Armstrong & Miller, French & Saunders and Goodness Gracious Me. Comedy Bloopers is a treasure trove of bloomers, bleeps and blunders featuring rare and never-before seen material from Fawlty Towers, House of Fools, The Two Ronnies and The Office. If you laughed at the finished programme, wait till you see the scenes they rejected...
1593. While King Philip of Spain plots to kill Queen Elizabeth of England, young Bill Shakespeare leaves Stratford to follow his latest dream, to be a playwright in London - despite the theatres being closed due to plague. Luckily the Queen desires a new play; unluckily she chooses creepy Lord Crawley to write it.
Miranda Hart has rocketed to huge success in recent years, propelled to giddy new heights by her self-penned sitcom Miranda. Crowned the queen of comedy at the British Comedy Awards, she has also won three RTS Awards for Best Comedy Performance, been nominated for five BAFTA Awards and received an NTA for her stand-out turn in international hit series Call the Midwife. This performance captures all the excitement and silliness of her rollicking live set, packed with plenty of laughs, larks and audience interaction. Miranda invites everyone to take part in a giant party with her while sharing her unique observations on everyday life. Always entertainingly honest, she reveals hilarious and, somewhat worryingly, completely true anecdotes about her own mishaps and misdemeanours. Whether discussing flatulent first dates or the freedom enjoyed by socially inept children, she animates each topic with her megawatt charisma. This is one of the UK's best-loved comedians at her laugh-out-loud best - expect galloping, dubious attempts at song and dance, and most importantly of all... Such fun!
Comedy from Charlie Brooker starring Philomena Cunk, the witless commentator from Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe. Philomena knows absolutely nothing about Shakespeare, but that won't stop her attempting to present a groundbreaking documentary about him. Fresh from her triumphs on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe investigating time ('It'll always be an unknowable mystery, like how phones work') Winston Churchill ('Imagine how good his tweets would have been'), and Donald Trump ('There's this amazing stuff on his head; it's not hair, it's like a sort of furry gas'), Philomena Cunk has finally been given her own show - about William Shakespeare. Cunk will leave no stone unturned as she gets to the bottom of the Bard, visiting his birthplace, exploring the Globe, studying priceless artefacts and interviewing literally six different experts, including renowned actor Simon Russell Beale, Educating Yorkshire teacher Matthew Burton and top Shakespearean scholar Professor Stanley Wells. Shorter than Hamlet, funnier than King Lear and easier to spell than Cymbeline, Cunk On Shakespeare is absolutely the last word in Shakespeare documentaries.
The team behind the Bafta-winning satirical comedy The Revolution Will Be Televised - Jolyon Rubenstein and Heydon Prowse - treat us to Brexageddon, a one-off, 30-minute comedy special satirising the EU referendum and its seismic effect. Capturing the heated debate within a nation, the show is centre court to the most dynamic drama to unfold in recent Whitehall history.
Josh Widdicombe plays judge and jury as a panel of pundits fight for points discussing all things Olympic Games. With guests Rick Edwards, Iwan Thomas, Gail Emms and Paul Sinha. Fighting Talk, the cult weekly sports comedy show, comes out of the radio studio and in front of the TV cameras for the first time to celebrate Rio 2016. Topics up for contention include; greatest Olympic rivalries, best Olympic sporting bodies and we find out about some rather peculiar events from previous games. Josh awards points for informed comment, passion and humour but takes them away for any nonsense or drivel. The two highest scoring panellists go head to head to 'defend the indefensible', where they are forced to defend a downright distasteful statement for twenty seconds. Joining Josh is Badminton Olympic Silver medallist from the 2004 Athens games Gail Emms, Olympic viewer and presenter Rick Edwards, 4x100 relay Silver Olympic medallist from the 1996 Atlanta games Iwan Thomas and Olympic fanatic and comedian Paul Sinha.
Mark Watson presents six brand new stars of stand up performing live in Edinburgh, battling it out for the prestigious BBC Radio New Comedy Award 2016. Radio 4's nationwide search to find UK comedy stars of the future reaches its conclusion and the last six contestants follow previous finalists Alan Carr, Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Sarah Millican, Marcus Brigstocke, Russell Howard and Rhod Gilbert on the road to stand up success. They go head-to-head to be crowned winner, earn a script commission with BBC Radio Comedy and a £1,000 prize.
The Cooper family share a small house, and absolutely no DNA. Mum Tess wanted to save as many kids as she could from the sort of childhood she had. So, along with her husband Toby, she now divides just about enough money and nowhere near enough time between their three adopted children Frankie, Alisha and Charlie. In this pilot episode, Tess tries to improve Charlie's popularity by gate-crashing his classmate's 8th birthday party, while back at home, Toby has to deal with Alisha's sudden interest in religion. Written by award-winning writer (and adoptee) Andy Wolton.
Home from Home features Johnny Vegas playing uptight, try-hard dad Neil Hackett, whose decision to buy a lodge in the Lake District proves disastrous when he discovers he is living next door to the uber successful, effortlessly superior Dillons. Emilia Fox plays louche, glamorous Penny Dillon, Adam James is her outdoorsy husband Robert Dillon, whilst the wonderfully warm Joanna Page plays Johnny's long-suffering wife Fiona Hackett.
Jack has finally found real happiness with new wife-to-be Sara but his crazy ex-wife and mother of his kids Hillary is determined to destroy it. Yet, whilst Jack wants Hillary out of his life, Sara has made it her personal crusade to mend his relationship with Hillary for the sake of the children.
William has always known he was destined to be a juror but he never imagined that when the day finally came, he would land the mother of all jury gigs - an actual murder trial. The jury are a mismatched collection of enthusiastic fools, inconsiderate bullies and self-obsessed weirdos, constantly getting distracted from the case. Add in a demob-happy judge in her final trial and this has all the ingredients of a disaster.
Sitcom pilot from Graham Linehan and Sharon Horgan. Meet the Alpha Mums, headed by Amanda, very much the queen bee. Everything is organised, clean and sparkly - even the kitchen cork board is a statement of success. At the other end of the spectrum, we meet Liz, who is totally chaotic and feels the kids should enjoy free expression - if they want to do kamikaze jumps off the sofa, she drags a mattress round for safety. Somewhere between Amanda and Liz is Julia - she is organised - she has to be as she is a successful events organiser - but when her mother Marion decides she is no longer going to be the free child-sitter and school-run taxi, Julia finds her organisation skills are taxed and nowhere near the level of the Alpha Mums. Also in the mix is Kevin - he is the stay-at-home dad, who, rather than fighting against that, is embracing it with gusto - much to the irritation of the other mums. This is mothers and they really are - coping or not - competitive and helpful. If the Pulling girls had kids, this is what it would be like.
Lighthearted panel quiz show hosted by Ben Miller and featuring a selection of sitcom stars. Four teams of two battle it out by testing their knowledge on British sitcoms past and present. The teams doing battle are Jennifer Saunders and Julia Sawalha, Lee Mack and Nigel Havers, Nina Wadia and Stephen Mangan, and Chris Addison and Jessica Hynes. The games include sitcom anagrams, mime it like Mr Bean, name that theme tune and guess the unsung sitcom star. The show also includes clips of some of the most memorable sitcom moments.
Comedy prequel to Keeping Up Appearances, set in the 1950s and charting the early life of the remarkable Hyacinth. Long before she became Mrs Bucket (pronounced Bouquet), young Hyacinth was already dreaming of matching china and a bedroom in pastel shades. But her desperate attempts to transform her sisters and her darling Daddy into an altogether better class of family are not appreciated. Daisy goes around wearing Daddy's overalls, Rose has a new boyfriend every week, and if Violet continues consorting with her married manager, she could be inches away from shame and destitution. The girls live together in a crowded canal cottage with their father, a part-time brush salesman with a drink problem. If only the family were more like the Cooper-Smiths, in whose house Hyacinth works as a maid. Because now she has had a glimpse of how the elegant upper classes live, there can be no looking back.
On the 23 June, Britain voted to leave the European Union. Then, on the 4 July, Nigel Farage, the man who had made it all possible, resigned saying he wanted his life back. But what sort of life has he gone back to, and how does a man forever in the spotlight fill his days now he has nothing to do? Starring Kevin Bishop as Farage, Nigel Farage Gets His Life Back is a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary following the day-to-day reality of being Nigel Farage. We see the public 'Nigel', the colourful character that the country has come to know and love/hate. Straight-talking, unencumbered by political correctness, a jovial source of seemingly eternal banter, usually delivered through a haze of cigarette smoke over a few cheeky pints of beer. We also bear witness to private 'Nigel', the man behind the facade, at home, eating bangers and mash watching Pointless and insisting he doesn't miss the limelight, that he is much happier out of politics and that he never wanted to be prime minister anyway. Kevin Bishop said, "I'm delighted to be playing a character as colourful as Farage. He's a gift to parody and I'm looking forward to bringing previously unseen aspects of his life to the screen." Aside from drinking in his local pub, rubbing shoulders with Donald Trump and growing a moustache, we see what else Nigel Farage has been up to in his 'summer holiday'. The programme is an overtly funny portrait of one of the most divisive men in Britain as he adjusts to a post-Brexit life.
Recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 2001, Victoria Wood performs her At It Again show, featuring her typically penetrating observations of mundane life.
'Televisionary’ and 'Truth Crusader’ Christoph Spinelli has come to the UK to do for British Crime what he’s done for America - speculate to the point of insanity and manage to make a story out of absolutely nothing. In search of a miscarriage of justice to defend, Spinelli’s documentary investigates the mysterious disappearance of Polly Worcester and her would-be attacker, Tom Jessop, with all the objectivity, truth and (most importantly) sexiness you would expect. Unfortunately for Tom, Spinelli is the last person you would want on your side…
Eric Idle persuades Professor Brian Cox to present a lecture on the birth of the entire universe. Brian soon realises Eric is actually hosting a comedy and musical extravaganza with the help of Warwick Davis, Noel Fielding, Hannah Waddingham and Robin Ince, alongside a chorus of singers and dancers.
Summer 2003 and Bob Monkhouse entertains a room full of comedians with stand-up, chat and a comedy masterclass. The night became the stuff of legend among comedians, but was never transmitted until now.
Mockumentary starring Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk, who explores the traditions and trappings of Christmas. Philomena looks at pagan winter festivals, the Nativity story, 'Sir Charles Dickings' and Santa Claus, and also grills a variety of experts to try and expose hard truths about Christmas.
A comic cultural review of 2016, told through mash-up and manipulated archive footage.
The Olivier Award-winning Mischief Theatre brings Peter Pan Goes Wrong to BBC One. As part of its commitment to community theatre, the BBC has commissioned The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, an amateur dramatics group, to recreate the JM Barrie classic as part of their festive programming. But can they pull it off? Narrated by David Suchet and filmed in front of a live audience, watch as Peter Pan flies through the air, Captain Hook and his pirates set adrift in the lagoon, and Tinkerbell is due to light up the stage in a stunning electrical costume... what can possibly go wrong?! With their trademark comic mayhem, expect hilarious stunts, chaos, technical hitches, flying mishaps and cast disputes on the way to Neverland with hilarious and disastrous results.
Dawn French in her critically acclaimed one-woman show, 30 Million Minutes. Filmed during its final West End run in October 2016, it takes the audience on a journey through various delights and riches, with the odd irksome tribulation thrown in, as Dawn speaks about the lessons life has taught her, and the things she knows to be true. The evidence is there for all to see. She is already three quarters certifiably daft. The other quarter is utterly bewildered. And the remaining quarter simply can't do maths. With a sharp eye for comic detail and a wicked ear for the absurdities of life, this is a true Christmas treat to see the critically acclaimed comedian at her finest.
Ben Elton, multi-award winning comedian, novelist, playwright, film maker and classic sitcom creator of the likes of The Young Ones, Blackadder, The Thin Blue Line and Upstart Crow, delivers the inaugural The Ronnie Barker Comedy Lecture on BBC One. Recorded at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in London, in front of a star-studded audience from the world of comedy, Ben Elton delivers his lecture in which he discusses the craft, legacy and importance of the studio sitcom. Sir David Jason introduces the talk with a personal forward about Ronnie Barker and Ben Elton. The lecture is named in honour of the late, much loved comedy writer and performer Ronnie Barker OBE, star of The Two Ronnies, Porridge and Open All Hours. Ben discusses not only his love for the studio sitcom, its heritage and its importance but also his own first meeting with Ronnie and how the two became friends. The Ronnie Barker Comedy Lecture was commissioned by Shane Allen, Controller, Comedy Commissioning and Charlotte Moore, Director, Content and is a BBC Studios production. The executive producers are Tara Duffy and Gareth Edwards, director Julia Knowles and production executive Sarah Hitchcock.
The Other One is a narrative comedy about a girl called Catherine Walcott. And another girl called Catherine Walcott. Sisters who had no idea the other existed until their father drops dead. Cathy has a fiancé, a Duke of Edinburgh Award and a pension. Cat has a pay-as-you-go phone. The only things they have in common are their names (a smart move if you've got a secret daughter). Both of them have always wanted a sister - just maybe, not each other.
A comedy sketch show where no area of the universe is off limits. Famalam shines a comedic light on everything - from alien encounters in the outer reaches of the galaxy, to what happens when a man is left on his own in a house for ten minutes holding only a phone and a remote. With a dazzling array of accents, cultural observations and colourful costumes, Famalam gives us a glimpse of the latest Nollywood blockbuster, reveals who might be responsible for internet spam and introduces us to latest TV detective - but be warned - his methods are, well, unorthodox...
1997: two teenaged friends make a pact - if they are both still single aged 35, they will get together. Amy doesn't think it will ever happen. Andy, who is secretly in love with Amy, hopes that it will. 2017: twenty years later, Amy and Andy have drifted apart. Andy has gained a career, an ex-wife, a four-year-old son and a girlfriend. Amy, meanwhile, despite the ever-increasing weight of social expectation, has managed to avoid growing up entirely. And she loves it. She lives in a flatshare, works behind a bar and isn't above enjoying the odd alcohol-fuelled one-night-stand, if the mood takes her. When Andy and Amy bump into each other again, it is earth shattering. Face to face with their past, they are forced to reconsider their futures. Is it time for Amy to take responsibility for her life? Should Andy throw caution to the wind and pursue his childhood crush? Whatever happens, they are going to end up together, right? Needless to say, it is a bit more complicated than that.
The internet has disappeared worldwide! Panic ensues in Sticky, the riotous new animated sitcom from the co-creator of Fonejacker. Aspiring student reporter Herbert and his friends Ziggy, Jay and Ashley are at home watching ‘Game of Zombies’ when the internet goes down. All forms of life depend on having a wifi, so when their connection suddenly disappears their world is thrown into chaos. Can the friends cope offline? Who would kidnap the web and why? How long do we really expect the planet to survive without internet porn? These are questions only the gang can solve as they embark on a thrilling and hilarious rescue mission to infiltrate the headquarters of the mysterious perpetrators of this heinous web-based crime. Among the suspects is bare-chested Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump too makes a cameo appearance.
The pilot sees Elizabeth's crazy-rich childhood friend Fufu visiting London for the first time. It shouldn't be a problem but Elizabeth has lied about her job to avoid shaming her parents. So she deals with the situation like she deals with any situation, by lying some more and getting drunk. Jackie has a big casting for the role of a lifetime, instead of the usual 'Chinese prostitute, DVD seller or takeaway girl' and this is the worst time to be babysitting a kooky new arrival. The Fufu problem isn't going away.
The Olivier Award-winning Mischief Theatre Company return to the small screen with their take on Dickens's famous festive fable. Blacklisted by the BBC after ruining Peter Pan, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society do not take their ban lying down and force themselves back on the BBC by hijacking the jewel of the Christmas schedule, a live production of A Christmas Carol, staged by a professional cast. As the Cornley gang try to make the show work on television, they soon realise they are completely out of their depth, with no idea how to direct a live studio or handle the special effects. Worse still, their internal rivalries are revealed on television, while an angry professional cast tries to get back into the studio.
Following the success of last year's parody review of 2016, Emmy Award-winning director Rhys Thomas has done the same thing again, but about a different year. And it's timely that the year he's doing it about this year is the year that has just happened, 2017. The Brian Pern creator seamlessly re-edits film and television footage from the top twelve months of 2017 to create a spoof take on the year's cultural events, entertainment smashes and other things.
It has been a quarter of a century since a little-known sports reporter was given his own radio chat show by the BBC. Two radio series, five TV series, four specials, two books and one movie later, Alan Partridge has an unrivalled place in the comedy pantheon. To celebrate Alan's return to his rightful home at the BBC in 2018, this retrospective documentary looks back at his journey from broadcaster caricature to the award-winning study of complexity and pathos that he has become.
Bafta Award-winning Kayvan Novak has adapted his critically acclaimed Radio 4 comedy, The Celebrity Voicemail Show, for BBC Three. The programme imagines what it would be like to listen to the voicemails left on a celebrity's answerphone. In this episode, Kayvan imagines the answerphone messages that might have been left for George Lucas midway through his hectic, and often shambolic, first phase of shooting on Star Wars in the Tunisian desert. From Alec Guinness's agent quibbling over a percentage of the unfinished film's gross profits, to an inept special effects technician struggling to find a sound suitable for 'the electric swords'
Miss Holland has arrived in Great Britain, keen to become a British lady and find her very own Prince Harry. The world’s most popular beauty queen leaves a string of unsuspecting contributors in her wake - reality TV stars, former Royal household staff and religious leaders are left bewildered by the idiocy of her questions as she attempts to navigate the intricacies of modern British life. With a clipboard full of ridiculous questions, armpits full of hair, and a camera team following her every move, she’s on mission to find out why Britain is great.
Rachel Parris with a comic guide to how women can get ahead in television, 'despite their bodies teeming with pesky oestrogen'.
In 1975, a 16-year-old Lenny Henry bunked off school to appear on New Faces. In 2018, after a long and glittering career, Lenny is 60 - the perfect excuse to celebrate a man who has made a unique impact on British comedy. Hosted by Trevor McDonald in front of a studio audience, this programme takes a lighthearted look back at his career and presents new iconic sketches including music legends Stevie Wonder and Stormzy.
An introduction into the mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk as he talks to us down the lens of the camera and attempts to move around his everyday life - only to be constantly interrupted by his imagination. Herbert has a big audition. His big chance to finally break out. We follow him as he wakes up, gets ready, takes the all-important call from his agent and begins to learn his lines and rehearse. Only, he can't help but be distracted by his imagination and the world around him.
This mocku-docu-mentary is Louis Theroux meets Alan Partridge. Spoof news reporter, Jonathan Pie, is sent across the pond for the US midterm elections.
To save his daughter's Christmas, Andrew goes on a road trip with Dev, his neighbour from hell, to buy an elusive Sparklehoof the Unicorn Princess.
Comedy drama about five teenagers on a summer outing with their teen therapy group.
Sir Richard Branson has a great talent for solving the problems of our most-loved and messed-up celebrities while they are enjoying some well-deserved island luxury. But does Sir Richard have a more important masterplan - a dark secret involving interplanetary travel?
Real-time sitcom following the hapless Stuart as he struggles through the worst half hour of his life. When his new girlfriend April goes into labour, Stuart quickly finds himself having to rely on his ex-wife Kate to get her to hospital. As Stuart thinks he is getting a handle on the situation, he is forced to deal with a sexually promiscuous father, a daughter with a newly shaved head and the surprise return of his errant brother, who is on the run from some very unsavoury types. And that is before Stuart has to enlist the help of one tipsy neighbour to help with another neighbour, who he finds naked and the victim of a DIY circular saw accident.
Cult favourite Matt Berry offers his unique take on Brexit in this one-off comedy special to mark the passing of the Article 50 deadline. Reuniting with collaborator Arthur Mathews for the first time since Toast of London, Berry plays rogue historian Michael Squeamish, who is on a mission to discover the origins of Brexit, and offer some interesting opinions on Britain's current plight along the way. Through creative use of archive footage and filmed interviews, Road to Brexit unashamedly plays fast and loose with the facts to create a joyously surreal whistle-stop tour of Britain's relationship with Europe, from the 1950s right up to Brexit.
Frankie Boyle is Harvey Higgins in a comedy about how conquering your demons might not always produce the desired results. Harvey is given an ultimatum by his wife - refrain from drinking alcohol on a business trip or return to an empty house. Will Harvey be able to save his marriage?
Like a couple of dogs loose at a football match, Freya Parker and Celeste Dring burst onto the screen with their subversive, sharply written and totally joyful sketch show.
Dolly is an actress on the verge of super-stardom going to the premiere of her first movie. But on the way, she finds out she is trending on Twitter - for all the wrong reasons.
Comedy short, written by and starring Diane Morgan (Philomena Cunk). A woman becomes obsessed with a sofa she has seen in a shop window. Unable to think of anything else, she goes to desperate lengths to possess the furniture of her dreams.
Remi, a perfectly normal, if somewhat anxious single woman in her late twenties, tries her best to navigate the contradicting advice from her inner thoughts.
Comedian Shane Todd travels back in time through the BBC archive unearthing his favourite clips and giving a unique comedic take on the people and stories of our shared past. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, Shane takes a millennial’s look back at the way we were – seeking out prime characters, crimes of fashion, ‘interesting’ pastimes and unpicking the big news stories of the day.
Warm-hearted comedy that tells the tale of a former child star who learns what’s really important at Christmas. Anthony Richards is depressed. His agent has just dropped him, he’s unemployed, and he has little choice but to go home for Christmas - home to his doting mother, his jealous brother and a claustrophobic Welsh community that still reveres him as the valley boy who made it big. Back at his childhood home, Anthony has demons to confront and ghosts, as well as stalkers, to lay. But when Patricia - the head of drama at the area’s most prestigious stage school - presents Ant with an offer to write and direct a play, Anthony has a chance to leave his baggage in the past, once and for all. But first he has to overcome writer’s block, his many alter-egos, a succession of ardent admirers and the rampant jealousy of a bitter new rival.
Stand-up comedy special by the multi award-winning comedian Sara Pascoe. The finale of her critically acclaimed sell-out tour and filmed at the iconic London Palladium, LadsLadsLads is Sara’s most heartfelt and personal show to date. Exploring love, sex and doing both alone, Sara shares her wisdom and positivity - and overshares about her imaginary brother Stephen.
Brothers Henry and Vincent have a love/hate relationship. They team up with their wives Laura and Vonny to organise a surprise party for their mum. How hard can it be to keep the entire family happy? Enter Colette, a sister with a grudge, who is determined to keep a feud bubbling. Will she crash the party and wreck the surprise?
Billy Connolly returns to Glasgow’s famous Kings Theatre, where his journey into comedy first began, to talk life, death and laughter, in a no holds barred encounter with BBC Arts editor Will Gompertz. It is a conversation that looks back on the Big Yin’s past and ahead to the future, covering all elements of his unusually packed existence - how he got started, his approach to comedy, his Scottish roots, and how Parkinson's disease is the latest thing he is having to laugh at.
Comedy about a group of addicts who come together for a weekly session. This is not AA, but an expensive post-rehab therapy treatment founded in America by the charismatic Adam Derekson. The AD Group method promises sobriety and personal growth. Our addicts may not be the best candidates for personal transformation - amidst their posturing, lies and secret affairs, each member gets their turn to be insufferable. Take away the alcohol, drugs, pills and gambling, and what they really need is each other. At this session, Rob (Grant O’Rourke) has some big news to tell the group. Steph (Sally Reid) is the group’s convener, and doesn’t want the meeting to turn into “a Rob evening, again!”. Nell (Lucianne McEvoy) veers between worrying about her kids home alone, waiting for their father to arrive, and telling everyone about the cosmetic surgery she has planned with all the money she has saved from not drinking for a whole year. There’s a new guy at the group - Tony (Bhav Joshi). Who is Tony? What’s his problem and is his story for real? What is Rob’s big news and why is Steph so on edge?
A family comedy about Tracey Daly who struggles with the chaos of her daily routine.Mother and expert multi-tasker Tracey, wrangles her three children, Katlyn, Liam and Lucy and shift-working husband Joe through the morning rush-around, while simultaneously getting the house ready for an impending visit from her ‘impossible-to-please’ mother.Tracey needs the house to be in order but with Liam and Lucy fighting over the TV again, Katlyn straightening her hair in a dangerous fashion and Joe planning a secret boys’ night out – Tracey’s day is certainly going to be a tough one to control.
Comedy following the adventures of farmer Jim MacDonald on his mixed farm in rural Perthshire, Scotland. A proud, traditional man, who cares deeply about what he does, Jim struggles and is often wounded, but he is never beaten. By Jim’s side is his hard-to-please mother, who often delivers blistering home truths, and his intensely loyal farmhand, Donnie, who is optimistic beyond naïve and would rather die than let Jim down. Alongside the struggles against the elements – and each other - Jim is also unlucky in love and would like nothing more than to meet a partner to help him run the place. This half-hour special collects five of the finest BBC iPlayer shorts. In Bull, Jim puts his bull out to mate before worrying about his own love life and the new vet, while in Sheep, Jim is in crisis mode as his best sheep, Bessie, goes missing. In Fence, Jim then gets involved in a bitter turf war with his neighbour over a fence, while in Dog, Jim suffers heartbreaking news and doubts he can ever replace his best friend, Mitch. And in Machines, the baler breaks down and Mother is on the warpath as it could put her big birthday night out in jeopardy.
Sixty-two-year-old Anita is divorced with two grown up children and no stork on the horizon threatening to bring grandchildren. Her daughter Joanne can’t have children and her son Aiden has zero interest. After hearing about an Indian woman in her seventies who gave birth to a healthy baby, Anita starts to wonder. What if she were to do the same thing?
After a recent break-up, Alma tries to get her life back on track. But with no job, no qualifications and a rebellious streak a mile wide, it is not going to be easy. Meanwhile, her heroin-addicted mum has been sectioned for arson, and her vampish grandma Joan wants nothing to do with it. A bitingly funny and unflinching take on class, sexuality, mental health and substance abuse, celebrating women dealing with the hand they were dealt while doggedly pursing their dreams.
Peter Sellers was one of the twentieth century's most astonishing actors. His meteoric rise to fame - from his beginnings with Spike Milligan on BBC Radio's The Goon Show in the 1950s to his multiple Oscar nominations and status as Stanley Kubrick's favourite actor - is equalled only by the endless complexities of his personal life - the multiple marriages, the chronic health problems, the petulant fits of rage, the deep insecurity, the unwise career choices and the long decline in his later years. This film explores the life of this peerless actor and comedian, featuring interviews with family, friends, colleagues and critics, many of whom have never spoken out before. The film charts Sellers's formative years backstage as part of his parents' itinerant music hall revue group, his wartime service in India and Burma and his journey to global superstardom, where tales of his life backstage with the likes of Sophia Loren, Orson Welles and Alec Guinness were often more unbelievable than the roles they were playing out before the cameras. This is the story of the man who could play any role, apart from one - himself. With contributions from family members, including second wife Britt Ekland and his daughters Sarah and Victoria, as well as former friends and girlfriends such as Sinead Cusack, Nanette Newman and Janette Scott, the film explores the life of Sellers with candour and affection. Colleagues like director Joe McGrath and actor Simon Williams recall tales of Sellers's extravagant behaviour onset, and famous fans like Michael Palin, Steve Coogan and Hanif Kureishi reveal why they hold Sellers in such high esteem. This is a film about family and how Sellers's mercurial temperament has affected the generation that followed. His two surviving children Sarah and Victoria recall the challenges of growing up alongside his tempestuous mood swings, while his grandson Will explores the troubled legacy his grandfather left behind.
Jason Manford returns with a stand-up show about how it feels to grow up working class only to find that over the years part of you has become middle class. Delivered with Jason’s amiable charm and captivating wit, this is a show not to be missed.
Jack spends a socially distanced Father's Day with his dad, Michael. He visits Michael the lockdown way, by setting up for the day on the road outside Michael’s front door. The two of them will spend some quality time, looking at some old family photos and awkward home video footage, and telling some classic Whitehall tales.
Rhys Thomas interviews the Gary and Martin Kemp about their lives and careers following Spandau Ballet's 40th anniversary celebrations. As well as looking back at their musical history, the film reveals Gary and Martin's other passions. Martin attempts to launch new film franchise, The Hardest British Bastards of the Galaxy, and Gary has his own vegan meat-substitute, Wonge.
An opportunity to see Dara O Briain’s globetrotting Voice of Reason live show, filmed exclusively for the BBC at London’s world-famous Eventim Apollo. Dara is one of the most recognisable faces on British TV as host of long-running satirical show Mock the Week, Stargazing Live, Robot Wars and Blockbusters. With Voice of Reason, he goes back to his day job as a world-class stand-up comedian. The show presents Dara in full flight as one of the most intelligent, fast-talking and downright funny live performers working today. In this show, Dara deals with the problems with virtual reality, having too much technology at home, how to deal with missing members of the front row and how to deal with reports of your own demise. The epic tour that was performed across the globe, including sold-out shows in Ireland, British Isles, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Dubai, Australia and for the first time, New Zealand.
Some of Scotland’s funniest minds delve deep into BBC Scotland’s archives to bring us a hilariously unique reimagining of Scottish history and culture. The theme is holidays, and featured comedians include Janey Godley, Jim Smith, Stephen Buchanan, Jamie Macdonald, Marjolein Robertson and more.
Miranda Hart, expert in the art of homemade mischief, leads three celebrity teams through hilarious, outrageous challenges, bringing out their silly sides and competitive spirit. Robbie Williams, Jermaine Jenas and Shirley Ballas team up with their family and friends to compete in a Christmas games night like no other, and all from the comfort of their own homes.
Presenter Bradley Walsh Participant Jimmy Carr Participant Emilia Fox Participant Danny Jones Participant Amir Khan Participant Sue Perkins Participant Anita Rani
2020 has been an absolute nightmare for the Jessop family. To boost family morale, they decide they are going to have a summer holiday after all, even if it is in Margate in October.
Set in a hospital, Beep is a tender, bittersweet and funny sitcom about a family’s vigil at the bedside of their dad Tommy, who lies helplessly in a coma. On the day of his wedding anniversary, he is visited by his wife Liz and dysfunctional family members, including his emotionally challenged son Martin and sleep-deprived daughter Hannah.
Kwabena has been stuck in his dead-end recruitment job for way longer than he initially planned. He spends the majority of his time in reveries of accomplishing his dream: to be a filmmaker. When he bumps into Amy, an old friend from film school who is now working at a production company, he gets the chance that he’s been waiting for. Unfortunately, the once-in-a-lifetime pitching opportunity clashes with an important presentation Kwabena has to deliver for one of the recruitment company directors. Already on a warning for his slack performance, Kwabs knows that if he bails on the presentation, he is likely to lose his job. But this pitch could also be the first step towards following his dream.
Modern dating is a world filled with white lies, false pretences and confusing games. It's a world that Nina, an undiagnosed autistic woman, is about to shake up.
Hilarious and heartbreaking story of a couple forced to re-evaluate themselves and their relationship through the reality of lockdown. She is a charity worker, a coordinator for all of Europe at a refugee charity. She’s the daughter of a dentist father and an ‘old socialist’ mother - the only grandparent still around. He, meanwhile, is a self-employed, self-made man who runs a boutique computing consultancy. He’s been forced to furlough his staff and take up growing vegetables - something he’s very proud of. Artie is their 10-year-old son and the one thing that has kept his parents' relationship together - until lockdown.
Strictly Come Dancing champion Bill Bailey becomes the first British comedian to tread the hallowed boards of The Royal Opera House in this one-hour summer special. The multi-talented performer dazzles with stand-up, music and even a hilarious interpretation of an opera song. Expect to go down the rabbit hole with Google reviews of Poundland stores, a proposal for a Victorian-style Love Island and ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’ sung in the style of Tom Waits.
Mammoth is a comedy show about the life of PE teacher Tony Mammoth. Mammoth is a man literally out of time. In 1979 he was a happy-go-lucky PE teacher, leading a school skiing trip to the French Alps. Life was good. Right up until an avalanche decided to ruin his day by sweeping him away to what was surely his death: a death which would break the hearts of all the kids that he taught, almost all of his colleagues and several mothers, and devastate his best friend and wingman Roger Buck. Except, of course, Mammoth didn’t die. He was miraculously found and brought back to life 42 years later. A perfectly preserved man in his forties. Just one born 86 years ago. For a time, he was a global phenomenon. The world was his oyster. But Mammoth has never really liked oysters; he's more of a pub lunch and a pint sort of bloke. He was given the one thing that everyone at some point wishes they were given - a second chance at life. An opportunity to right wrongs. But the simple fact is that Mammoth was pretty sure that he absolutely nailed life the first time around, so all he really wanted was his old life back. The same job. The same car. The same friends. Okay, it was bound to feel a little strange at first, but Mammoth had always believed in just getting on with things. And anyway, things couldn’t have changed that much since 1979…
New comedy pilot, written by Matt Leys and Martin Trenaman set in the tilted world of north Wales traffic police. Adapted from the successful series on BBC Radio Wales, we meet six officers in three cars who are just trying to get the job done. And, broadly, failing. PC Dennis Babb, ex-Met, thinks he’s seen it all but hasn’t. He now faces his biggest challenge: spending all day in a car with PC Lee Cushion, a man so naive he’s never thrown a snowball or made an arrest. Sgt Vincent Price, the ‘before’ picture in an anger management advert, shares a car with PC Gavin Howells, very much the ‘after’. PC Penny Nadaraja, the Mancunian Cagney, and PC Grace Bevan, the south Walian Lacey, are best mates who do some light traffic policing on the side. And Sian, the radio despatch op, is engaged to PC Howells and keen on signs saying things like ‘sorry coffee, this is a job for prosecco’.
From the minds of Greg Hemphill and Robert Florence comes Queen of the New Year, a brand new Hogmanay sketch show featuring Greg and Robert alongside the best up-and-coming and established Scottish talent including John Gordon Sinclair, Juliet Cadzow, Barbara Rafferty, Clive Russell, Gayle Telfer Stevens, Louise McCarthy and many more. Tune in for sketches covering the big talking points of the year, from Cop 26 to wild swimming and Joe Biden to taxi drivers pole dancing…
