Comedy Connections - Episode Guide

From the moment it hit our screens, Porridge was hailed as a sitcom classic. But if the BBC had followed Ronnie Barker's instinct, they would have made a series called I'll Fly You for a Quid instead.

Interviews with Ronnie Barker, cast members, writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and director/producer Sydney Lotterby uncover the inside story of how the series was conceived and commissioned.

Once the gates of Slade Prison are locked for the final time, this programme follows creators and stars of Porridge to Open All Hours, 'Allo, 'Allo, Eldorado, Fraggle Rock and all the way to Hollywood.

The Good Life made stars of Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, Felicity Kendall and Paul Eddington, and led to hit sitcoms such as Ever Decreasing Circles, To The Manor Born and Yes, Minister.

Would Are You Being Served? have been a global success if its creators, David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, had done as they were told?

Interviews with the Croft and Lloyd, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, John Inman, Wendy Richard and other members of the cast tell the extraordinary story of how Joanna Lumley and a job at Simpson's of Piccadilly inspired a programme which is still much-loved all around the world.

And in unravelling the tangled tale of Grace Brothers, we travel through a whole era of David Croft-inspired comedy, from Hugh and I and Dad's Army in the sixties to 'Allo 'Allo! and Oh, Doctor Beeching! in the nineties.

The story of Men Behaving Badly, a show which changed the face of British sitcom.

Butterflies writer Carla Lane admits, for the first time, that the 1970s sitcom was autobiographical.

Only Fools and Horses is a national institution. But without some twists and turns worthy of Del Boy himself it could have disappeared without trace, or worse still never happened at all.

John Sullivan might never even have written Only Fools and Horses if the BBC had commissioned Over The Moon, the comedy Sullivan wrote after his first sitcom, Citizen Smith, came to an end. Extracts from the pilot of Over The Moon are screened for the first time ever. When the BBC turned it down, Sullivan needed a new idea fast - and the idea he came up with was Only Fools and Horses.

Famously, the first series failed to pull in the punters and the BBC wanted to abandon the show. Now, the man who gave Only Fools and Horses a second chance finally admits that he wasn't making a brave decision; he just didn't have another idea in his head.

The inside story of 1970s hit show The Goodies, from the beginnings at the Cambridge Footlights to national stardom.

The behind the scenes story of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin reveals how unlikely a comedy success Reggie really was. In writer David Nobbs's original book, The Death of Reginald Perrin, the central character's midlife crisis saw him to a mental hospital - hardly the stuff of comedy. And when the writer was told to take the jokes out of the first draft of the script to make the show funnier it was clear Reggie Perrin was going to be unusual on television too.

Despite not getting his first choice of Ronnie Barker to play the lead, writer David Nobbs created a hero for a generation and changed British comedy by proving that sitcom could be successful with a serial storyline.

The show has connections to The Two Ronnies, Steptoe and Son, Fawlty Towers, The Good Life and Fairly Secret Army.

Mapping the careers of the people who made Keeping Up Appearances sees them come together from shows as diverse as That Was the Week We Watched, The Dick Emery Show, Last of the Summer Wine, Victoria Wood-As Seen on TV and Ever Decreasing Circles.

Interviews with the cast and crew reveal how writer Roy Clarke created a world that revolved around Hyacinth Bucket, where the inspiration for her surname came from, and exactly why the show ended when practically everyone wanted it to keep on going. Hyacinth is now sold around the world and finds that , perhaps surprisingly, she's big in Botswana.

The Young Ones thrust a new sort of comedy into the television mainstream in the early 1980s. At first glance The Young Ones seemed to tear up all the rules of sitcom, but despite its enormous energy and anarchic invention it was a more conventional programme than it might have appeared. But alongside Channel 4's The Comic Strip Presents... 

The Young Ones transported a new generation of comedy writers and performers out of the clubs and into the nation's living rooms. And in a few short years the one time young pretenders had become the new comedy establishment. Their number one single for Comic Relief apart, the legacy of The Young Ones includes Saturday Live, Filthy, Rich and Catflap and Bottom.

Series charting the history of some of the best British comedy shows looks at the inside story of intergalactic sitcom Red Dwarf, written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. Interviewees include the two writers, stars Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, Norman Lovett and Chloe Annett, and there's a look at how their careers have involved programmes such as Spitting Image, Saturday Live, Carrott's Lib, Happy Families and Robot Wars.

Starting with a group of undergraduates meeting at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the roots of Monty Python's Flying Circus are found in the TV satire boom of the 60s and the influence of The Goons and Spike Milligan.

Interviews with John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Carol Cleveland tell the story of what happened in the Python writing room, why John Cleese left at the end of the third series and exactly how the BBC dealt with the infamous undertaker sketch.

With graphics tracing their careers over 40 years, we hear how the seeds of Python were sown behind the scenes of The Frost Report, and how on the break-up of Python they all tried to do something completely different whilst secretly hoping their erstwhile colleagues wouldn't be too successful.

The series charting the history of some of the best British comedy programmes looks at 90s sketch show Harry Enfield and Chums.

Series charting the history of some of the best British comedy programmes looks at sketch show Goodness Gracious Me. A spin-off from the Real McCoy, it soon established itself by reflecting the reality of contemporary British Asian life while observing the conventions of a mainstream sketch comedy show.

Series about the history of British comedy looks at Not the Nine O'Clock News, starring Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith.

Series charting the history of some of the best of British comedy looks at sketch show A Bit of Fry and Laurie. The two stars met in the Cambridge Footlights and wrote four series between 1986 and 1995 before moving into the worlds of literature, television, theatre and film.

Series charting the history of some of the best of British comedy shows looks at the hugely successful The Two Ronnies, which ran from 1971 to 1987. This traces their relationship from their initial meeting, on to their first appearance together on The Frost Report and right through to the Two Ronnies Sketchbook.

Their list of collaborators over the years reads like a who's who of 60s and 70s comedy, from Stanley Baxter, Jimmy Edwards and June Whitfield on stage, radio and screen to writing talent like Barry Cryer, David Renwick, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and John Cleese.

Series charting the history of some of the best of British comedy shows looks at the Fast Show. Students at the University of East Anglia, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson, wanted to be rock stars, but via Hackney Council and Harry Enfield's Television Programme they came up with the idea for a comedy show of their own.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy shows looks at the Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton-penned newsroom sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey. With graphics tracing the careers of all involved and interviews revealing the inner workings, we find out who took a pay cut to ensure that the entire cast were on the same money and how hard the writers had to fight to keep the actors they wanted when Channel 4 expressed doubts about the casting.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy shows. Shooting Stars was one of the most anarchic and unpredictable gameshows on British TV. Appearing alongside Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in their slice of slapstick, surreality and silliness were acerbic stand-up comedian Mark Lamarr and erstwhile weather girl Ulrika Jonsson.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy shows looks at 1960s satirical show That Was The Week That Was, which broke new comedy ground.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy shows looks at the John Esmonde and Bob Larbey-penned sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at grumpy old man sitcom One Foot in the Grave. Featuring revelations from many of the cast.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Carla Lane's 1980s hit sitcom Bread, based around the antics of the Boswell clan in Liverpool.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at David Croft and Jimmy Perry's 1970s British Army-based sitcom It Ain't Half Hot, Mum.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran's 1980s satirical sitcom The New Statesman, which starred Rik Mayall as unscrupulous Tory MP Alan B'stard. It reveals how the series was sold to ITV by writing a fake Who's Who entry for Alan, and how the team were so determined to make the show as accurate as possible that they enlisted the help of a Tory MP at the time, a certain Michael Portillo.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at 1980s sitcom Don't Wait Up, which starred Nigel Havers as a young doctor living with his father.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's cult classic, The Office. It tells how a BBC training scheme video project became a multi-award winning international phenomenon, how Gareth was originally written as a super-macho action man type, and how its makers are actually fond of their creation-from-hell, David Brent.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at 1980s romantic sitcom Just Good Friends, which starred Jan Francis and Paul Nicholas.

It reveals that writer John Sullivan had to fight to get the cast he wanted for the show - BBC bosses weren't convinced that Nicholas was the right man to play loveable rogue Vince, and Francis herself wasn't sure about taking on a comedy role as she wanted to be seen as a serious actress.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones's comedy sketch show that dominated ratings throughout the 1980s. It reveals how Smith and Jones first met at university, how they were then thrown together as part of the Not the Nine O'Clock News team, and that the two had very different working styles, with Mel being relaxed and avuncular while Griff was the worrier, who slaved over tweaking and memorising his lines. It also shows how the two co-ordinated a team of writing talent that would go on to careers in front of the camera. Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville and Clive Anderson were all Smith and Jones stalwarts. Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, creators of Father Ted, also served their time with Griff and Mel.

Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones took a partnership formed on Not The Nine O'clock News and produced material that still influences television comedy today. They moved from BBC Two to BBC One and at the same time founded their own company, Talkback, which would become one of the most successful TV production companies in the country. Both would go on to pursue other career interests, Griff as a presenter, Mel as a film and theatre director, but it is their partnership as Smith and Jones, with the famous head-to-head formats and the brilliant on-screen dynamic between the two, that is at the heart of much of their success.

The series charting the history of the best of British comedy returns for a sixth series by taking a look at Till Death Do Us Part, which burst onto screens in June 1966. The sitcom was the most controversial, offensive and original programme of its time with the foul-mouthed, East London bigot, Alf Garnett, becoming one of Britain's greatest comedy characters. Comedy Connections reveals how Peter Sellers was the original choice to play Alf, lifts the lid on the simmering tensions between actors Warren Mitchell and Tony Booth, and discusses the language and racial attitudes displayed by Alf Garnett.

Till Death Do Us Part courted controversy from the outset and became the bete noir of Mary Whitehouse's Viewers and Listeners Association, which complained, not about the show's racist language, but the use of the word 'bloody'. Despite this, family Garnett were fought over by the BBC and ITV, appearing at various points on both networks for nearly 40 years.

The series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Yes, Minister and follow-up Yes, Prime Minister, which charted the rise of an unlikely Prime Minister and achieved massive success over five series.

Written by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, the satire captured the public imagination by revealing the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing of Westminster. Aided and abetted by secret informers who had sat right at the heart of government, Jay and Lynn created a civil service comedy that still rings true today and made stars of Nigel Hawthorne, Derek Fowlds and Paul Eddington.

Comedy Connections reveals that when Antony Jay first spoke to Jonathan Lynn about the idea, Lynn thought it was boring and turned it down, that the BBC's Head of Comedy had to bully Paul Eddington into taking the part of Jim Hacker, and the considerable political differences between the show's writers.

Also, how the 1979 election delayed the show's debut, the effect of being told that he was to become Prime Minister had on Paul Eddington, and why Antony Jay got his knighthood.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy. A look at The Liver Birds, a groundbreaking sitcom centred around the lives of two young Liverpudlian women.

Not only was it one of the earliest successful shows to be written by and starring women, it also survived the loss of two central characters and was so well loved in the 1970s that it returned for a controversial reunion in the 80s.

The series charting the history of the best of British comedy investigates Michael Palin and Terry Jones's post-Python parody of pre-war Boys' Own adventure comics, which captured the decline of the British Empire at a time when punk rock offered Anarchy in the UK and the country was facing political unrest.

Ripping Yarns is a neglected gem amongst the many jewels proffered by the genius talents of Jones and Palin - the story of the series having a bittersweet ending, the break-up of their decade-long writing partnership, but also the birth of two incredibly successful solo careers.

Comedy Connections uncovers the fact that the BBC actually wanted a variety show from Michael Palin, but it evolved into Ripping Yarns and how hurt Michael Palin felt when director Terry Hughes took a promotion inside the BBC and left the programme. Terry Jones reveals his regret that Michael Palin only played the straight man parts, and how the ambition of the series - to be like little films - would eventually lead to its downfall, costs leading to the programme being abandoned half-way through the second series.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy. A look at Rab C Nesbitt, the sitcom about the life of a working-class Glaswegian, which ran for thirteen years and survived the death of a cast member to win audiences of five million viewers.

The programme reveals how the series was born out of a string of happy accidents, how it thrived despite its main star initially not wanting the role, how some Glaswegians struggled to accept the character and what a burden the character and resultant fame became for the star, Gregor Fisher. We also find out just where the 'C' came from in the eponymous character's name.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Sorry!, the sitcom which ran from 1981-1988 and starred Ronnie Corbett as a middle-aged librarian who still lived at home with his domineering mother.

Corbett's character, Timothy Lumsden, not only tickled the nation's funny bones but also went on to influence a generation of younger comedians, such as Frank Skinner and Harry Hill. The writing team of Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent - who had also written for The Two Ronnies and Dave Allen - were adept at mixing comedy and drama, something few sitcoms were so successful at.

Comedy Connections reveals how Ronnie Corbett sought the opinion of comedy partner Ronnie Barker before committing to the project, how the writers knew they could take advantage of their star's diminutive size, quite how often Mother used to slap Timothy and that Timothy had a happy ending because the show's producer insisted on it before the start of the final series.

Set in wartime Britain, the cast of Dad's Army featured many veterans of stage and screen including Arthur Lowe, John Laurie and Arnold Ridley. As well as creating a template for future ensemble sitcoms, the series established one of British TV's most successful writing partnership - that of Jimmy Perry and David Croft.

But Comedy Connections reveals that neither writer gave Dad's Army its name. Originally called Fighting Tigers, the new title was imposed on the show by the BBC's then Head of Comedy, Michael Mills. Other surprises include John Laurie expressing his disappointment that, at the age of 73 and after a glittering theatre career, he should become most famous for 'this crap', what happened when Ian Lavender asked the show's writers whether his character, Pike, was in fact Wilson's son, and what producer David Croft did with the audience feedback report after the screening of the show's pilot.

Series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Little Britain. The bright and bizarre comedy sketch show burst out of radio and onto television screens in February 2003, making international stars of its writers and performers Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

Little Britain was a candy-coloured confection of some of the most twisted, absurd, malevolent, yet somehow adorable comedy characters ever created. It became a worldwide phenomenon which defined the country at the start of the 21st century - whether the country liked it or not. But what did Little Britain tell us about life in this sceptic isle?

The programme reveals how several friends in high places helped bring Little Britain to television and how discussions of Martin Parr's social realist photographs played their part in setting the visual style of the series.