You've heard of 'Pythonesque' and 'Goon-like' comedy - but have you heard of 'Grayesque'? The comedian who influenced dozens of well-remembered comics after him was Eddie Gray, a master of silliness at every level.
After the likes of Sydney Lotterby and Duncan Wood created the grammar of the British television sitcom, producer/directors like David Croft and the under-sung Harold Snoad were part of the next generation who perfected and excelled at it.
Intoxicated by the glamour and spectacle of mid-century Hollywood, the outrageously multi-talented Ernest Maxin became one of the BBC's most reliable comedy and light entertainment producers through the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
Galton and Simpson are often credited as the writers who created the modern television sitcom; but if they were its scripted progenitors, then the mighty and prolific producer/director Duncan Wood was the parent of its technical language and stylistic form.
Comedy Chronicles turns its spotlight on producer and director Dennis Main Wilson, who brought a range of pioneering, all-time-great comedy programmes to the airwaves across both television and radio during his career.
In the first of a new series looking at the producers who made Britain's most celebrated television comedies happen, Graham McCann turns to the remarkable career of the great Michael Mills.
Anglo-Irish comedian Dave Allen is best remembered for his various ratings-winning sketch and stand-up series, but a number of fascinating, exploratory documentaries such as In Search Of The Great English Eccentric, are also worthy of modern reverence.
