Mel Smith's 20 best comedy moments

Following the news that Mel Smith has very sadly died of a heart attack aged 60, we present a collection of video clips showcasing his formidable comic talent.

Taken from suggestions submitted by our Twitter followers, here are the 20 most popular sketches starring Mel Smith.

Having featured in hundreds - possibly thousands - of great sketches from the early 1980s onwards, there are many more brilliant comedy moments featuring him than we can fit into this article: just type Not The Nine O'Clock News or Smith & Jones into YouTube to start browsing.

Gregorio

Smith plays an opera star with an unfortunate habit of ending his songs on a rude word. We laugh at this every single time.

Gerald The Gorilla

A classic from Not The Nine O'Clock News. Smith plays a scientist who has helped train a gorilla to speak. Gerald has a few things to say about that though.

The Nazi Generals

There's a touch of 'Allo 'Allo! about these Nazis...

I like Trucking

Not The Nine O'Clock News produced some of the best musical sketches in the history of British comedy. This cheeky song with its joyful beat is one of the show's most popular:

Colin's Sandwich - Best Man's Speech

Mel shows off his acting skills to full effect in this wedding scene, from the BBC Two sitcom Colin's Sandwich.

Charles Dickens Parody

Stephen Fry, who said Smith was "funny & wonderful to know", guest stars in this spoof of Charles Dickens choice of names:

Game For A Laugh

Sorry, not the best quality on this video, but it's a great parody of the prank show Game For A Laugh nonetheless.

Lowlands Police Video Unit

Footage from a police interrogation which might not be entirely legitimate:

Kinda Lingers

Broadcast at the end of the smash-hit satirical sketch show's final ever episode, here's some more cheeky music with a double-meaning from the Not The Nine O'Clock News gang:

Mel & Kim - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

Talking of music, Smith scored a number 3 chart hit when he teamed up with Kim Wilde for this Comic Relief version of the classic Christmas song in 1987:

Flies

We love this sketch from the first series of Alas Smith & Jones as it really showcases the chemistry between the pair:

Talkbacks

Of course, Smith & Jones will probably be best remembered for the head-to-head 'talkback' sketches that gave their production company its name. In this one the duo discuss The Beatles.

Monty Python's Worshippers

This sketch parodies the reaction of some religious people to Monty Python's Life Of Brian by neatly turning the topic on its head:

Does God Exist?

Another religious themed sketch, and this one particularly showcases Smith's extraordinary ability to stay deadpan whilst other members of the cast get to be silly:

Football Results

A lot of our Twitter followers said they love this one. It's audio only, as we listen in to Mel getting more and more bored as he reads out the football results from a lower division:

Hi-Fi Shop

In this one poor Mel runs into a couple of cocky shop assistants. We've all been there.

The Two Ninnies

Ronnie Barker didn't like this sketch at all, but one must admire the almost spot-on impersonations:

Darts Match

One of our personal favourites. What a great idea for a sketch:

The Swedish Chemist's Shop

Only 20 seconds long, but an absolute classic...

I Did It My Way...

One thing said repeatedly of Mel Smith today is that he lived life to the full and 'did it his way'. Although, as this video shows, his biggest asset was perhaps not taking himself too seriously on the road to making other people laugh...

There are many, many more great sketches we just don't have space to fit in. Jeremy Clarkson loves the Red Arrows sketch, for example; we've missed out the famous Nice Video, Shame About The Song, and the Blue Peter sketch; and other Twitter suggestions included "the airline pilots trying to park"; the Tunnel Contractors; and "the sketch where Mel as a policeman gets Griff to blow up his car tyre under the guise of a roadside breath test". Also, we sadly couldn't find a clip of the hangover sketch - we love that one.

RIP, Mel. Thanks for all the laughs. You were bloody brilliant!