Benny Hill

"Every time I see it I'm re-astonished by it," says comedian Steve Punt of the Rons' renowned Mastermind spoof. But as its writer David Renwick reveals, he came close to tearing it up: "I thought the premise was too contrived." It's these insights that have lifted this retrospectacle from papery clipathon to something more substantial. An influential 1937 photo of Ronnie Barker's dad provides another little frisson.

The final part focuses on the duo's song-and-dance finales and serials such as "The Worm That Turned" (set in a dystopian future of 2012!) and "The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town" (written by Spike Milligan with a pseudonymous Barker). It rather glosses over the eye-watering sexism of some of the Ronnies' sub-Benny Hill fare. But the mini-scoops make this a must-see for comedy completists.

Simon Brodkin revives his divisive Lee Nelson character, as one of dozens of alter egos in a new sketch show. It's crass: a well-intentioned satire on church homophobia is slightly ruined by Brodkin playing an African preacher, in blackface; and the Nelson skit sees him pretend to be blind so he can grope a woman, a routine Benny Hill might have thought was a bit basic. Brodkin's performances, for example when he easily sustains a monologue by a gangster who's taken over a failing school, offer some glimmers.

I'm sure that her agent might see things differently, but I've rather felt that Sue Perkins hadn't been doing herself any favours by positioning herself as the female Stephen Fry. Quite apart from it being annoying to find her popping up on TV three or four times a week on any show that asked, it seemed like a dilution of a genuine talent. So it's a relief to find her back on form and returning to her core business in her new sitcom, Heading Out (BBC2), in which she plays a gay vet who is about to turn 40 and is terrified of coming out to her parents.

There were a few rather flabby moments in the middle - almost as if Perkins had lost her nerve and thought middle England couldn't stomach a lesbian sitcom without a Benny Hill-style netball scene along with a crap 70s muzak soundtrack - but the start and the end were sharp and often extremely funny. If Perkins can keep the gags coming then this sitcom definitely has legs. More than can be said for Mosley, the dead cat, who came dangerously close to stealing the show.

Crowd funding "Forgotten Heroes of Comedy"

Robert Ross has written books on the Carry On films, Fawlty Towers, Marty Feldman, The Goodies, Benny Hill, Frankie Howerd, Sid James, Monty Python - the list goes on and on and on. But his latest book Forgotten Heroes of Comedy is not being handled by a 'traditional' publisher. It is being 'crowd-funded' by Unbound.

Benny Hill remembered 20 years after death

On the 20th anniversary of his death, comedian Benny Hill remains an enigma - seen by many as smutty and sexist, but still hugely popular around the world.

This week Tamzin Outhwaite's head is played like a bongo, we learn that Alan Sugar is 30 per cent Canderel, and Vic spits out a bird egg after Bob mallets him in the face. Barmy business as usual, in other words, as the circus of the surreal ends its current run.

It's the left-field material that works best, and Angelos Epithemiou the Shooting Stars scorekeeper (the most pointless job on television) certainly qualifies with a blast from his drum 'n' bass burger kiosk and a spirited little dairy-produce dance.

But it's a lumpy old comedy stew, with jokes from the late Pleistocene period and routines Benny Hill might have turned his nose up at. Bring back George Dawes and his Peanuts song.

The truth about Benny Hill

He was Britain;s greatest comic export. In 1990, The Benny Hill Show was on in 97 countries around the world, although not, ironically, the UK, and his famous fans included Michael Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Frank Sinatra and Charlie Chaplin. Now, almost a decade after his death, discover the surprising truth behind about the comedian including his penchant for prostitutes, addiction to amphetamines and reluctance to spend a penny of his £7.5million fortune.

A worthwhile repeat of this episode from Channel 4's 1998 series Heroes of Comedy about Benny Hill, a comic who managed the trick of being popular on both sides of the Atlantic. And he didn't stop there: Hill had fans from China and Russia too. As he once observed of his visual humour: "I can get my face slapped in six languages." This tribute captures the man behind the bawdy "seaside postcard" humour: the shy, humble loner. With clips from his shows and contributions from Bob Monkhouse and Barry Took.

The Truth About Benny Hill

He was Britain's greatest comic export. In 1990, The Benny Hill Show was on in 97 countries around the world, although not, ironically, the UK.

Radio 2 Comedy Greats tackled Benny Hill. Comedian Ben Miller talked up Hill's claims to be a "comedy innovator and TV pioneer" and promised, "if you think you know the Benny Hill story, it's time to think again". This sounded intriguing but the show did little to back up these assertions. There were plenty of clips of Hill, sounding very dated and unfunny ("There's the wife, feeding the pigs. She's the one with the hat on") with people like Tony Blackburn insisting, "it's just seaside-postcard fun, really . . . nothing wrong with that". As comedy tastes changed and his ratings fell, Hill's TV show was cancelled. "Benny never really became the comedy pariah that some have painted him as," Miller said. It felt like faint praise.