Chris Morris (I)

Matt Berry: 'replacing Chris Morris was daunting'

Matt Berry has admitted that it was a daunting prospect to replace Chris Morris in The IT Crowd.

He would hate the term but Chris Morris is a 'national treasure'. From The Day Today to Brass Eye, the spiky satirist has created comedy that is ferocious, fearless, unique and still quintessentially British. His debut movie as writer/director is no different - a brilliantly judged farce about four hapless jihadists from Sheffield attempting to commit an act of terror, it somehow manages to be both cutting and charming. Nigel Lindsay's Barry is the pick of the hilarious quartet.

Robert Webb: 'I auditioned for Nathan Barley'

Robert Webb has revealed that he auditioned for Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker's 2005 sitcom Nathan Barley.

It was the comic genius of Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci that was celebrated in six programmes on Radio 4 Extra commemorating the 20th anniversary of On the Hour, one of the sharpest comedies to satirise our love affair with the news media. I can hardly believe it's two decades since we heard Steve Coogan in his first incarnation as Alan Partridge and Chris Morris uttering surreal headlines with Paxmanesque urgency. "Cream is good for you if you're left-handed, according to a survey in 'Which Survey' magazine!" But the big surprise, especially given the gnat's attention span of the broadcast media, was how nothing had really dated. All the pomposities and absurdities were recognisable. Then, as now, there is much pleasure to be had from regional programme running orders. "Hopping lessons for Tim the amputee badger, and later, how news of the 17,000-megaton warhead that blew up France affects plans for a cycle path in Tarrogate city centre!"

It may be, in the age of social media and fragmenting news sources that our love affair with news will diminish. Our information addiction will perhaps, decline. So far, thankfully, there's no sign of it, but will future comedians ever tackle it so brilliantly?

Box set club: Nathan Barley

Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris's excellent sitcom isn't quite the museum piece you'd imagine - it's well futile.

Totally Tom, like much of Comedy Lab's recent output, seems hamstrung by the long-running series' remit. Experimental comedy is far more difficult than it looks, clearly, and this paint-by-numbers approach - dark, glitchy visuals reminiscent of Chris Morris' Jam, ill-considered stabs at edgy subject matter - fails to hit the spot. The Tom of the title refers to a duo, Tom Palmer and ]Tom Stourton, who inhabit a collection of wildly diffuse characters, including a pair of cocaine-addled It Girls and a vacuous T4 presenter. Both are clearly talented performers, but there's little here that surprises or breaks new ground.

The best lines from Four Lions

People will be asking you what you want for Christmas soon. Chris Morris's movie Four Lions is a stroke of comedy genius. We suggest this.

Enfant terrible of the comedy world Chris Morris returns on Sunday, with the TV premiere of his feature film Four Lions.

Focusing on a band of disillusioned British Muslims who decide to form a terror cell, Morris pushes the boundaries of black comedy further than ever before, as the group plan a terrorist attack at the London marathon.

Four Lions received mixed reviews when it arrived in cinemas, so now is the time to find out whether it can live up to Morris' previous offerings Brass Eye and Nathan Barley.

Perhaps the most controversial film of 2010, this brilliant farce by satirist Chris Morris finds the funny side of terrorism. It charts the journey of five hapless British would-be jihadists, including family man Omar (Riz Ahmed), as they plan a mass suicide attack. What ensues is a comedy of errors, as they all are easily distracted on their fast-track to paradise.

Four Lions' premiere to coincide with 9/11 anniversary

Channel 4 will broadcast Chris Morris's comedy about jihadist terrorists on 4 September, just days before the 10-year anniversary of the attack on the twin towers.