Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner and Suzy Klein present the first in this three-part canter through the history of British entertainment in the time before television. Tonight, they begin with the music-hall tradition, stopping off at Marie Lloyd, Champagne Charlie and comedian Dan Leno - widely believed to be the act copied by silent screen upstarts such as Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. Skinner and Klein also form their own act to try their hand at old-school showbiz.

Frank Skinner on Britain's first stand-up, Dan Leno

Frank Skinner claims Dan Leno is the father of British comedy inspiring Peter Sellers and Charlie Chaplin: but who was he? Neil Armstrong finds out.

What did we do before TV? For a start, people like me wouldn't have had a job and people in tracksuits wouldn't have had easy access to DNA tests. So, was everything terrible before television?

Certainly not, says this new series. Presented by Frank Skinner, and Suzy Klein, it goes back in time to ask how the masses found their entertainment without TV.

The rich had their theatres, opera houses and musical concerts, but where did the noisy rabble go for their kicks? Their chief source of entertainment was the music hall which offered a pastiche of elegance, with its velvet curtains, brocade and lights, but the acts on stage were hardly refined: they were often loud and bawdy and the audiences adored them.

The most famous star from that era was Marie Lloyd, the singer, but we're also told of Dan Leno, one of the first stand-up comedians, a man who counted Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel amongst his fans.

Skinner and Klein seem to have a great time in this series, dressing up as these famous performers and trying out their routines, the content of which might seem a bit silly or tame now, but that's because TV has jaded us. Imagine how it seemed when you were just out of the factory after a 14 hour shift, having spent the day amongst clanking machinery trying to whip at your hair and nab your knuckles.

This lively three-part series sees comedian Frank Skinner and music presenter Suzy Klein go back in time to the days before TVs entered our living rooms in 1955.

And it's not just a dry historical programme - they even have a go at creating vintage entertainment themselves!

"We tell the story from the music hall era of the 19th century through to the golden age of variety and the working men's clubs of the 1950s," says Frank, 58.

"We find out all we can about the great acts of the past - a time when Britain really did have talent."

In the opening episode, Frank and Suzy focus on music halls, and famous names such as Marie Lloyd and Champagne Charlie.

They study their acts and try their hand at performing them at the end of the show. "It's harder than it looks," laughs Frank.

Radio Times review

At one point in this history of pre-televisual entertainment, Frank Skinner enters a rehearsal room to hear a classic music-hall song. It was a favourite of Dan Leno, a 19th-century superstar sometimes regarded as the first stand-up comic (Chaplin and Laurel were both fans). The song is called The Hard-Boiled Egg and the Wasp, but it's less entertaining than its title, even with the full-blooded rendition we get to see.

And that's the problem: music-hall routines, as extensively celebrated here by Skinner and Suzi Klein, haven't aged well, or perhaps they need the right context to work - not a larky documentary. At least Klein has a decent stab at impersonating the genre's queen - Marie Lloyd.

Review: Frank Skinner On Demand With..., BBC iPlayer

What with Matt Berry Does... and various comedy pilots online programmes seem to be multiplying like rabbits at the moment. And this one does rather peter out.

The first in Sky Arts' Physical Comedy season, in which a host of stars both established and up-and-coming feature in a series of silent comedy shows. Among those set to appear are Johnny Vegas, Frank Skinner, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, as well as Jocelyn Jee Esien and Marek Larwood. Tonight's opener stars Kim Cattrall as Ruby, who lives in a huge ramshackle house along with a troupe of acrobats who perform dazzling physical feats. It was written by Mike Wozniak, who also co-stars.

Edinburgh comedy awards: explore all the winners

From Cambridge Footlights in 1981 to Bridget Christie in 2013, explore the history of the Foster's Edinburgh comedy awards. Find out who won, who they beat and how the art of comedy changed each year. When did stand-up come to the fore rather than sketch humour? Who was the first female winner? Who won in the year that Jack Dee, Lily Savage and Frank Skinner were in the running? The various nominees include a minor royal and the narrator of Peppa Pig... The winners of the 2015 awards will be announced on 29 August.