The League of Gentlemen

It's no secret that many alleged "grown-ups" are supplementing their haphazard history educations with CBBC's Horrible Histories, back for its fifth series with lovely, daft input from The League of Gentlemen. Tiny, mighty Sarah Hadland from Miranda and funny, clever Alice Lowe, writer of Sightseers are regular faces too. To adult eyes, Horrible Histories has the distinct feel of a group of bright, young, erudite, writery-actory sparks having a tremendously good time. One that they probably wouldn't be permitted to have anywhere else on telly.

Kids love them as they are the most peculiar sort of grown-ups. The sort of wonky uncles and aunties who turn up to tea with mild hangovers, scant regard for etiquette and a host of stories about idiot highway men, Second World War bat bombs (bombs attached to bats, prone to exploding before they left the American base) and an imaginary CD compilation called Now That's What I Call Spartan Warrior Music.

There's something about the Horrible Histories gang I find terrifically, stupidly, funny. They're the best bits of Monty Python, Roald Dahl, Tiswas, BBC2's The Tudors and The Young Ones all shoved into a bin and bashed with a stick. "Divorced, beheaded and Died! Divorced, Beheaded, Survived!" is the song that carousels in my mind whenever anyone mentions Henry VIII. Horrible Histories drummed the order of Henry's wives and their fates into my mind where A-level cramming failed forlornly. If only Mathew Baynton and Ben Willbond had shown up at my school in the Nineties and sung a few songs about the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, I could have a proper job now. Not just writing down stuff I think, drinking Earl Grey and taking Yodel deliveries in for neighbours.

Interesting fact: in the late 1630s, as part of the war effort against the Scots, womens' urine was collected from church congregations for use in the production of gunpowder. This is grist to the mill for Horrible Histories, back on CBBC for a fourth series. And isn't that Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith, AKA The League Of Gentlemen, joining in the fun? Which just goes to show how much credibility HH enjoys these days.

Why did The League of Gentlemen choose to reform on HH?

Find out why Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss are working together on the popular kids show.

The League Of Gentlemen: Where are the cast & crew now?

What the cast and crew of The League Of Gentlemen are up to now including Steve Pemberton and Steve Bendelack.

Interview: The League Of Gentlemen's Jeremy Dyson

Jeremy Dyson, 44, is one quarter of the macabre comedy team The League Of Gentlemen. He has also written short-story collections, a novel, non-fiction books and the Funland TV series. His latest project is the scary theatre show, Ghost Stories.

Your next box set: The League of Gentlemen

Psychopaths, plagues and Pauline the restart officer - once visited, The League of Gentlemen's Royston Vasey is never forgotten.

'League Of Gentlemen' stars keen on revival

Reece Shearsmith has revealed that he and Steve Pemberton are keen to revive the League Of Gentlemen franchise.

The League of Gentlemen launch Psychoville

The Times looks at the background of Psychoville.

Lucas and Walliams, by contrast, seem content to sit in a comfort zone, churning out near-identical jokes over and over and over again. Whereas the League's characters became deeper and more complex over time, Little Britain turned into The Fast Show. Characters would come on, do the same old routine, say their catchphrases and go.