Brass Eye

C4's 20 most groundbreaking - and controversial - shows

Including Brass Eye and Father Ted.

British comedy needs a new Brass Eye

Now, more than ever, we need the fierce intelligence of a Chris Morris to hold a mirror up to our fractured society. Imagine what delicious mincemeat he would make of the wearisome culture war or the limp ineptitude of our current batch of politicians. As for Covid and the whole vaccine palaver, he'd probably just shrug and say 'let them eat cake' in his best Ted Maul drawl.

Video: Brass Eye's 'Sutcliffe: The Musical'

It caused a pretty big furore at the time, imagining that Sutcliffe had been allowed out of Broadmoor on day release for rehearsals to star in the show. According to the clip this sequence below was banned, but it looks pretty familiar to me. I should imagine if it was made now everyone involved would be sent to the Tower and told they would never work in television again whether it was shown or not.

The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century

The Thick Of It is the highest rated British comedy in fourth place. Also listed: The Office (6), Fleabag (8), Peep Show (9), Nighty Night (16), Black Mirror (23), Spaced (29), Catastrophe (34), Brass Eye (37), Detectorists (38), Nathan Barley (47), Black Books (53), Inside No. 9 (66), Shameless (70), The Inbetweeners (74), Gavin and Stacey (81), Fresh Meat (86), Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (92), The Trip (95) and The Mighty Boosh (98).

Chris Morris - the master satirist of his day - followed his TV news spoofs On the Hour (1991-92) and The Day Today (1994) with this glorious send-up of investigative journalism.

Again starring Morris in stentorian, Paxmanesque anchorman mode, the series tackled such weighty themes as animal welfare and drugs in ludicrous fashion, conning well meaning and/or publicity hungry celebrities into endorsing bogus causes without bothering to do their research. The show's overblown graphics were particularly inspired.

Brass Eye's "Paedogedon!" special caused uproar in 2001 but the sight of pop star Phil Collins wearing a baseball cap promoting "Nonce sense" belongs to the ages.

The provocations of Sacha Baron Cohen's recent Who is America? owe a huge debt to Morris.

Meet Brass Eye, the original Who Is America?

The premiere of Sacha Baron Cohen's new show, Who Is America?, surprised viewers by exposing the incredible lengths some politicians and pundits will go to when provided with a teleprompter to read from while on a legitimate-looking television set. Fans of British satirist Christopher Morris's 1997 TV show Brass Eye, however, were already well-aware of this phenomenon.

Ali G vs Trump - and other inspired spoof interviews

Fifteen years ago, when Donald Trump was merely a business tycoon and not the most controversial US president since Nixon, he found himself face to face with Sacha Baron Cohen's cult comedy alter-ego: aspiring UK rapper Ali G. Now that Diane Morgan's Philomena Cunk is currently rekindling the trend for spoof interviews, we look back at one of the best.

39 of the best quotes from The Day Today & Brass Eye

The Day Today and Brass Eye were both amazingly subversive satires, upending the news and current affairs of the day in gloriously silly - and sometimes controversial - style.

Watching Brass Eye as a documentary

The genius of Brass Eye's satire meant it was never too far off the tabloid journalism it skewered.