Horrible Histories

Horrible Histories: how kids' books become TV hits

Before Horrible Histories began on CBBC in 2009, a foreign channel tried an animated version. But it struck gold when Lion and CBBC turned it into a sketch show format - with Deary's approval - written by top comedy writers.

For Auntie's #LovetoRead campaign, HH returns with a one-off special telling tales stretching back to the stone age when "CGI; cave-generated imagery" was all the rage. The jokes don't get any less silly (and why would they?) as we're treated to DH Lawrence naked, up a tree; George Eliot being manly; and a visit to William Caxton's bookshop circa 1475: "Do you have any biographies? Thrillers? Teen vampire fiction?"

Horrible Histories: Staggering Storytellers review

The award-winning TV series returns with a special episode on famous writers and their origin stories. And when we say 'origin', we mean dawn-of-mankind origin. The episode shows how storytelling evolved through the eras, from storytelling in caves to printed books. At the same time, it lets us in on little secrets (and weird habits) of acclaimed writers and poets.

With the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death approaching, the HH team gather their best bard jokes and return to the Tudor days, when theatre was huge. "It had to be, there wasn't any telly." Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and Gabriel Spenser delight as bad-boy rappers, while a Gene Kelly-spoofing turn from Miles Jupp centres on an era when people emptied chamber pots out of upstairs windows: "I'm singing in urine."

Horrible Histories: Incredible Invaders, live review

With performers changing costumes and characters every few minutes they certainly work their socks off as they wittily enact how the Romans, Celts, Saxons, Angles, Vikings and Normans have all added into our melting pot.

Horrible Histories leads BAFTA Children's nominations

Horrible Histories could be heading to success at this year's British Academy Children's Awards after being nominated in three categories.

Terry Deary: 'I don't really like historians'

The Horrible Histories author on how the bestselling series began and what West End audiences can expect from Barmy Britain Part Three.

One of the all-time great kids' shows returns for series six, adjusting to the loss of the original cast by organising itself into special episodes focusing on a single historical figure. Tom Rosenthal is the perfect choice to play crap-haired milquetoast Alfred the Great, thrust on to the throne after the deaths of all four of his elder brothers. He fights a constant battle against both the Vikings and haemorrhoids, and we learn that he didn't burn any cakes and that the Scandinavians brought sarcasm to England.

Ben Miller: pushing myself into different comedy forms

Ben Miller is bringing one of Britain's most loathsome monarchs back to life in Horrible Histories: King John And The Magna Carta.