ITV3 announces documentary series The Comedy Years
- The Comedy Years will be a four-part documentary series on ITV3 in 2019
- The episodes will look at the comedies broadcast in the years 1979, 1984, 1998 and 2003
- Shows featured will include Spitting Image, The Young Ones, Duty Free and Trigger Happy TV
ITV3 has commissioned The Comedy Years, a new four-part documentary series.
The hour long episodes, to air on the channel in 2019, will look at four specific years in which comedies reflected what was occurring in society.
The channel explains: "The Comedy Years will look back at how comedy shaped and defined specific years over the past 4 decades. The four years covered will be 1979, 1984, 1998 and 2003.
"Each of the hour-long shows will mix classic comedy archive with social history and pop culture nostalgia. They will show how each year's comedy reflected a changing Britain - from the Thatcher era of satire of Not The Nine O'Clock News and Spitting Image to ground breaking comedy series like The Royle Family, The Young Ones and The Office.
"The Comedy Years features interviews with stars of comedy past and present, all revealing the comedy moments that inspired them, as well as telling us about the roles they themselves played in some classic TV series."
James Bolam, John Thomson, Omid Djalili, Clive Anderson, Cannon & Ball, Shappi Khorsandi, Joel Dommett, Mark Heap, Peter Egan, Jon Culshaw, Debra Stephenson, Leslie Ash, Brian Conley and Dom Joly are amongst those who have been interviewed for the episodes.
The 1979 episode will look at the northern club scene, which was dominating television at the time, with the likes of Les Dawson and Cannon & Ball hosting shows. It's also the year that saw a new breed of alternative comedians making a name for themselves on screen, including Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and Rowan Atkinson.
The episode about 1984 will look at Spitting Image (pictured) and The Young Ones against the backdrop of the miners strike. More mainstream comedies like Duty Free and Russ Abbot's Madhouse are also covered by this episode.
In 1998 New Labour were in power and ground breaking new comedies started to appear on TV, which included The Royle Family and Goodness Gracious Me.
The last of the four episodes - focusing on 2003 - looks at the launch of Trigger Happy TV, Bruce Forsyth's hosting duties on Have I Got News For You and the fond farewells given to Cold Feet and The Office.
The series is being made by production company Shiver, which has previously made the Forever strand of documentaries for ITV3, including Rising Damp Fovever and Tommy Cooper Forever.
Mark Scantlebury from Shiver says: "No TV comedy exists in a vacuum. Each is a product of the times, reflecting what is going on in the outside world - whether it's a satirical sketch show like Spitting Image or a sitcom like The Young Ones.
"In this series we'll enjoy some classic comedy moments, but we will also explore the circumstances that led to each of them appearing on our screens.
"As we'll see, politics, world events, changing views on what is and what isn't acceptable and even technology - like Dom Joly's use of the mobile phone - all had parts to play in what has made us laugh over the years".
ITV3 commissioner Satmohan Panesar says: "The Comedy Years is a great new original commission for ITV3 which will be entertaining, informative and nostalgic for our viewers."
The Comedy Years will be shown on ITV3 in 2019.