The Comedy Years

This episode focused on 1979 will look at the northern club scene, which was dominating telly at the time with the likes of Les Dawson and Cannon & Ball. It's also the year that saw a new breed of alternative comedians making a name for themselves on screen that included Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and Rowan Atkinson.

The Comedy Years: 1979 features interviews with stars of comedy past and present - revealing the comedy moments that inspired them - including the likes of James Bolam, Omid Djalili, Clive Anderson, Cannon & Ball, Bernie Clifton, Mick Miller, Shappi Khorsandi, and Dom Joly.

This episode looks back at comedy from 1979. It was a pivotal year for Britain, there was a new prime minister in Margaret Thatcher and mass strikes leading to the so-called 'Winter Of Discontent.'

On television, we saw a return to political satire, with the BBC series Not The Nine O'Clock News introducing new comedians Mel Smith and Rowan Atkinson.

This episode will also look at the northern club scene, which was dominating telly at the time with the likes of The Cannon & Ball Show and the stand-up series The Comedians. It's also the year that saw a new breed of alternative comedians making a name for themselves, with the opening of The Comedy Store.

1979 was a pivotal year for women in comedy - with the introduction of impressionist Pamela Stephenson on Not The Nine O'Clock News and the success of sitcoms that reflected a female perspective, such as Butterflies and The Liver Birds.