The Comedy Years

This episode looks at 1979, with stars of comedy past and present looking back on the year that gave us our first female Prime Minister in Margaret Thatcher and a return to political satire with shows like Not The Nine O'Clock News. The episode also looks at the northern club scene which dominated TV screens at the time with the likes of The Cannon and Ball Show and the stand-up series The Comedians.

In 1984, as the miners' strike took over the news, political figures were on the receiving end of the most irreverent comedy series ever seen on TV at the time - Spitting Image. Plus, cult hits like The Young Ones and Alas Smith and Jones battled it out in the TV schedules with mainstream shows like Russ Abbott's Madhouse. We also lost two comedy greats with the passing of Eric Morecambe and Tommy Cooper.

In 1998, it was the era of New Labour and Blair's Britain. It was also a year that saw the emergence of some ground-breaking comedy series, including The Royle Family and Goodness Gracious Me, the first all-Asian sketch show, while two much-loved sitcoms of the 90s came to an end - Drop the Dead Donkey and Father Ted.

Comedy in 2003 saw Tim, Lee and Dawn's love triangle reach a memorable conclusion in The Office, while hidden camera shows such as Trigger Happy TV and Three Non Blondes saw unwitting members of the public become comedy stooges. The year also saw the original run of award-winning comedy drama Cold Feet bow out with a tragic storyline.