BBC Four has announced Thank You For Being A Lovely Audience, a documentary that will focus on how the origins of today's TV light entertainment can be traced back to the heyday of live popular entertainment - the 1840s to the 1960s.

The programme will be hosted by Frank Skinner and arts presenter Suzy Klein.

The BBC confirms: "Exploring the greatest characters in show biz and putting their very acts to the test, Frank and Suzy reveal how an entertainment tradition that began with the founding of the first Musical Halls in the middle of the 19th century survived the impact of two world wars, the coming of new media such as cinema and radio, and the spread of various foreign influences to leave a permanent mark on British society."

The Corporation concludes: "It proves that we are - at heart - a nation that loves to be entertained and to have a 'jolly good old laugh'."

Produced by Claire Whalley at What Larks Productions, Thank You For Being A Lovely Audience will be the latest documentary to focus on the origins of comedy and entertainment on TV. For example, in 2006 the BBC broadcast The Story Of Light Entertainment.

Skinner, who is due to host another series of Room 101 soon, has presented various other documentaries in the past too. In 2011 he made the show Frank Skinner On George Formby for BBC Four, a programme to celebrate "the greatest entertainer of all time."

Skinner will also be seen shortly as an antique dealer in silent TV comedy Rotters, and his Radio 4 panel show The Rest Is History has been commissioned for a second series.

Thank You For Being A Lovely Audience will be broadcast as part of BBC Four's new season, which will also include live music broadcasts from the refurbished TV Centre studios.

As previously reported, spoof music documentary series Brian Pern is due to return to BBC Four for a three-part third series as part of the new season of programming too. Guests confirmed to be making cameo appearances include Christopher Eccleston, Chas & Dave, Suranne Jones, Rick Wakeman, John Thomson, Simon Callow, Denis Lawson and Jane Asher.

To accompany the new Brian Pern series, BBC Four has also commissioned a series of 10-minute online specials featuring the character, and announced that Pern - played by Simon Day - will become BBC Four's Friday Night Music Critic, as he launches his own Twitter feed.