Given his gift for sprawling anecdotage, chopping the adolescent life of Danny Baker into half-hourly chunks must have been some task, but that's exactly what Baker and Jeff Pope have done here, telling the tale of Baker's Bermondsey circa 1974. With family life dominated by uncompromising patriarch Fred (played arrestingly by Peter Kay), teenage life is far from easy for the wideboy wordsmith. Despite a premise not dissimilar to Only Fools And Horses precursor Rock & Chips, this is a promising period piece.

Radio Times review

In the 1970s, young Danny Bakers chaotic east London home was always packed with knocked-off gear secured by his lairy geezer of a docker dad. Once, most memorably, continental quilts (that's duvets to you, young people): "It was like living in a huge bag of marshmallows," says 15-year-old Danny in the voiceover.

Baker and writer Jeff Pope have adapted Baker's autobiography Going to Sea in a Sieve into this cheerful eight-part comedy, headed by Peter Kay who ditches those rich Lancashire tones for a gorblimey cockney accent as dad Spud.

Spud always has an eye to the main chance, pinching from the cargo holds of ships he unloads at the docks. There's a funny scene when he and his mates steal a snifter from a barrel of what they think contains booze. "Trust me," says Spud, to his understandably sceptical friends.

Danny Baker reveals why he cast Peter Kay as his dad

"Peter, yes, Bolton to his boots - but he's also an actor... He always wanted to be like his hero Ronnie Barker and he has that quality - I think he's the natural heir to that sort of actor".

Video: How to play a young Danny Baker

Laurie Kynaston - who plays the teenage Danny Baker - and Danny Baker himself told BBC Breakfast about the challenges of transferring the book to screen.

Cradle to Grave, BBC Two, review: 'savvy comedy'

This comedy based on the childhood of writer and broadcaster Danny Baker was niftily scripted, says Jasper Rees.

Boy Meets Girl: warm-hearted, witty and well-written

I have to say that good sitcoms have been very thin on the ground this year, with the only stand-outs being Channel 4's Catastrophe and Ballot Monkeys, and BBC Two's W1A. Those of you who read my review will know that I wasn't even particularly enamoured with Danny Baker's Cradle to Grave, however that's not true of the programme that directly follows it.

Review: Cradle to Grave

Danny Baker's autobiography is witty and charming, but could prove too sweet for some.

Cradle to Grave: it's like diving inside Baker's head

It's just plain weird to watch actors playing out your own life, says Danny Baker of new comedy Cradle To Grave, BBC Two's adaptation of his autobiography. And at the same time "frankly, quite tremendous".

Danny Baker: People assume I'm hiding some dark secret

While the irrepressibly upbeat presenter's talents have earned him a shelf full of awards, his willingness to speak his mind often lands him in hot water.

Danny Baker interview

"They are very powerful characters. It's just good stories. This is a reality, it's not the reality of growing up in our house. My friends are a hybrid of all my friends. We got the dynamics right."