David Frost's last project will go ahead, BBC annouces

Sir David Frost was to work on a new programme entitled That Was The Year That Was before he died, as Lord Grade steps into his shoes to commemorate the 'momentous year' of 1963.

From televised satire (The Frost Report, That Was The Week That Was) to the birth of breakfast television (TV-am), David Frost had a hand in many of the small screen's big developments over the past 60 years. This ITV tribute to the journalist, producer and presenter looks at his career both here and in the US. Expect footage of his interviews with tricky Dicky Nixon and con-artist Emil Savundra, as well as lighter fare such as Through The Keyhole.

To start with, this felt too much like a great big luvvie love-in, with the voice-over eulogising one comedian (Hugh Dennis) so he could eulogise another (Ronnie Barker). My heart also sank a little when Dennis, more at home deadpanning through Mock the Week, set off to visit the semi where Barker grew up, noting that little was known about his home life. I was braced for the revelation that Barker, a jovial comic giant who made the world seem a happier place with one glance over the top of his spectacles, was an anguished soul who collected broken dolls.
Happily nothing of the kind emerged, and the programme moved on to surer footing with a highly enjoyable trawl through Barker's work, from The Frost Report to The Two Ronnies, Porridge and beyond. Behind-the-scenes glimpses of Barker's creative mind included his meticulous diagrams choreographing a Morris dancing sketch, and a mock press release which chastised David Frost for hogging the credit for the Golden Rose of Montreux award by accusing him of stealing it with the help of unnamed and mysterious accomplices.

It was hard not to get misty-eyed at the footage of Barker accepting his lifetime achievement Bafta in 2004 with typical warmth and wit. The programme captured the end of an era, when Barker's innocent blend of postcard innuendo, verbal tomfoolery and physical hi-jinks personified British comedy - long before the days of Mock the Week.

Celebrate the best of broken British comedy with this cosy but satisfying look back. It's about bathing in the glory of classics we've all seen many times, from presenter David Frost's ground-breaking Frost Report to Little Britain - mostly they're not re-evaluated or analysed in much depth, although there's the odd tart remark. There are A-list contributors - Corbett, Palin, Fry - and an interesting assessment of why sketches aren't such a mainstream force now.

Keith Lemon to revive Through the Keyhole on ITV

Former presenters David Frost and Lloyd Grossman give the comedy character the thumbs up as the classic format is brought back for a primetime run.

The best contacts book in entertainment gets dusted off once more as David Frost recruits Michael Palin, Stephen Fry, Michael Grade et al to look at the rise - and perhaps fall - of the sketch show. The question posed at the outset - has the sketch show had its day? - is a pertinent one, although not answered in the 15-minute taster we were able to see.

Still, we can promise plenty of clips, both unfamiliar (some lovely corpsing from the early days of live variety shows) and over-familiar (Andre Preview, The Frost Report's class sketch). With any luck, a very watchable primer to a comedy format that should ideally be as easy to watch as it apparently is hard to master.

David Frost interview

"I'm so sad," David Frost sighs, "that we couldn't include Miranda Hart, as I think she is superb, but she doesn't do sketches... I'll have to make up a programme to showcase her talents."

David Frost talks about That Was The Week That Was

David Frost shot to fame 50 years ago poking fun at the powerful, but insists he is still an outsider.

The delightful David Nobbs proved in With Nobbs On what his friends and colleagues had known for years - that he is has perfect comic timing, both as writer and performer. In the first of a three-part audio autobiography he recalled his days as a cub reporter in Sheffield and London and how, while covering Hampstead Magistrates' Court, he got the call from That Was The Week That Was (TW3) to join its team of scriptwriters. It was to be some years before he conjured up Reginald Perrin but the combined enthusiasm of David Frost and Ned Sherrin, presenter and producer of TW3 respectively, was what elevated him from humble hack to satirical sketch writer.