Top 10 books about comedy

Biographies, autobiographies, episode guides, script anthologies, tie-in books - my thirst for writing about comedy takes in the lot, so I've chosen not to differentiate between them. They're all of a piece, adding to our understanding and appreciation of the art.

Les Dawson is making a comeback - 26 years after death

Two plays written by the legendary comic are set to be staged for the first time.

My comedy hero: Justin Moorhouse on Les Dawson

As the seasoned comic, actor, radio presenter and podcaster hits the road cunningly disguised as the Northern Joker, he tells all about his comedy icon.

Make 'em laugh: Manchester's comedy greats remembered

The performers who put the city on the map for comedy and entertainment from the 1950s to the present day.

Barry Cryer: 'Tommy Cooper had a sadistic streak'

Tommy Cooper had a 'sadistic streak' which made him relish making people uncomfortable, Barry Cryer has revealed.

Charlotte Dawson to have cut-out of dad at wedding

Loved-up Charlotte Dawson vows to have a cardboard cut-out of late father Les at her wedding.

Victor Meldrew role almost went to Les Dawson

One Foot in the Grave actor Richard Wilson reveals he originally turned down the part, thinking he was too young to play the cantankerous grump.

Radio Times review

No comic actor ever wrinkled their nose or pushed up their spectacles with better timing. Ronnie Corbett's gifts are lauded by a biography strand that's previously given warm tributes to Robbie Coltrane, Les Dawson, Judi Dench and indeed Ronnie Barker. Interviews and clips aim to bring out the secrets behind the success of The Two Ronnies, and Corbett's rather bleak solo sitcom, Sorry!

There's plenty to explore from the years before his TV career: when Corbett appeared on The Frost Report as a fresh-faced, talented newcomer, he was actually 36 and a veteran of the clubs. Before that were his days as a teenage organist - no, that's not the set-up for a Two Ronnies newsreader joke - and his 1952 film debut in You're Only Young Twice.

Another outing for John Thomson/'s comic creation Bernard Righton: a formerly blue club comedian who has attained a left-wing conversion, and reconfigured his act accordingly. Bernard acts as compere on this festive clip show, introducing archival Christmas pieces by the likes of Bill Hicks, Emo Phillips and Les Dawson - all "appearing" at his club. The archival jokes are a lot funnier than Thomson's, which is probably the point, but which makes for strangely uneven viewing.