Top 40 TV Shows of 2016: #32 Brian Pern

The best Pern yet was a "revealing but convoluted documentary" combining sublimely ridiculous mockumentary and painstakingly constructed spoof retrospectives.

Re-record, not fade away: The Lost Sitcoms strand resurrects wiped BBC classics by remaking them from the original scripts. That means "new" episodes of Steptoe and Son and Hancock's Half Hour, but first up is Simon Day channelling Warren Mitchell as bigoted cockney foghorn Alf Garnett, howling at the cosmos after being denied his dinner. It's followed by a doc exploring the ambiguous appeal of Alf, the original problematic fave.

Watching unPC sitcoms should be part of the curriculum

The BBC's remakes of Till Death Us Do Part and Are You Being Served? are only to be appreciated through the filter of irony. But things like It Ain't Half Hot Mum weren't malicious.

The Lost Sitcoms: Till Death Us Do Part - review

While there were some laughs, especially in the phone box scenes in which lines get crossed, the episode did feel at times rather pedestrian. You get the feeling that of all the episodes the BBC could have picked to remake, this was one of the lesser ones.

TV preview: Till Death Us Do Part, BBC4

Are you ready for a cross between Festen and Mrs Brown's Boys? This is the weirdest contribution to the Landmark Sitcom Season yet. BBC4 has recreated a lost episode of the 1960s Alf Garnett sitcom Till Death Us Do Part using Johnny Speight's surviving script. And as they say on the internet, when you watch it your jaw will hit the floor.

Preview: Till Death Us Do Part

Unfortunately, this outdated set-up works against the production, reminding audiences how much our day to day lives have changed in 40 years - and not just with the advent of mobile phones and, dare we say it, Just Eat and Deliveroo.

Brian Pern props for sale

The Prop Gallery is offering bona fide production props from comedy spoof rockumentary Brian Pern: A Life in Rock, which starred Simon Day.

Simon Day's doubts over playing Alf Garnett

The Fast Show star Simon Day has admitted he had reservations about filling Warren Mitchell's shoes as bigot Alf Garnett in a new version of classic sitcom Till Death Us Do Part.

BBC at the Edinburgh Festivals 2016

An all-star line-up of top comedy, arts, writing and music - as well showcases for new fresh talent - will be at the heart of the BBC's Edinburgh Festivals coverage across TV, radio and online.

Mark Watson interview

From The Fast Show to other people's pain, the comedian reveals the things that make him laugh the most.