10 people you almost didn't recognise in Black Books

Nina Conti as Bernard's true love, Green Wing's Julian Rhind-Tutt as the adventurer/author Fran falls for, Peter Serafinowicz's deep voice, Johnny Vegas as the sleazy landlord, or Rob Brydon as Fran's new boss. Did you notice these...?

Bill Bailey reflects on 15 years of Black Books

Not to make you feel old, but Black Books turns 15 today. That's right, every slob and pessimist's hero Bernard Black first emerged on our TV screens back on September 29, 2000 on Channel 4.

James Cary's Top 10 Sitcoms, #8: Black Books

I don't feel that Father Ted is one of 'my shows'. But I'm more possessive about a show in the same vein: Black Books. When I saw trailer for it, I thought 'Yup, I'm going to love that. Dylan Moran is funny. Bill Bailey is very funny. And that Tamsin lady looks like a find. Hoorah.'

I was not disappointed.

Binging: Black Books

I wasn't alone in my Black Books obsession, my best friend Jen was happily stuck right in there with me. We'd not think twice about spending our university days watching the series over and over and over again, only pausing to make more tea and fetch more biscuits.

The double Bafta-winning sitcom from the early Noughties is available in its entirety to watch on Channel 4's on-demand site. Dylan Moran is at his sardonic best as an anti-social bookshop owner, while Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig star as his less misanthropic, equally eccentric friends.

Celebrating Black Books' best episodes

Though it's been absent from our screens since 2004, Black Books remains one of the most memorable comedies of recent years, as much for its wonderful characters as for its endlessly quotable scripts.

'Black Books': Tube talk gold

Two weeks back, Tube Talk Gold fondly remembered Channel 4's Father Ted - the first big television hit for writer Graham Linehan. But Linehan's contribution to great British comedy didn't end there - in 2000, he teamed with stand-up comic Dylan Moran to unleash another brilliant comic creation...

Your next box set: Black Books

Your next box set: Rambling, ranting, ridiculous Bernard Black runs the perfect bookshop, perfectly. Which means drinking a lot and abusing the customers.

There was a bad moment in the first episode of this series when it seemed as if Black Books might have lost its footing. It was loud and slapstick and too crude to be funny. But now it is right back on form, and this is one of the funniest episodes yet. Manny (Bill Bailey) places a bet on the Grand National, which turns Bernard (Dylan Moran) into a chronic gambler. Once again, it is the inmates against the world. For all that they torment each other, their pooled inadequacies act as a bulwark against customers, debt collectors - and just about everyone else.

After last week's episode, which worked hard for its laughter, tonight's is a far more relaxed and subtle affair. Bernard (Dylan Moran) and Manny (Bill Bailey) decide to write a children's book. Bernard's first attempt at entertaining four to six-year-olds consists of a 1,300-page saga about the relationship between an academic who survived the Stalinist purges and a daughter whose long and bitter marriage is collapsing. "You should never talk down to children," he says. The episode plays to one of the great strengths of the series - the antagonistic co-dependence that binds the main characters together. It is a wonderful return to form.