Even the most ferocious Scottish nationalist would have to admit Britain is quite brilliant when it comes to sitcoms, and this documentary celebrates the best of the past sixty years. The show starts back in the black and white 1950s, dishing up some of Hancock's Half Hour, and then it takes us forward, claiming that as sitcoms evolved they tried to reflect the social and cultural changes in society. So we can grasp a humorous social history of Britain by watching its sitcoms.

Steptoe And Son was sitcom's first working class family, and then shows such as Bread and Only Fools And Horses carried that onwards. The Likely Lads was the first to be set in the north of England and The Liver Birds the first with female lead characters. But if the changing face of Britain isn't your thing, you can simply enjoy the talking heads here, who include comedy greats such as Steve Coogan, Richard Curtis and Graham Linehan.

For the British, sitcoms aren't just entertainment, they're much more important than that. Over the past half-century, they've been a means for us to discuss race, gender, sexuality and - again and again, deep into the past and no doubt far into the future - class. This cheery accompaniment to the BBC's sitcom season enlists Steve Coogan, Graham Linehan and many more for a whistlestop survey of TV's funniest, sharpest half

The danger of constantly celebrating the past

Nostalgia. Easy promotability. A blend of old and new. Low risk. Lots of press. And a brand new half hour to be written by Clement and Frenais, writers of the near-perfect Porridge. What's not to like? As a consumer of comedy, I'm fine with all of the above obviously. As a writer of comedy, my feelings are slightly more mixed.