Actor Matt Berry's voice-overs for odd bits of ancient news footage are becoming a long-running comedy mainstay, too. The problem is, as proved by his new 15-minute series Squeamish About... (BBC2), the joke is running out of steam.

When he first tried the idea, in 2015, with a couple of shorts about the Boat Race and Father's Day, it was a surreal delight. Berry's knack for mangling words and unravelling vowels was matched to blissfully silly scripts by Bob Mortimer.

But in order to work, the gag has to be constantly hilarious. And despite the best efforts of writer Arthur Mathews (co-creator of Father Ted), it's not possible to maintain side-splitters for a full quarter of an hour.

There were some good lines though. Gracie Fields, enjoying a knees-up, was described as 'the famous drag act from Rochdale -- you have to say that's a pretty convincing woman'' Well, quite.

Squeamish About... preview

In one of the few TV programmes that can be made in isolation, Matt Berry provides his peculiarly stressed voiceover to a patchwork of unrelated archive clips.

Review - Squeamish About...Entertainment

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Berry and Mathews have invented a whole new genre of comedy, but these shows do have a strong, unusual flavour.

Squeamish About... review

Using archive footage, the actor takes us on a whistle-stop tour through Britain's past - think Vic Reeves meets Philomena Cunk, in ye olden days.

Squeamish About..., episode 1

A 15-minute comedy that felt about 10 minutes too long.

Squeamish's top 10 entertainment shows from the past

Matt Berry returns to BBC Two tomorrow as rogue historian Michael Squeamish, about with four more surreal mockumentaries, starting with the history of British entertainment. By way of preview, the show's co-writer Arthur Mathews, below, offers this run-down of ten great entertainment shows from the past, done - of course - with the rigorous adherence to accuracy that the show is known for...