The Comedy Years. Image shows from L to R: Louise Gold, Steve Nallon. Copyright: Shiver Productions
The Comedy Years

The Comedy Years

  • TV documentary
  • ITV3
  • 2019
  • 4 episodes (1 series)

Documentary series looking at how TV comedy shows portrayed society in 1979, 1984, 1998 and 2003. Features Shaparak Khorsandi, Jon Culshaw, Debra Stephenson, Dom Joly, Ann Widdecombe and more.

Episode menu

Series 1, Episode 1 - 1979

The Comedy Years. Image shows from L to R: Bernie Clifton, Mick Miller. Copyright: Shiver Productions
This episode focused on 1979 will look at the northern club scene, which was dominating telly at the time with the likes of Les Dawson and Cannon & Ball. It's also the year that saw a new breed of alternative comedians making a name for themselves on screen that included Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and Rowan Atkinson.

Further details

The Comedy Years: 1979 features interviews with stars of comedy past and present - revealing the comedy moments that inspired them - including the likes of James Bolam, Omid Djalili, Clive Anderson, Cannon & Ball, Bernie Clifton, Mick Miller, Shappi Khorsandi, and Dom Joly.

This episode looks back at comedy from 1979. It was a pivotal year for Britain, there was a new prime minister in Margaret Thatcher and mass strikes leading to the so-called 'Winter Of Discontent.'

On television, we saw a return to political satire, with the BBC series Not The Nine O'Clock News introducing new comedians Mel Smith and Rowan Atkinson.

This episode will also look at the northern club scene, which was dominating telly at the time with the likes of The Cannon & Ball Show and the stand-up series The Comedians. It's also the year that saw a new breed of alternative comedians making a name for themselves, with the opening of The Comedy Store.

1979 was a pivotal year for women in comedy - with the introduction of impressionist Pamela Stephenson on Not The Nine O'Clock News and the success of sitcoms that reflected a female perspective, such as Butterflies and The Liver Birds.

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 19th April 2019
Time
9pm
Channel
ITV3
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 23rd June 2019 9:00pm ITV3
Sunday 28th July 2019 7:30pm ITV1
Sunday 12th April 2020 10:00pm ITV3
Sunday 28th June 2020 10:15pm ITV1
Monday 24th August 2020 9:00pm ITV3
Friday 11th December 2020 5:55pm ITV3
Monday 28th December 2020 5:55pm ITV3
Thursday 31st December 2020 10:05pm ITV3
Sunday 3rd January 2021 12:55am ITV3

Cast & crew

Cast
Shaparak Khorsandi (as Shappi Khorsandi) Self
Jon Culshaw Self
Debra Stephenson Self
Dom Joly Self
Ann Widdecombe Self
Sherrie Hewson Self
Janet Street-Porter Self
Tracy-Ann Oberman Self
John O'Farrell Self
Andrew Collins Self
Hugh Bonneville Narrator
Guest cast
James Bolam Self
Clive Anderson Self
Tommy Cannon Self
Bobby Ball Self
Leslie Ash Self
Mick Miller Self
Bernie Clifton Self
Kevin Day Self
Christopher Strauli Self
Nicholas Bond-Owen Self
Don Ward Self
Production team
Kerry Allison Director
Gavin Barclay Director
Stuart Ramsay Series Producer
Kerry Allison Producer
Gavin Barclay Producer
Mark Scantlebury Executive Producer
Mark Robinson Executive Producer
Jude Bibby Post Producer
Mike Eccles Editor
Daniel Ward Editor
Dave Woodyer Editor

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