The history of comedy in four hours
David Mitchell's new R2 series
David Mitchell is to trace the evolution of British comedy in a four-part series for Radio 2.
The History of British Comedy will cover the history of British humour from the music hall and the early days of silent films up to the present day.
The first hour-long instalment, which goes out on March 5, covers the years 1913 to 1938; while the second brings the story up to the early Sixties 'from the cosy world of It’s That Man Again to the new wave represented by The Goons'.
Meanwhile, Radio 2 has confirmed that its sci-fi sitcom Welcome to our Village, Please Invade Carefully will return for a full series.
Eddie Robson's comedy is about a small village that was invaded by beings known as Geonins, but the locals are too' cowardly, apathetic, polite or stupid' to stand up to them.
The commisson of a four-part series follows a pilot which aired last summer and starred the IT Crowd's Katherine Parkinson and Green Wing's Julian Rhind-Tutt. Parkinson will not be in the full series, but is replaced by Hattie Morahan, who plays Jane in Outnumbered.
The rest of the cast are Jan Francis, Peter Davison, Hannah Murray and John-Luke Roberts.
Published: 23 Feb 2013
