Comedy Connections - Season 3

Starting with a group of undergraduates meeting at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the roots of Monty Python's Flying Circus are found in the TV satire boom of the 60s and the influence of The Goons and Spike Milligan.

Interviews with John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Carol Cleveland tell the story of what happened in the Python writing room, why John Cleese left at the end of the third series and exactly how the BBC dealt with the infamous undertaker sketch.

With graphics tracing their careers over 40 years, we hear how the seeds of Python were sown behind the scenes of The Frost Report, and how on the break-up of Python they all tried to do something completely different whilst secretly hoping their erstwhile colleagues wouldn't be too successful.

The series charting the history of some of the best British comedy programmes looks at 90s sketch show Harry Enfield and Chums.

Series charting the history of some of the best British comedy programmes looks at sketch show Goodness Gracious Me. A spin-off from the Real McCoy, it soon established itself by reflecting the reality of contemporary British Asian life while observing the conventions of a mainstream sketch comedy show.

Series about the history of British comedy looks at Not the Nine O'Clock News, starring Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith.

Series charting the history of some of the best of British comedy looks at sketch show A Bit of Fry and Laurie. The two stars met in the Cambridge Footlights and wrote four series between 1986 and 1995 before moving into the worlds of literature, television, theatre and film.

Series charting the history of some of the best of British comedy shows looks at the hugely successful The Two Ronnies, which ran from 1971 to 1987. This traces their relationship from their initial meeting, on to their first appearance together on The Frost Report and right through to the Two Ronnies Sketchbook.

Their list of collaborators over the years reads like a who's who of 60s and 70s comedy, from Stanley Baxter, Jimmy Edwards and June Whitfield on stage, radio and screen to writing talent like Barry Cryer, David Renwick, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and John Cleese.