Discover 11,128,835 listings and 279,799 playable programmes from the BBC
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
With the help of contemporary comedians, scholars and an appetite for enduring humour, Ian Hislop tracks down the earliest examples of enduring British comedy tropes and jokes. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
Ian visits a late Medieval College Chapel to examine early examples of visual comedy in his search for evidence of what made our ancestors laugh. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
With the help of contemporary comedians, scholars and an appetite for enduring humour, Ian Hislop tracks down the earliest examples of enduring British comedy tropes and jokes. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
With the help of contemporary comedians, scholars and an appetite for enduring humour, Ian Hislop tracks down the earliest examples of enduring British comedy tropes and jokes. Show more
57 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
With the help of contemporary comedians, scholars and an appetite for enduring humour, Ian Hislop tracks down the earliest examples of enduring British comedy tropes and jokes. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
In the fifth programme in his search for the earliest examples of British comedy Ian looks at a unique manuscript that actually describes a Medieval entertainer in action. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
In the sixth programme in his series looking for recorded evidence of British comedy staples, Ian is in Aberdeen to see medieval evidence of laughing at and with Animals. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
Ian changes tack in his series tracing the origins of British humour to address the apparent absence of female contributions to comedy in the Medieval period. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
In the last programme in his series looking for the origins of British comedy staples, Ian finds himself in a shed in Coventry enjoying an early collection of comic songs. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
In the penultimate programme in his series exploring early examples of British humour, Ian turns to cartoon satire and the impact of a Dutchman on the satirical golden age. Show more
57 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM
Available for over a year
In the second week of his series looking at the origins of British comedy Ian unearths early examples of Parody, Satirical Cartoons and Comic song, but begins with animals. Show more
14 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Ian Hislop's search for evidence of early British Comedy staples reaches Chaucer and the art of parody in the form of the Tale of Sir Topaz from The Canterbury Tales. Show more
