Comic Roots
Season 2
Series documenting the biographies and influences of a number of popular comedians of the era.
Where to Watch Comic Roots • Season 2
4 Episodes
- Billy DaintyE2
Billy Dainty'Dear Mum, I'm crying as I write this letter, so please excuse the tearstains ...' wrote 12-year-old Billy Dainty after he got his first taste of show business. He grew up to become the back legs of a dancing donkey. In tonight's programme he meets up again with his front legs, and gives an unlikely rendition of Hamlet. - Alexei Sayle
E3Alexei SayleAlexei Sayle was one of the founders of what has come to be known as 'alternative comedy'. His roots aren't in the traditional theatre but in the pubs and clubs more associated with the world of rock music. He started drinking in Liverpool when he was 14. "I never had any trouble getting served 'cos I've looked like this since I was three." At 17 he exchanged the pints of the northern pubs for the 'G and Ts' of London clubs. Alexei takes us on a memorable journey round the places which feed his imagination. We start at opening time and end ... well, in the early hours. - Kenneth Williams
E4Kenneth WilliamsKenneth Williams explores his roots in and around St Pancras where he grew up. Architecture, poetry, art and music were the formative influences on Kenneth Williams: the slum architecture of St Pancras where he grew up; the liquid poetry of his gran's fruity anecdotes; the art of the Marcel wave practised by his hairdresser father; and the musical knees-up of The Boot.
