Legends of Comedy with Lenny Henry - Season 1

Lenny Henry takes a trip down memory lane with fellow comedy greats, starting with Paul Whitehouse. Lenny meets Paul in the West End, where he's starring as Grandad in a stage version of Only Fools and Horses. Together, they explore a career that spans over four decades, from The Fast Show to Gone Fishing. Lenny finds out how Paul created his characters, who he was inspired by and how his most creative collaborations came about with his chief partner in crime, Harry Enfield.

Lenny joins Sally Phillips for a cup of herbal tea and a lot of laughs as they look back over Sally's career and some of the best sketch comedy of the last 30 years, including the award-winning Smack the Pony, Veep, Miranda, I'm Alan Partridge and the Bridget Jones movies. Lenny and Sally also dive into how comedy improv really works and how to manufacture the perfect on-screen laugh.

Lenny is joined by Romesh Ranganathan for a journey into the archives of stand-up comedy. They consider where Romesh's own take on the comedy travelogue sits among those that have gone before and Romesh lays out the secrets - and pitfalls - of using your family as part of a comedy routine. They also watch clips of stand-up stars including Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Michael McIntyre and Sarah Millican, and look at why the hospitality industry provides such rich sitcom material in shows like Fawlty Towers and Chef!

Lenny and Alexei Sayle look back on the alternative comedy scene that had such an impact on them both, and also dive deep into surrealism, stand-up and soundtracks. Alexei reveals some of his favourite funny creations in series like Father Ted and Friends, and breaks down his most productive partnerships with comedy legends like Diane Morgan, Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson.