Harry Hill's World of TV

Every time I see Harry Hill on TV I wonder why he stopped doing TV Burp. That was probably the funniest show of the 21st century, it literally used to make my sides ache. I had the impression he gave it up because it was too much like hard work. So this is like the lazy version: instead of the immediacy of last week's TV and a studio audience, you have a trawl through ancient archives from times when, you know what? Telly was a bit different from now. Not all that different though; this week's ep about boring mansplaining history was actually very similar to today's BBC4 except that now, instead of a distinguished if untelegenic male historian like AJP Taylor, they often have an unqualified and untelegenic woman like Lucy Worsley or Mary Beard (who is a classicist, not a historian), ladysplaining how the whole discipline of History is a conspiracy got up by men to keep women in their place.

But I digress. World of TV is mildly amusing: at best it's a bit like Rob Brydon's little-known Director's Commentary (although that wasn't just a clip show, it had a character and story of sorts). Like DC, it ought by rights to be on the night shift - except that these are desperate times at the BBC, especially for comedy.

Look, we'd all like to have TV Burp back (or even Alien Fun Capsule) but there is a context for Harry not going full studio madcap in these times. Still, I was concerned before it began to air that it would be like Matt Berry's increasingly stilted archival rambles or even Hill's own sterile You've Been Framed offerings. Thankfully, it was neither and essentially acted as both a potted bit of televisual history and a warm bit of mildly Burp-esque foolishness.

Each episode covers a different form and his success on each one varies quite wildly - in fact, the tone overall is pretty inconsistent but each one provoked at least a few pleasant laughs and nostalgic honks of a Sunday evening and frankly in these bleakly atrocious times that is absolutely job done in my eyes.

Going forward, I hope he gets a few more props and surreal rabbit holes to follow in the "control room" between archive clips and they ... well essentially just make TV Burp. Just do that. Just do TV Burp again. Go on.

This has been great so far and has really made me laugh. I love Harry Hill

In the midst of a global pandemic and nothing but repeats on TV, then what better than the master of mocking TV show's, delving into the backlog of vintage television to cheer us up. For those of us of a certain age that remember the days of just three channels the awful Crossroads, Angels, and when Emmerdale was just a farm. Harry manages to remind us in his usual sarcastic manor of the days when scenery would shake the actors would be more wooden than Thunderbird puppets and the story lines just so ridiculous they played out more like a bad sitcom. At least for one glorious half hour on Sunday I now have something to look forward to. Thank you Harry

Don't get me wrong, a 'TV Burp' revival would be far better, but for now this is the closest we're going to get to Harry Hill doing what he does best - mocking TV.

This show has been good fun, I hope it returns. Perhaps with an edition mocking all the trash we've had to endure as 'entertainment' during 2020?