Rude Britannia

Series exploring British traditions of satire and bawdy and lewd humour. In the early 18th century, Georgian Britain was a nation openly, gloriously and often shockingly rude. This was found in the graphic art of Hogarth, Gillray, Rowlandson and George Cruikshank, and the rude theatrical world of John Gay and Henry Fielding. Singer Lucie Skeaping helps show the Georgian taste for lewd and bawdy ballads, and there is a dip into the literary tradition of rude words via the poetry of Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift and Lord Byron, and Laurence Sterne's novel Tristram Shandy. (bbc.co.uk)

Series exploring British traditions of satire, bawdy and lewd humour continues by revealing how a popular culture of rudeness managed to survive and even thrive in the long era of Victorian values from the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837 until the 1950s. It examines the moral panic that came with the arrival of photography in the Victorian age, as rude and saucy images became available to anybody who had the money to buy them. Current-day performers recreate the acts of celebrated rude music hall stars such as Champagne Charlie and Marie Lloyd, and there is a look at the satirical and rude world of one of Britain's first comic book icons, boozy anti-hero Ally Sloper. It moves on to show how a 20th century seaside culture of rudeness emerged, with peepshows on the pier - the Mutoscopes - and the picture postcard art of Donald McGill. (bbc.co.uk)

The final part of a series exploring British traditions of satire and bawdy humour brings the story of a naughty nation up to date and explores how a mass democracy of rude emerged, beginning with the 1960s revolutions and continuing with the today's controversies. There is a look at how a tradition of rude cartooning came back to life, as cartoonists draw the iconic political figures of the last 50 years: Gerald Scarfe captures Harold Macmillan, Steve Bell does Margaret Thatcher and Martin Rowson depicts Tony Blair. The rude comic art of Viz is revealed in the characters of Sid the Sexist and the Fat Slags, and the rude theatre of Joe Orton, the rude radio of Round the Horne and the hippy rudeness of underground magazine Oz are also investigated. And the history of rude television is traced from Till Death Us Do Part via Spitting Image to Little Britain. Finally, there is a look at how rude comedy begins to be seen as offensive in sexist and racist ways. (bbc.co.uk)