BBC Documentaries

Harry and Paul's Story of the Twos (2014x123)

: 25, 2014

As part of the 50th anniversary of BBC Two, the channel has commissioned Harry and Paul to celebrate the occasion in their own unique way, and this they are doing - both ruthlessly and Reithlessly. Inspired by Harry Enfield's Emmy Award-winning mythical biography, Norbert Smith, and Harry and Paul Whitehouse's Question Time spoof, the BBC's head of comedy Shane Allen asked them to come up with their own unique biography of BBC Two. In this one-off comedy-drama, Harry and Paul, themselves popular fixtures of the channel for half the 50 years, dance through the story of BBC Two. They start with its painful birth, as 'Auntie Beeb' pushes out the now familiar logo into the arms of the attending BBC execs. This sets the tone as the shows romp through the story of Two's highs and lows, from World War One to imported Scandinavian dramas, via The Forsyte Saga, Tim Nice But Brooke Taylor, Late Night Line Up with Joan Bakewell Tart and Monty Python. It drops into The Office and Boys from the Blackstuff, Arena, Old Grey Whistle Test and The Apprentice among many others. The whole journey is set inside a Simon Schama documentary, with Simon, played by Harry, laconically walking through and linking this 50-year saga. Shot in the studio and on location, the show visits and parodies in the region of 50 different shows, and there are 150 of BBC Two's favourite presenters, actors, comics and politicians on parade, most of them portrayed by either Harry or Paul with a little help from their friends.