Harry Hill delves into the makings of our favourite television genres for his new series. Georgia Humphreys asks the comedian what viewers can expect. The Covid-19 lockdown has actually been very busy for Harry Hill – the 55-year-old comedian has finally managed to make a series he’s been pitching for 15 years.

The BBC Two show Harry Hill’s World Of TV gives viewers a lesson in telly history, with the presenter taking a hilarious look behind each of the main genres on our screens.

“It came out of lockdown, because nobody was able to make any shows with audiences,” explains Hill. “It’s me introducing loads of clips about different types of TV every week. It’s a tongue-in-cheek guide how to make them.”

The first episode looks at soaps, from 1954’s The Grove Family through to Crossroads, and Albion Market, to Coronation Street and EastEnders. Next up is medical dramas, with a look at shows such as Dr Finlay’s Casebook, Emergency Ward 10, 1975’s Angels and, of course, Holby City and Casualty. The rest of the series sees Hill dive into police dramas, home improvement shows, historical documentaries and cookery programmes.

The funnyman was able to make the show by himself at home. He had other contributors helping him find the clips, before he edited it together on his computer.

The father-of-three confides he “wasn’t sure how they’d react” when he sent the edit over to the BBC. “But actually, they’ve been very positive,” he enthuses. There were a couple of challenges, though. “The thing with clip shows, you never know if it’s going to sustain half an hour. With an audience show, you’ve just got a looser feel. So, this is a lot of jokes back to back, and sometimes that can become a bit relentless.”

The inspiration came from the fact he has watched so much TV over the years for ITV’s TV Burp. “The crime drama episode is good because you’ve got stuff like The Sweeney, and stuff from the seventies, which were really overblown, right up to The Bill and Line Of Duty.

“There’s a lot of variation, and often the shows start with black and white footage from the sixties, which is really sort of tame and slow-paced, and then when you get to the present day, it’s all sort of fast-cut and action-packed. “There are lots of ideas. It’s surprising, I think; each one has its own surprises.”

As for his own TV binges during lockdown, he says: “I’ve watched what everyone else has been, those first few months, I watched Tiger King, and I watched Ozark.

With a laugh, he adds: “The news obviously; the daily briefings in the first few months, they were the most popular programme on TV... We were all waiting to find out what we could do and what we couldn’t do.”

Harry Hill’s World Of TV will be airing on BBC Two from Sunday, August 23.