''Comics Britannia'' is a three-part documentary series from

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

which started on 10 September 2007. It was then repeated on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

starting on 19 July 2008. The series looks at the

history of the British comic A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper. British comics are usually comics anthologies which are ...

and is also the centre of a Comics Britannia season.

Episodes

The three programs look at the main periods of British comics. They are narrated by

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...

The Fun Factory

First shown on Monday 10 September, this documentary looks at the early years of British comics. It features the launch of ''

The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after ''Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 Oct ...

'' and follows the growth of the British comics industry through to the 1960s.

Boys and Girls

First shown on Monday 17 September, the episode looks at the appearance of a large range of comics in the post-war era specifically aimed at boys (''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

'') and girls (''

Bunty ''Bunty'' was a British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001.Gibson (2003)p. 91/ref> It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In contrast to earlier ...

'', ''

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

'').

X-Rated: Anarchy in the UK

First aired on Monday 24 September, it looks at the trend towards darker comics in the 1970s and 1980s with the launch of '' 2000 AD'' and the rise of

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

resulting in the "

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

" of the American comics industry. Comics Britannia Ep 3: Anarchy in the UK
by

Paul Gravett Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer, and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing since 1981. He is the founder of ''Escape Magazine'', and for many years wrote a monthly article on comics appearing in the UK magaz ...

, BBC

Comics Britannia season

The rest of the season includes documentaries (not necessarily about British comics and artists): * ''

In Search of Steve Ditko ''In Search of Steve Ditko'' is a BBC Four documentary. It was first shown on Sunday 16 September 2007. The documentary is part of the Comics Britannia season and follows Jonathan Ross' attempts to track down comics artist Steve Ditko (known f ...

'' * ''

Heath Robinson William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist, illustrator and artist, best known for drawings of whimsically elaborate machines to achieve simple objectives. In the UK, the term "Heath Robinson contr ...

: Suburban Subversive'' * '' Happy Birthday Broons!'' * '' Happy Birthday Wullie'' * ''In Search of Moebius:

Jean Giraud Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Bandes dessinées, Franco-Belgian ''bandes dessinées'' (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim under the pseu ...

'' * ''

Tintin and I ''Tintin and I'' (French: ''Tintin et moi'', also known as ''Tintin and Me'') is a 2003 documentary by Anders Høgsbro Østergaard, about Belgian writer-artist Georges Remi, better known as Hergé, and his creation Tintin. The film is a co-produc ...

'' * ''The Comic Strip Hero'',

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

documentary about Superman As well as relevant films and television series: *''

My Name Is Modesty ''My Name Is Modesty'' is a 2004 American action film directed by Scott Spiegel. Quentin Tarantino executive produced. It was released direct-to-DVD. The film is based on the early years of the character Modesty Blaise, a former crime boss turned ...

'', the 2003

Modesty Blaise ''Modesty Blaise'' is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author Peter O'Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talent ...

film * ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer a ...

'', the 1982 film (Moebius designed the graphical look) * Repeats of the 1960s ''Batman'' series

Notes

References

Comics Britannia series details at the BBC''Comics Britannia'' season details at the BBC
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 10 August 2007
Down the Tubes overview of the season

External links

* *

by

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

, ''

'', 8 September 2007
Last cowboy in town
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 8 September 2007
Comics Britannia
''

thelondonpaper ''The London Paper'' (stylised as ''thelondonpaper'') was a free daily newspaper, published by NI Free Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International (who also own the companies that publish '' The Sun'' and ''The Times''). It was available fr ...

'', 10 September 2007
Last night on television: Comics Britannia (BBC4)
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The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 11 September 2007 Documentary films about comics BBC television documentaries 2000s British documentary television series 2007 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings