I don't like repeats of last week's programs, but at times there is a case for these older programs to be shown again. I missed all sorts of brilliant programs through being away from home through the fifties and sixties, when it seems most of them were doing the rounds. Other people must also have had this problem. So come on BBC and ITV. Check to see if they (old comedy shows by the likes of Richard Briers etc.) are still fit for modern consumption and get them on again. I know old programs can be seen on Sky TV etc. but they are ruined by adverts.

I am sure the BBC could pay royalties from the amount of money involved in the licence fee. Besides as they are having to cut costs by reducing staff levels, there is more of a case for bringing out some of the better shows again.

I'm inclined to agree with Quickbeam. What was hilarious a few decades ago might fall very flat with a modern audience.

Some of the stuff that was aired back in the 1970s and 80's looks dreadfully amateurish when compared with modern output, and comedy is a particularly difficult field - political and social references that were very funny then would be largely meaningless now.

...Dad's Army and MAS*H both stand the test of time ... Blackadder, also, has timeless 'stiff-upper-lip' turning to 'burst-out-laughing' moments, also.

Jock1e

"I suppose all you can say is he had a good life."

Well, you might also say that he was awarded the OBE and the CBE for his work, and that he had a very successful comedy career spanning half a century.

Apart from 'The good life' he starred in a range of hit TV series, including 'Marriage Lines','Ever decreasing circles', and 'Monarch of the Glen'.

He was a member of Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company, and played many Shakespearean roles. He was also in three of Branagh's films. he was the voice of 'Fiver' the rabbit in the film 'Watership Down', did various voice overs for commercials, and was the Narrator for the childrens TV series of the Noddy stories.

In the end emphysema got him - he reckoned he had smoked over half a million cigarettes by the time he stopped, in 2003.