It’s been six months since we said goodbye to Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s long-running anthology series, which closed its door after nine seasons with a star-studded self-tribute. Now we get to see behind the scenes on that last season and take a look back at some of the show’s history.

As is so often the way with modern documentaries we begin with a long barrage of brief clips and snatches of talking heads, before things settle down a little (but not much). There’s a lot to cover here and most of the important bases are touched upon.

We have a casual chat between the show’s creators and Nick Mohammed (Simon Says) which highlights just how much the guest stars are also fans of the show. In fact I could have easily watched an hour of these three chatting – it’s a symptom of the format that we don’t get quite enough of the good stuff before moving on to something else.

The show is noted for its memorable promotional posters, so a visit to artist Graham Humprey’s home is a treat. We have a piece on live episode Dead Line that sheds more light on how the live format impacted the production. Composer Christian Henson reveals the surprising circumstances surrounding the creation of his memorable theme tune.

The main thread of the documentary is appropriately the relationship between Shearsmith and Pemberton, so we have a look back at how their friendship and collaboration began. It’s clear they’re extremely close, contrasted with the entirely fictional fractious relationship invented for the final episode.

There’s a lot to get through in an hour and while it does a good job I would have liked it to slow down a bit more and spend time just letting people talk, it often feels like it’s rushing on to the next thing. The combination of talking heads, video diaries and behind the scenes footage makes it feel like a compilation of DVD extras that should have each had their own space. Nonetheless a lot to enjoy and it’s certainly informative.

Verdict: It does the job but with so much to explore it can’t help but feel like highlights from a much more in-depth project that we’ll never have. Having said that, this is a must watch for any fan. 7/10

Andy Smith