Simply Media, out now

Spike Milligan’s anarchic comedy show.

A recent repeat of a Ken Dodd comedy spectacular from 2002 was prefaced with a statement to the effect that the contents reflected the time in which they were made. Goodness only knows what would need to be said if Spike Milligan’s Q shows ever got an airing again – since I suspect that there are many people who might take offence if they inadvertently tuned in.

That doesn’t apply for the DVD release – you have to make a very conscious effort to get hold of it, and certainly for those of us who grew up in that period, it’s a nostalgic (if quite definitely not politically correct) look at the time. It ran from 1969 to 1982 with the series being numbered (from 5 upwards) and in it Milligan and his colleagues were allowed free rein to poke fun at whatever they wanted… which, it has to be said, makes for some very racist jokes, even when they involve a Dalek!

The first series went very much under the radar, and not much of it still exists; the second followed after Monty Python had run its course, and there’s a little bit of a tonal shift with each succeeding one. The surrealism can be a bit wearing and you do sometimes wish that Milligan would see an idea through to its conclusion, but it’s a piece of British comedy history, and while it won’t be to everyone’s tastes it’s definitely worth a look.

Verdict: Very much of its time – and that time being when Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language were highly popular. 7/10

Paul Simpson