"I can speak Esperanto like a native..."

It's British comedy week for a sketch series. But were dialing it back in time to the people you should know but perhaps don't.

We're kicking things off with the Irish comedian, poet and playwright, Spike Milligan. He's perhaps best known as a creator and cast member of the long-running radio comedy The Goon Show, along with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe. Spike wrote several hilarious books including his interpretation of The Bible, and many plays, one of which, The Bed Sitting Room, was made into a fantastically bizarre film.  I first encountered him as a kid on a particularly bizarre episode of The Muppet Show. Famously, when Spike died, he wanted his headstone to read "I told you I was ill...", but the cemetery wouldn't allow it. They compromised, and the epitaph was restored...in Irish Gaelic.