The newly appointed Minister for Administrative Affairs, the Rt Hon. Jim Hacker MP, finds even the corridors of power congested by the machinations of his Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey and his Civil Service cohorts.

The Rt Hon. Jim Hacker MP and Sir Humphrey step out again for the second series of the Whitehall waltz.

If Prime Minister Jim Hacker has a fault (and god knows...), it is that he has ideas. Fortunately his Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey makes sure they never come to fruition. Meanwhile poor Bernard, his Private Secretary, sits uneasily on the fence between them...

Vision, integrity and a ruthless streak are the weapons of the political power. Unfortunately new Prime Minister Jim Hacker has none of these, but he does have the cowardice, desperation and a scheming, pragmatic Cabinet Secretary in Sir Humphrey...

Bernard Black is back for a third season of his multi-award winning and critically acclaimed comedy. Black Books continues to explore the musing and time-wasting techniques of raddled proprietor Bernard Black, his shy, multi-challenged assistant Manny Bianco and their underachieving friend Fran Katzenjammer.

Unfairly written off as an attempt to replicate the cult hysteria of The Fast Show, Big Train dared to push the boundaries of a genre (the comedy sketch show) which thought it had seen it all. No, not all of it worked, but the same was true of Python, Vic&Bob and all the other groundbreakers. When it did - the manager who distracted his mutinous staff with juggling displays, the Jekyll & Hyde-type scientist, the staring competitions, Mao Tse-Tung as Bryan Ferry, it was painfully, inexplicably funny. Stick with it.