Melvyn Bragg meets Matt Lucas and David Walliams, the duo behind comedy phenomenon Little Britain. Meeting in 1990 as budding actors at the National Youth Theatre, the pair bonded over their shared comedy tastes. Their professional partnership began at the Edinburgh Festival, leading to TV shows including the critically acclaimed Rock Profile. But it was only when they created all manner of quirky and dysfunctional characters for Little Britain (which started out on Radio 4 before transferring to TV) that their star began to rise.

This programme follows Matt and David during the making of the current series, and shows them as they've never been seen before - out of costume and relaxing with their families. With contributions from fans and colleagues including Elton John, Vic and Bob, Ken Russell, Ronnie Corbett and Barry Humphries.

660 :30x01 - Armando Iannucci

First aired: Feb/12/2006
Guest star: Ronnie Renton (Himself), Patrick Marber (Himself), Rebecca Front (Herself), David Schneider (Himself), Armando Iannucci (Himself)

Melvyn Bragg profiles television writer, director and performer Armando Iannucci, who has worked on critically-acclaimed comedies including The Day Today, I'm Alan Partridge, Saturday Night Armistice and The Thick of It. The film charts his childhood and education at Oxford University and features contributions from David Schneider, Patrick Marber, Rebecca Front and former teacher Ronnie Renton.

661 :30x02 - Manga Mania

First aired: Feb/19/2006
Guest star: Jamie Hewlett (Himself)

Melvyn Bragg examines the world of manga, the Japanese style of animation popularised by TV, movies and computer games. He visits Tokyo firm Production IG, who created cult film Ghost in the Shell and the cartoon sequence in Kill Bill. Gorillaz animator Jamie Hewlett also discusses how manga has inspired his own work.

662 :30x03 - John Rutter

First aired: Mar/12/2006
Guest star: John Rutter (Himself)

Melvyn Bragg talks to John Rutter about his music and his passion for choirs. The programme follows the choral composer as he records plainsong at Ely Cathedral and rehearses his Pie Jesu with a solo chorister, before travelling across the Atlantic for a 400-voice concert at Carnegie Hall.

663 :30x04 - PD James

First aired: Mar/26/2006
Guest star: P. D. James (Herself)

Melvyn Bragg talks to crime writer PD James, who explains how twin obsessions with death and murder from a very early age shaped her career as a crime novelist. She allows cameras to follow her visit to Hendon Police College, where she watches trainee forensic officers collecting evidence from a mock crime scene, and discusses how the police force's job has changed over the past 50 years.

664 :30x05 - Dusty Springfield

First aired: Apr/09/2006
Guest star: Pet Shop Boys (Themselves), Camille Paglia (Herself), Billie Jean King (Herself)

Profile of singer Dusty Springfield, whose voice and glamorous image shot her to fame during the 1960s. A Motown enthusiast known as `the white lady of soul', she worked with Carole King and Burt Bacharach before her career crumbled in the 1970s - leading her to seek solace in drink, drugs and self-harming. Contributors include the Pet Shop Boys, tennis star Billie Jean King and Camille Paglia.

665 :30x06 - Seu Jorge

First aired: Jun/04/2006
Guest star: Wes Anderson (Himself), Fernando Meirelles (Himself), Seu Jorge (Himself)

Melvyn Bragg travels to Rio de Janeiro to present a profile of Brazilian singer and actor Seu Jorge, whose music career has flourished alongside his appearances in cult movies City of God and The Life Aquatic. Directors Fernando Meirelles and Wes Anderson discuss his talent, and Jorge performs the Brazilian Team's 2006 World Cup song Copa, an updated version of his 1994 tune.

666 :30x07 - Romeo and Juliet

First aired: Jun/11/2006
Director: David Thomas
Guest star: Wayne Sleep (Himself), Jeanette Winterson (Herself)

Melvyn Bragg considers the enduring appeal of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, travelling to Verona to find out why the pair have become such a potent symbol of enduring union to modern society. In discussion with contributors including Jeanette Winterson and Wayne Sleep he also examines how Shakespeare's well-loved play reveals uncomfortable truths about traditional cultures.

667 :31x01 - Bill Bryson

First aired: Sep/10/2006
Guest star: Bill Bryson (Himself)

668 :31x02 - JG Ballard

First aired: Sep/17/2006
Guest star: J.G. Ballard (Himself)

Melvyn Bragg talks to writer JG Ballard, who discusses his childhood in Shanghai and internment in a Japanese prison camp - memories that inspired his novel Empire of the Sun 40 years later. Ballard also talks about the effects of Surrealist painting and the death of his wife on his work, and the controversy that surrounded his most notorious book, Crash.

669 :31x03 - Robbie Coltrane

First aired: Sep/24/2006
Guest star: Robbie Coltrane (Himself)

On the eve of his return to the small screen in a new series of Cracker, Robbie Coltrane talks to Melvyn Bragg about his career. After starting out as a stand-up, the actor won acclaim in TV hits including Slab Boys and Tutti Frutti, before becoming a household name as criminal psychologist Fitz. Younger viewers have also taken Coltrane to heart as gentle giant Hagrid in the Harry Potter film franchise.

670 :31x04 - Episode 4

First aired: Oct/01/2006

671 :31x05 - Spamalot

First aired: Oct/15/2006

As Monty Python-based musical Spamalot prepares to open in the West End after a successful run on Broadway, the arts strand goes behind the scenes of the show and explores how the group's anarchic brand of comedy became such a huge hit.

672 :31x06 - Claire Tomalin on Thomas Hardy

First aired: Oct/22/2006
Guest star: Claire Tomalin (Herself)

Award-winning biographer Claire Tomalin joins Melvyn Bragg to trace the personal history of author and poet Thomas Hardy, looking into how his novels, including Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, offer an insight into his life and character. Tomalin also visits key areas and locations that were close to the writer's heart.

673 :31x07 - Sue Townsend

First aired: Oct/29/2006
Guest star: Ian Hislop (Himself), Richard Ingrams (Himself), Stephen Mangan (Himself), Sue Townsend (Herself), John Mortime (Himself)

Melvyn Bragg interviews author Sue Townsend, the creator of well-loved diarist Adrian Mole, in her home town of Leicester. The writer discusses the impact her failing health and loss of sight has had on her work, particularly her latest novel, Queen Camilla, from which extracts are read by Stephen Mangan. Contributors include Ian Hislop, Richard Ingrams and John Mortime.

674 :31x08 - Lorenzo Da Ponte

First aired: Nov/05/2006

675 :31x09 - Peter Blake

First aired: Nov/19/2006

676 :31x10 - Nick Park and Aardman Animations

First aired: Nov/26/2006
Guest star: Nick Park (Himself)

A Plasticine version of Melvyn Bragg introduces a profile of Aardman Animations' Nick Park, whose small and big-screen hits include Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and Creature Comforts, examining the film-maker's stringent working practices and asking why the studio has been so successful. Park also discusses his love of stop-motion animation and its future in a CGI-dominated world.

677 :31x11 - Steve Reich

First aired: Dec/10/2006

678 :31x12 - Grayson Perry

First aired: Dec/17/2006

679 :31x13 - Damien Hirst - Addicted To Art

First aired: Jan/01/2007

680 :31x14 - Mark Wallinger

First aired: Mar/04/2007

681 :31x15 - Victoria Wood: A South Bank Show Special

First aired: Mar/11/2007

682 :31x16 - Isabel Allende

First aired: Apr/22/2007

683 :31x17 - Shane Meadows

First aired: Apr/29/2007

684 :31x18 - Jarvis Cocker: Running The World

First aired: Jun/10/2007

685 :31x19 - Martin Sheen On Playing It Real

First aired: Jun/17/2007

686 :31x20 - Marianne Faithfull: A Life In Song

First aired: Jun/24/2007

687 :31x21 - Zaha Hadid

First aired: Jul/01/2007

688 :31x22 - MacBeth

First aired: Jul/08/2007

689 :31x23 - Ian McMillan, Bard Of Barnsley

First aired: Jul/15/2007

690 :31x24 - Emma Kirkby, The Unsung Heroine

First aired: Jul/22/2007
Guest star: Emma Kirkby (Herself (Classical Singer))

691 :31x25 - June Whitfield

First aired: Jul/29/2007

692 :31x26 - Michael Sheen On Playing It Real

First aired: Sep/02/2007

693 :31x27 - Joan Dision

First aired: Sep/23/2007

694 :31x28 - Ken Follett

First aired: Sep/30/2007

695 :31x29 - The Mersey Sound

First aired: Oct/07/2007

696 :31x30 - The Last Laugh: John Bird and John Fortune

First aired: Oct/14/2007

697 :32x01 - Annie Lennox

First aired: Nov/25/2007
Guest star: Annie Lennox (Herself)

698 :32x02 - Eric Clapton

First aired: Dec/02/2007

699 :32x03 - The Making Of Viva La Diva

First aired: Dec/09/2007

700 :32x04 - The Nutcracker Story

First aired: Dec/26/2007

701 :32x05 - Kevin Spacey At The Old Vic

First aired: Jan/06/2008

702 :32x06 - Lang Lang

First aired: Feb/10/2008

703 :32x07 - David McVicar

First aired: Mar/09/2008

704 :32x08 - Revolution 68

First aired: Mar/16/2008

705 :33x01 - Liza Minnelli

First aired: May/04/2008

706 :33x02 - The Damned United

First aired: May/11/2008

707 :33x03 - Gore Vidal

First aired: May/18/2008

708 :33x04 - Sarah Waters

First aired: Jun/08/2008

709 :33x05 - Tasmin Little

First aired: Jun/15/2008

710 :33x06 - Billy Joel

First aired: Jul/13/2008

711 :34x01 - The Streets

First aired: Sep/21/2008

712 :34x02 - The One Ronnie

First aired: Oct/05/2008

713 :34x03 - Bond

First aired: Oct/22/2008

714 :34x04 - Cildo Meireles

First aired: Oct/26/2008

715 :34x05 - Sam Taylor-Wood

First aired: Nov/16/2008

716 :34x06 - The Mariinsky Theatre

First aired: Dec/07/2008

717 :35x01 - The South Bank Show Awards

First aired: Jan/28/2009

718 :35x02 - Beyond the Footlights

First aired: Feb/01/2009

719 :35x03 - The Tempest

First aired: Feb/08/2009

720 :35x04 - Will Young

First aired: Mar/17/2009

721 :35x05 - Messiah

First aired: Apr/12/2009

722 :35x06 - William Goldman

First aired: Apr/26/2009

723 :35x07 - Out Of Nigeria

First aired: May/10/2009

724 :35x08 - Out Of Nigeria (2)

First aired: May/17/2009

725 :35x09 - Peter Kosminsky

First aired: May/24/2009

726 :36x01 - The Wagner Family

First aired: Sep/13/2009

727 :36x02 - Coldplay

First aired: Sep/20/2009

728 :36x03 - Andy Warhol

First aired: Oct/04/2009

729 :36x04 - Disney.Pixar

First aired: Oct/11/2009

The episode explores the animation process of Disney Studios in Burbank and Pixar Studios in San Francisco, following the steps between the storyboard and silver screen.