Television series
Horrible Histories
CBBC's Horrible Histories turns school history into rapid-fire sketches, songs and cartoons, gleefully keeping in the plague, guts and stupidity your textbook left out. A small cast plays everyone from Georgian dentists to shrieking Viking raiders, usually covered in fake blood or worse. It's fast, silly and stealthily educational — built for kids, but sharp and daft enough that any adult in the room will end up watching too.
If you liked this
Ghosts2019
Several of the same faces and writers, now haunting a crumbling manor instead of ancient Rome — the same fondness for mining British history's embarrassments, just slowed down into a warm sitcom.
But Gentler and more character-driven; if you want the sketch-a-minute chaos of the original, this feels comparatively sedate.

Yonderland2013no page yet
Same anarchic writing team, same willingness to be genuinely weird, now built into a puppet-filled fantasy quest rather than a history lesson — chaotic, silly, oddly moving in places.
But It's fantasy adventure, not history-based sketches, so the specific factual-comedy hook you loved isn't really here.
Bill2015no page yet
The Horrible Histories cast and writers reimagine young Shakespeare as a broke, hapless would-be rock star dodging assassins — same DNA, stretched to feature length with real gags to spare.
But A 90-minute film asks for more patience than a ten-minute sketch block, and the jokes land at a gentler rhythm.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
A History of Britain by Simon Schama2000no page yet
It's the straight version of the same material — watch it alongside the comedy and you'll feel exactly where the jokes are landing, because you'll know what's actually true underneath them.
Simon Schama's landmark documentary tells the same plagues, executions and civil wars Horrible Histories turns into songs — except here they're rendered with total seriousness and gorgeous, unhurried prose.
But No jokes, no gore played for laughs, no pace to speak of — just one historian's voice carrying you through centuries.
More like this (8)
Upstart Crow2016no page yet
A sitcom that treats Shakespeare's household like a modern office comedy, packed with the same pun-heavy, fact-adjacent silliness about a grim, funny old England.
But Made for grown-ups with a studio-audience sitcom rhythm — the cheerful gore and kid-pitched chaos are largely gone.
Blackadder1983
The grandparent of British historical comedy — same cynicism about kings, wars and plagues, delivered through some of the sharpest scripts British sitcom ever produced.
But Dry, verbal, very adult wit rather than sketches and songs; younger Horrible Histories fans may find it slow going.

Plebs2013no page yet
Ancient Rome reimagined as a shabby flat-share sitcom, mixing real historical texture with modern laddish banter — the anachronism-as-joke trick Horrible Histories loves, turned fully adult.
But Crude, horny, very much not for children — a completely different audience wearing similar historical fancy dress.
QI2003no page yet
A panel show built entirely from the kind of gruesome, absurd historical trivia Horrible Histories thrives on, hosted by people who are genuinely funny about being genuinely well-read.
But No sketches, no music, no reenactments — just people talking, which is a much lower-energy format for kids used to the show's chaos.
Monty Python's Flying Circus1969
The sketch-show ancestor of everything British comedy does with history — surreal, silly, occasionally aimed straight at kings, empires and dead philosophers.
But Genuinely surreal and non-linear, with no unifying educational thread; some sketches will baffle rather than delight.

Drunk History2013no page yet
American comedians narrate real historical events while thoroughly drunk, reenacted by a straight-faced cast — the same comedy-collides-with-fact engine, aged up considerably.
But Built entirely around a drinking premise, with American history and American humour — not remotely a kids' show.
Do Not Adjust Your Set1968no page yet
This is where the trick came from — writers using a children's timeslot to sneak in properly subversive comedy, decades before Horrible Histories perfected the same con.
A children's teatime sketch show that quietly smuggled in adult-grade absurdist writing from future Pythons — anarchic, cheap-looking, and startlingly funny for something aimed at kids before bedtime.
But Black and white, patchily preserved, and steeped in 1960s references that need a bit of context to land now.
Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra2002no page yet
Same target audience, same gross-and-silly take on antiquity, but proof the format travels — a feature-length, foreign-language cousin doing the exact same job in a completely different costume.
A gloriously silly French romp through ancient Rome and Egypt, packed with slapstick, anachronistic jokes and gleeful overacting — the same delight in making history ridiculous, just louder and bigger.
But Subtitled or dubbed, and its brand of broad French comedy plays very differently from British deadpan — some of it may feel like a lot.
People
Cast
Jessica RansomVarious
Tom StourtonVarious
Simon FarnabyVarious
Jim HowickVarious
Richard David-CaineVarious- James McNicholasVarious
Mathew BayntonVarious
Martha Howe-DouglasVarious
Laurence RickardVarious
Ben WillbondVarious
Jalaal HartleyVarious
Harrie HayesVarious
Production
- Giles PilbrowCo-Producer
- Alison GregoryExecutive Producer
- Bill NobbinsExecutive Producer
- Kim ShillinglawExecutive Producer
- Louise EltringhamExecutive Producer
- Melissa HardingeExecutive Producer
- Richard BradleyExecutive Producer
- Simon WeltonExecutive Producer
- Ben RogersProducer
- Caroline FisherProducer
- Caroline NorrisProducer
- Giles PilbrowProducer
- Imogen CooperProducer
- Josh GrantProducer
- Lisa MitchellProducer
- Matt LamontProducer
- Tom MillerProducer
Recommended by
The Tudors, Blackadder, Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, Ripping Yarns, Vikingane