Oh boy. Where to start? I was going to write a whole ‘Dear Daily Mail, is this what our children are being taught these days?’ sort of thing. No, really, I was. However, to be fair, no one would have believed it.

So, to state from the off: Horrible Histories is superb.

Normally children’s television is, hmm, hit and miss. I remember being a young thing and not really liking much on the telly – oh, there was Vision On, Blue Peter, Noel Edmunds’ Multi Coloured Swap Shop and, on ‘the other side’, The Tomorrow People and Runaround.

However, a lot of children’s telly, especially as the years went on, became increasingly sillier. Apparently, we kids liked to see adults act in a silly, childish way. I’m not sure who decided that. Presenters had to be your friends. Poor Valerie Singleton. She must have been appalled. And then original British children’s telly all but vanished.

Then The Sarah Jane Adventures popped up and showed that there was life in the old (tin) dog yet. Quality television aimed at children. And Horrible Histories is just that.

For the uninitiated among you, each episode of the show features sketches and songs about different periods of British history. Based on the wonderful book series, the sketches are very funny and very informative. So good are they, that the show has won a British Comedy Award and has attracted some big name guest stars, even managing to get The League of Gentlemen to reform.

Watch Queen Elisabeth I demonstrate how she managed her sanitary arrangements. See the Historical Paramedics screw things up rather badly and then run away. Every time! And the Horrible Histories‘ mickey take of MasterChef is just hilarious. There’s some very cool songs too, including a not-actually-that-easy-to-remember-at-all way of spieling off the kings and queens of England since my main man, Norman The Conqueror, and a song about Dick Turpin that proves that he really wasn’t a dandy highwayman.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. Get it for your kids. Then get it for yourself to watch whilst they are watching it in the lounge. This is what British television should be doing a lot more of; quality children’s programming that doesn’t just encourage children to watch it, it rewards them too.

Released on DVD on Monday 4th June 2012 by BBC Worldwide.

> Buy the Complete Series 1-3 boxset on Amazon.

Are you a fan of Horrible Histories? Let us know below…