The Definitive Encyclopediaof British Comedy Legends

The fez-wearing magician whose tricks were meant to fail. Tommy Cooper turned incompetence into an art form and became one of Britain's most beloved comic entertainers of the 20th century.

The creator of The Office reinvented the British sitcom with cringe, silence and an unflinching eye for workplace absurdity.

The Manchester master of the mother-in-law joke and the deliberately wrong note, a gifted pianist who chose to play badly for laughs.

The one-liner machine of modern British comedy. A deadpan delivery, a distinctive laugh and a joke rate second to none.

A writer's writer with a poet's ear. Wood's songs and sketches turned everyday northern life into national treasure.

A whirlwind of sweat, energy and observational storytelling, the arena-filling comic who left it all on stage every night.

The Bolton storyteller who turned family weddings, biscuits and 'garlic bread?!' into record-breaking arena comedy.

Britain's slickest host and one of its most respected comedy craftsmen, a walking joke library with impeccable timing.

The Big Yin. A Glasgow shipyard welder turned folk singer turned storyteller, whose winding tales and gentle absurdity made him Scotland's most beloved comic export.

The polished, arena-filling observational comic whose Big Show made Saturday night mainstream comedy feel event television again.

The writer and performer who turned working-class family life into sitcom poetry with The Royle Family, and created one of British television's most unforgettable hosts in Mrs Merton.

The founding father of modern British satire: a Cambridge Footlights star who co-created Beyond the Fringe and The Establishment, helped shape and bankroll Private Eye, and redefined what comic intelligence could sound like.

The wild-eyed godfather of British alternative comedy: a human firework who turned student anarchy into sitcom gold with The Young Ones, The New Statesman, Bottom and Blackadder.

The character actor behind Alan Partridge — the vain, thin-skinned Norwich broadcaster who became one of the great British comic creations, and the Oscar-nominated writer of Philomena.

The taller, bespectacled half of Morecambe and Wise, and the beating heart of Britain's most-watched comedy double act. Eric turned a slapped cheek, a paper-bag trick and a knowing glance to camera into the national language of Christmas.