If you're in on the sofa tonight and somehow Celebrity Big Brother just didn't deliver the huge belly-laughs you were expecting, then you could do worse than turn over to BBC1 at 10:35 for 25 Years of the Comedy Store.
It's a documentary, directed by Paul Merton (hence the subtitle: A Personal History By Paul Merton), which traces the history of the Soho club, which basically served as the petri dish for the birth of alternative comedy in the 1980s. The programme is also the directorial debut of Merton, who has said that "I wouldn’t be a comedian now if it wasn’t for The Comedy Store."
As it's Merton behind the camera he's roped in a number of decent talking heads, including Jack Dee, Clive Anderson, Alexei Sayle and...Keith Allen (Londonist has never been a fan of Keith Allen but apparently he was integral to the whole Comedy Store success).
Here's an interview with Merton from Sunday's Observer, which talks at length about the project. And there's this article in today's Independent, which asks past performers for ther memories and best jokes.
