Funny or filth – was it right to cancel Hill's brand of comedy?

It's 1971 and Benny Hill is ruling the airways. His show pulls in millions of viewers and Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) is top of the charts.

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One of his specials attracted more viewers than the moon landing while the man himself appeared in The Italian Job and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He rubbed shoulders with the stars and later was considered a friend by Michael Jackson.

For Benny Hill, life in the Seventies was good. There's a blue plaque outside the house in London where he lived-I know this because a friend and I walked past it once (walked, not ran, and we weren't dressed as nurses before you ask).

But fast forward to 1984, and his show is unceremoniously taken off air by Thames Television, consigned to the televisual waste bin.

Until, that is, Channel 5 decide to make a documentary about it. The Cancellation Of Benny Hill is an hour and a half of the comedian's best and worst moments, with input from celebrities and, interestingly, a very easily shocked trio of today's teenagers.

The gist of the show is essentially was it filth, or was it funny?

The programme makers have rummaged through the archives to find sketches that wouldn't normally be shown on the telly today.