Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)

Horrible Histories
Title logo (with background used from Series 2 onwards)
Genre	Comedy
Developed by	, Caroline Norris
Written by	Dave Cohen Steve Punt Laurence Rickard (Series 1 to 5) Ben Ward Gerard Foster Giles Pilbrow Jon Holmes (Series 1 and 2) Colin Swash (Series 2 to 4)
Directed by	Steve Connelly (Series 2 to 4) Chloe Thomas (Series 1 and 4)
Starring	Mathew Baynton Simon Farnaby Sarah Hadland (Series 1 and 2; "also starring" in Series 4 and 5) Martha Howe-Douglas Jim Howick Laurence Rickard Ben Willbond
Voices of	John Eccleston (Rattus Rattus) Jon Culshaw Jess Robinson Dave Lamb
Theme music composer	Richie Webb, Matt Katz
Composer(s)	Richie Webb
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6 (7 full-length specials
No. of episodes	65 regular episodes, 7 full-length specials (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Richard Bradley Kim Shillinglaw (Series 1) Alison Gregory (Series 2 to 4) Melissa Hardinge (Series 4 and 5)
Producer(s)	Caroline Norris (Series Producer) Giles Pilbrow Dominic Brigstocke (Series 1) Imogen Cooper (Series 3 and 4)
Cinematography	Peter Edwards
Running time	28 minutes
Production company(s)	Lion TV Citrus Television (Series 2 onwards)
Release
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Original release	16 April 2009 – Present
Chronology
Followed by	Horrible Histories Specials
Related shows	Horrible Histories: Gory Games Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry
External links
Website
Production website

Horrible Histories is a British sketch comedy television series, part of the children's history franchise of the same name based on the books written by Terry Deary. The show was produced for CBBC by Lion Television with Citrus Television and ran from 2009 to 2013 for five series of thirteen half-hour episodes, with additional one-off seasonal and Olympic specials.

The TV show carries over the graphic style and much of the content of the Horrible Histories book series. It maintains the franchise's overall irreverent but accurate focus on the dark, gruesome or scatological aspects of British and other Western world history, spanning from the Stone Age to the post-World War II era. Individual historical eras or civilisations are defined and named as in the books, with sketches from several different time periods combined within a single episode. Live-action sketches—which often parody other UK media or celebrities—and music videos are intercut with animations and quizzes. The starring troupe are Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond, alongside a large supporting cast headed by Sarah Hadland, Lawry Lewin and Dominique Moore. The black rat puppet "host", Rattus Rattus, appears in short bridging segments, explaining the factual basis for each sketch.

The creative team was largely recruited from the mainstream adult UK comedy scene. They took inspiration from such quintessentially British historical-comedy classics as Blackadder and the Monty Python films. The series was a critical and ratings success, eventually gaining a wide all ages audience through its non-condescending and inclusive approach. It has won numerous domestic and international awards and has been named among the greatest British children's television series of all time.