Ken Dodd - or 'Doddy', as he was almost universally known - was Britain's greatest stage comedian of the last hundred years. Over a six decade career he invited generations of British audiences into his surreal world of jam butty mines, Diddymen and sausage-knotters...and kept them there, at his theatre performances, for many hours in legendarily long shows. His style and way of working represented a direct link back from the 21st Century to Victorian music hall, and he remains revered by many other comedians to this day. Phil Silvers was a consummate comedy actor whose role playing the celebrated Sergeant Bilko on America's The Phil Silvers Show offered him an international platform on which to show off his astonishing comic skills. Widely regarded as one of America's greatest sitcom stars of all time, Silvers' genial mix of guile, quick wit and a likeable disposition earned him the sobriquet 'The King of Chutzpah'. His performance as Bilko is rightly acclaimed as a gold standard in sitcom, and the show's influence can still be seen in more modern comedies like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Mark Wells and John Marley discuss the lives and work of these two towering legends of comedy entertainment, and assess what made them so special.

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