Funniest thing I've seen on TV for a while - may I recommend Kaamelott to all of you?

Kaamelott is one of those shows, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Blackadder, that uses history and legend as the background for some fantastic comedy. Like Fawlty Towers and Chef, one of its best features is the way in which the central character blows his top.

It is a very different take on Arthurian legend, and some of the changes may bug purists - Arthur doesn’t love Guinievre at all in Kaamelott, for example, and Merlin is incompetent, as is every knight at the Round Table. This is all rather like Blackadder with Queen Elizabeth being dangerously flighty, Richard III being not being a hunchbacked psychotic, etc.

There is talk of these being released with English subtitles one of these days, but until then, the only English versions seem to exist on YouTube, titled by amateurs. Here, with all their translational warts and misspellings, are three of my favourites.

Dies Irae I and II - broken up to fit on YouTube, this is the original pilot for the series.

The Catapult - some quick background: Léodagan is Arthur’s Father-in-Law who also serves as the Minister of Justice. He is the hawk who keeps insisting that Arthur needs more and better weapons. The other characters in this episode are Séli, Léodagan’s wife (Arthur’s Mother-in-Law), and Yvain, Arthur’s Brother-in-Law.

The Ambidextrous - Percival is as thick as a plank, and Lancelot is the Knight to Arthur’s right in this scene.

There are about 40 or so of the nearly 500 episodes available on YouTube - most of them turn up by searching “Kaamelott English”. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.