Looking Back and Laughing: History and Humour in Another Period ( )

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between humour and history by interrogating the creator, reviewer, and audience statements about Comedy Central's historical satire, Another Period. Few studies explore comedic screen representations of history with the focus tending to be upon documentaries and drama fictions, such as the period drama. This article argues that Another Period parodies these traditional realisations of the past, namely the period drama, along with another popular genre, reality, in order to highlight that historical accuracy is comical, to critique the representations and nostalgia of period dramas through subversion, and to demonstrate the relationship between the past and present via satire