Funny Woman, with NR's LISA WHITESIDE, takes you back to the world of comedy in the male-dominated Swinging Sixties.

Most British stand-ups were in the mould of Bernard Manning telling their old-fashioned and crude mother-in-law jokes in smoke-filled theatres, pubs, and working men's clubs, and the majority of TV sitcoms had male leads too. Think Steptoe and Son, Till Death Do Us Part and legendary Tony Hancock.

Back then it would have been near impossible for a woman to become the biggest star in comedy, yet that's just the journey talented Barbara Parker, played by Gemma Arterton, takes in Funny Woman. Based on the bestselling novel Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, the story follows the amusing and emotional adventures of Barbara Parker from Blackpool as she hits the big time and achieves unlikely comedy success in the 1960s by becoming a major TV sitcom star.