TV comebacks: Five shows of yesteryear returning in 2016

A raft of classic British sitcoms form the backbone of television hits of old set to make a comeback in 2016. The BBC comedy season will see new episodes of Hancock's Half Hour, Are You Being Served? and Porridge returning to our screens.

The trend moves beyond comedy as other series to be revived this year include game-show Robot Wars and US crime drama Prison Break. Here is the lowdown on the small-screen resurgences.

Hancock's Half Hour

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Pirates of the Caribbean star Kevin McNally will appear as Tony Hancock when the classic sitcom is remade this year, joined by theatre actor Robin Sebastian, who reprises Kenneth Williams's roles. They will film a version of The New Neighbour, which will be broadcast to mark the 60 years since the iconic show moved from radio to TV.

Prison Break

A queue of cast members are signing up for the new series of US crime drama Prison Break, last seen on our screens in 2009. Paul Adelstein, who played secret service agent turned congressman Paul Kellerman, joins other returnees Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Sarah Wayne Callies, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper and Rockmond Dunbar. The new series starts filming in April and is set to be released on Fox later this year.

Porridge

Almost 40 years since Norman Stanley Fletcher finished his time on Porridge, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais will return to script a one-off. The remake will have a decidedly 21st-century take on crime and punishment and focus on Fletch's grandson, also known as Fletch, who has been imprisoned for cyber-crimes.

Robot Wars

Thirteen years after it last appeared on Channel 5, Robot Wars is back – and returning to its original home on the BBC. The tech game show was presented first by Jeremy Clarkson, in 1998, then Craig Charles, with amateur and professionally built machines battling it out. The new six-part series promises a "raft of technological advances". Dara O'Briain and Angela Scanlon will host proceedings.

Are You Being Served?

Set in the fictional Grace Brothers store, Are You Being Served? returns 30 years after its original series finished. The one-off special, which is being written by Derren Litten, known for his work on Benidorm and The Catherine Tate Show, will be set in 1988 and once more follow the capers of the department store's staff.