I made a film about Fluck and Law in 1980, some years before Spitting Image was made, so it's great to be able to revisit their distinctive contribution to Britain's television history.

It's a testament to Arena's success and eclectic tastes that they've secured access to the Spitting Image team. This is a timely opportunity for Arena to look back at one of television's most extraordinary satirical successes.

Thirty years ago, Roger Law and Peter Fluck were happily ensconced in a converted Temperance Hall in Cambridge making cruelly funny Plasticine caricatures. These models were photographed and presented to the world in print under the anonymous byline "Luck & Flaw". Unlike a drawing, the caricatures looked like they might move and, Geppetto-style, they did. Law and Fluck, with co-conspirator TV comedy supremo John Lloyd, unleashed one of the most shocking and hilarious TV series ever. Arena tells the story of Spitting Image.

We're delighted to host a panel of well-known writers and performers who gave the show its satirical edge and who became household names in the process, alongside some of their victims - politicians and celebrities - who will discuss the effect their puppet personas had on their careers. Using illustrative clips, we examine the show's controversial impact at the time and its lasting legacy, and reveal behind-the-scenes secrets of the performers, puppeteers, writers, and directors. So, in the words of one famous crew member: "Puppets up, loves - wave those dollies in the air!"

How to be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective
Sunday 12th January, 10:00pm

For over 100 years, more than 80 actors have put a varying face to the world's greatest consulting detective - Sherlock Holmes. And many of them incorporated details - such as the curved pipe and the immortal line 'Elementary, my dear Watson' - that never featured in Conan Doyle's original stories. In charting the evolution of Sherlock on screen, from early silent movies to the latest film and television versions, Timeshift shows how our notion of Holmes today is as much a creation of these various screen portrayals as of the stories themselves.

Narrated by Peter Wyngarde, with contributions from Sherlocks past and present including Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Tim Pigott-Smith and Mark Gatiss.

The opportunity to present The Sky At Night is like completing a circle and fulfilling a lifelong dream. Above all, it's a huge honour to follow in the footsteps of Patrick Moore, a passionate advocate of the wonders of the night sky.

As a child I would beg my parents to allow me to stay up late and watch the programme. It even inspired me to go to night school at a young age to make my own telescope mirror, which I lovingly crafted and gave me my first glimpse of the breathtaking spectacle above us.

This enthusiasm eventually led to a degree in physics and a PhD in mechanical engineering and then working on the wonderful 8m Gemini telescope in Chile. I'm so looking forward to being a part of this cherished and much-loved institution.

Maggie is a fantastic addition to this series. She is a renowned space scientist and science communicator who will bring tremendous enthusiasm and excitement to the programme. Alongside other BBC series such as Stargazing Live, I hope The Sky At Night will continue to share the wonders of the night sky with a new generation of viewers.

As The Sky At Night makes a new home on BBC Four I'm delighted to welcome Maggie to its roster of terrific talent. Maggie is a true evangelist of the wonders of the night sky and a passionate science communicator. She'll be an exciting presence on the team.

Sir Patrick Moore inspired generations of astronomers and I hope that alongside the BBC's other astronomy content, such as BBC Two's Stargazing Live, The Sky at Night will enthuse further generations about the wonder of the night sky.

I'm delighted that we are continuing with such a treasured BBC brand, and look forward to welcoming the programme to its new home on BBC Four, where it will join a rich mix of other science content.

Grand news, The Sky at Night is saved and will stay. Huge thanks to @Saveskyatnight and to everybody who signed and spoke up so passionately

BBC Four has a proud tradition of growing successful shows and I'm delighted Only Connect is making the move to BBC Two, where I hope it will connect with an even broader audience.

I and the rest of the Only Connect team are hugely excited about our Icarus-like flight towards the sun of mainstream broadcasting. If our wings start melting, I'll just flap harder.

Victoria and the Only Connect team have set the gold standard in quizzes. We are all really looking forward to seeing the show in its new home, whilst the hunt is already under way for a successor on BBC Four.

The task of distilling the multiple, often chaotic strands of Kenny Everett's remarkable and eventful life into 90 minutes of drama felt like an ambitious one, right from the off. Luckily, the desire to see the project made generated endless enthusiasm in its key creative team – writer Tim Whitnall, and director James Strong, who was on board for much of the development process – as well as the consultants, who knew Kenny and advised on every detail of the production.

From the start of the development process, authenticity was always a central aim. It soon became clear that the script was likely to focus upon Kenny's relationship with Lee Middleton (now Lee Everett-Alkin) – to whom Kenny was married for almost a decade and a half. It was through the prism of this defining relationship that Tim Whitnall felt Kenny's story could best be told. The period of Kenny and Lee's relationship encompassed Kenny's rise to fame in the UK and his coming to terms with his sexuality – but also worked as an unconventional love story in its own right.

Together with her husband, John Alkin, Lee was the first consultant to come on board the project, to which she gave invaluable support and access to her archives – as well as notes on the accuracy of the script at each draft stage. Given the script dealt with the gradual breakdown of the marriage, as well as its many happier periods, Lee's involvement as a first-hand source was essential.

Lee met with Oliver Lansley and Katherine Kelly early in pre-production, sharing with both actors details and insights from her life with Kenny which could inform the events dealt with in the script.

Kenny's long-time manager and friend Jo Gurnett was the other major consultant on the project, advising and providing detail and perspective on the whole script, but especially on those elements which dealt with Kenny's professional life and his personal life outside of his marriage to Lee.

Barry Cryer - Kenny's colleague and co-writer on Kenny's television series for both Thames and the BBC – was also a script consultant, as was journalist David Lister, the author of Kenny's biography In The Best Possible Taste.

Kenny Everett was a genuine original: wild and unfocused maybe but also deliciously anarchic and always entertaining.

In many ways Kenny was a very modern celebrity, wearing his heart on his sleeve while coping with a complex life. Re-evaluating this talented and exuberant personality, enabling audiences to reconsider Kenny's undoubted impact and legacy, makes this a very BBC Four drama.