11 of the funniest BBC Radio clips from 2016

The things that make us laugh aren’t always predictable. Some of the funniest radio moments from the past year were as much of a delightful surprise to the presenters involved as they were to you listening at home. Others are finely honed ideas, delivered with immaculate precision and well-rehearsed wit.

Here’s a selection of priceless clips. An 11-part lesson in comedy:

Social graces are more than a matter of simply minding your Ps and Qs. In his voyage of discovery into the history of manners, David Mitchell discovers that some of the conventions of etiquette that British society has developed over the years seem largely to have been created by the upper classes, principally in order to prevent the lower orders from getting ideas above their station.

Just as the clipped RP (Received Pronunciation) diction of 1950s broadcasting sounded odd to 1970s listeners, so the overly matey, adenoidal DJ voice of that era – the sound most closely associated with Harry Enfield’s Smashie and Nicey spoofs – strikes a strange note now. As part of the 1970s My Generation season, in which he presented an entire show as if from 1979, BBC 6 Music’s Mark Radcliffe explained the unique appeal of this particularly strange moment of broadcasting patter: “You never had to think of things to say, you just said things in that voice, with the hope that that made it more interesting than normal people talking.”

In October, Rhod Gilbert celebrated 10 years of entertainingly wandering off the point for BBC Radio Wales. As part of the introduction to his anniversary show, and an illustration of how he got to the exalted heights, he and his guests, including co-presenter Chris Corcoran, took the time to comprehensively, exhaustively and hilariously trash comedian Elis James’s claim that he’s the second most successful broadcaster from Wales.

Shaun Keaveny paid tribute to the pirate radio ships of the 1960s, as part of My Generation, by taking his show on to the water, specifically the Tattershall Castle, a boat moored on the Thames, from which he and his team waved at nonplussed passers-by and generally splashed about. But it was their take on the shipping forecast, using the names of bands who had appeared in session for 6 Music’s Marc Riley Show, that was truly impressive, particularly the sentence: "Cowtown, Cabbage, Let’s Eat Grandma: north-westerly 4 or 5; Showers; Good."

People with strange passions make for an interesting conversation, as this interview with Kevin Beresford of the Roundabout Appreciation Society ably proves. Georgey Spanswick of BBC Radio York found out that he is not only a connoisseur of an aspect of town planning most people find irritating at best, but his field of specialised interest keeps him audibly happy, despite it having a negative impact on his love life.

In order to get the best out of an interview opportunity with boxer Anthony Joshua, just before he became IBF heavyweight champion, 1Xtra’s Ace decided to take a film crew down to his local barbershop - D&L's Barbers and SliderCuts in Holloway. This convinced Anthony to relax, enjoy the happy atmosphere, and offer a very giggly perspective on what it is like to be a sporting sex symbol.

There’s something eternally joyful in watching other people have a go at something they’re not particularly good at, and fail. Especially when that thing is a rap battle. A Valentine’s Day rap battle at that. Asian Network’s Preeya Kalidas took on the comedian Romesh Ranganathan for just such a rhyme war, and it’s fair to say neither side emerged covered in glory. "Are you ready for this?" says Preeya, just before they start, to which Romesh replies, "I don’t think anyone is ready for this."

The Dead Ringers Brexit Special delivered the same news as the real news, using many of the same speeches, names and voices that appear in the real news, except twisted – only slightly, in some cases, for comic effect.

Poor Pachelbel is struggling with the expectations cause by the biggest tune in his, erm, canon, finding that even his most ardent fans are just waiting for him to dust off the hit, much to his disgust. That’s the theme of this wry sketch and accompanying song by John Finnemore for Essential Classics. It was recorded – live on a hand-held mic, hence the noises at the start of this clip - in front of an enthusiastic audience at London’s South Bank Centre for Sound Frontiers, a celebration of 70 years of the Third Programme.

As we know, a good broadcaster would never indulge in abusive language of any kind, but that doesn’t mean it’s not interesting to have a dig about and discover what some of the second-grade insults mean around the world. In this clip from the World Service, BBC language service journalists explain how you can cause offense by referring to your irritating co-worker as a stuck wheel, an eggplant shiner, or even a brother-in-law.

Elaine Paige has a remarkable and extremely infectious chortle, a broadcasting gift she offers freely and with great generosity whenever something tickles her fancy. In this clip she makes a delightfully risqué muddle of “The Busker’s Opera” and then collapses in an audible heap. You may wish to bookmark this clip as a tonic for dark times.