Be it due to a lack of talent, risk-averse commissioners or the internet democratising the form, sketch comedy had largely fallen by the wayside of the small screen. But recent successes have proven there is still an appetite for bite-sized comedy on TV, and may have just sparked a resurgence.

To help sate that appetite, we have compiled seven of the funniest sketch shows available to stream in the UK, from timeless classics like Smack the Pony to new kids on the block like Ellie and Natasia.

Of course, comedy is a matter of taste, so we have tried to cater for all.

Ellie and Natasia

BBC iPlayer

Ellie White and Natasia Demetriou may have been heralded as the heiresses to French and Saunders but they form a singularly silly double act. We saw flashes of their chemistry in Stath Lets Flats but it was Ellie and Natasia that let them and their imaginations truly run wild in a series of sharp parodies.

They largely set their targets on familiar situations and stereotypes (activewear mums orgasming over ‘soft close’ cupboards, posh lads pretentiously cooking pomodoro), with a penchant for sending up self-obsessed millennials. And the inept immigrant entrepreneurs advertising various doomed businesses will fix anyone fiending for Cypriot shenanigans and bad English post-Stath.

Smack the Pony

All4

With Smack the Pony, Sally Phillips, Doon Mackichan and Fiona Allen broke through the glass ceiling of an industry forever favouring their male comedic counterparts. Sick of "feeding" and "foiling" them, they set about scripting and improvising their own sketches from an unabashedly female perspective, crucially casting themselves as the clowns.

Phillips said they wrote themselves a strict rulebook: no lazy stereotyping, no celebrity references, no recurring characters and no catchphrases. So it's no wonder their sketches, which were largely satires on '90s Britain but could be as freakish as a stalking leaf, still hold up.

Limmy’s Show

BBC iPlayer

Limmy just has one of those infinitely malleable faces that can turn a mere expression into the funniest of punchlines. Just look at that proud, twinkling smile when he claims to have invented open signs, which is just one of the many skits in Limmy’s Show that somehow mines the mundane and finds comedy gold.

It’s by turns observational, surreal and dark, often all at once, and among the dozen or so recurring characters are Falconhoof the call-in RPG guide failing to placate his angry callers and a perma-stoned waster named Dee Dee who is prone to over-analysis of utter trivialities. Come to think of it, much of the show feels like a figment of Dee Dee's paranoid imagination.

Key and Peele

Amazon Prime Video

Comedy duo Key and Peele have arguably made the sketch show their own in the age of YouTube, which is where their bite-sized, cinematic skits live a second life and burrow a rabbit hole that millions willingly go down.

Armed with brotherly chemistry and extraordinary range, they can do both silly send-ups - a baseball player addicted to slapping his teammates' asses - and cutting satire - a news report warning of 'black ice' that reads as an analogy of implicit racial bias, as well as some uncanny creations and impersonations. You've probably seen Peele's President Obama but check out his Jersey Shore she-devil, Meegan.

The Eric Andre Show

All4

The series in which Eric Andre takes a sledgehammer to the talk show format and all the rules of its decorum. The result is a riotous parody that sees Andre and his co-host Hannibal Buress delight in unsettling - and sometimes literally harming - their celebrity guests. Originally, they were all D-listers, but the likes of Jack Black and Tyler the Creator now appear, although their status does not afford them leniency.

The anarchy also spills out onto the streets in skits aimed at the unsuspecting public, most just as gloriously logic-less as the talk show segments. And if that brings to mind all the mean-spirited, ‘it’s just a prank bro’ YouTube channels, rest assured that Andre’s pranks are more often than not hilariously self-abasing.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

Netflix

The definition of off-beat, Tim Robinson manages to draw belly laughs from what are mostly standard set ups by continually veering off into nonsense. Take the Driver's Ed' Class sketch: it's a familiar premise but the punchlines come when the class is distracted by the mysterious, table-related job of the driver in the educational videos. It is also a show that gets the internet, and that's not just referring to its preternatural ability to spawn countless memes.

As many of the skits hinge on a character’s downright refusal to be wrong, it perfectly captures the prevailing online mood of self-righteous indignation. So let us bow our heads and pray such behaviour stays contained to the web, lest people start breaking the hinges off doors to prove they go both ways, or eating receipts to stop us from returning their gifts.

Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun

Netflix

There is silly, and then there is Aunty Donna. Their rambunctious and sing-songy comedy isn't for everyone, but fans of The Mighty Boosh, Flight of the Conchords and Lee Evans' frenzied physicality will get a lot out of it.

The one constant in their stream-of-consciousness Netflix series is the house share at its centre, and I don't know how lockdown was for you, but for me, House of Fun feels like a serious case of the self-isolation stir-crazies. Spend enough time indoors and you do start bouncing off the walls, playing everything like a drum and talking to your kitchen appliances.