FAKING THE FACTS: British mockumentaries

This Country (BBC3, online; BBC1, Saturdays) is the latest mock documentary on life in Britain.

Here, we take a look at some of the best mockumentaries from the British TV archives…

Human Remains (2000) This black comedy was written by and starred Rob Brydon and Julia Davis, who, in each of the show’s six episodes, played different couples featured in a mock fly-on-the-wall documentary.

Brydon would go on to write and star in another popular TV mockumentary, Marion And Geoff.

The Office (2001) Setting Ricky Gervais on the road to superstardom, this series, set in a paper company in Slough, rang true for the nation’s many workers. Gervais has since produced

Life’s Too Short and Derek for British TV in the mock documentary style – and his David Brent character (right)

last year hit the big screen in Life On The Road, a mock doc following Brent’s misplaced dreams of becoming a rock star.

Brian Pern: The Life Of Rock (2014) Simon Day starred as earnest musician Brian Cornelius Pern in this mock rock doc following the fictional ex-front man of a 1970s prog rock band called Thotch. See also cult movie This Is Spinal Tap, which scores 11 out of 10 for rock parody kudos. Hoff The Record (2015) David

Hasselhoff (right) sent himself up in this series, in which the washed-up former Baywatch star pursued new horizons in the UK. The Hoff faced a series of indignities as his bid to get back to the top of the entertainment pile proved a major challenge.