It maintains the franchise's overall irreverent but accurate focus on the dark, gruesome or scatological aspects of British and other Western world history, spanning predominantly from the Stone Age to the post-World War II era.

The starring troupe are Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond and Sarah Hadland, alongside a large supporting cast headed by Katy Wix, Giles Terera, Lawry Lewin, Alice Lowe and Dominique Moore.

The books and subsequent spin-off materials are intended to pique young children's interest in history via short, factually based but humorously told anecdotes highlighting aspects of the subject not usually covered in more traditional educational sources.

Early concepts for bringing it to the screen involved framing or interpretive devices, including a ghostly train carrying children into the past, or a wizard storyteller to act as their guide.

[3] To do the material full justice, Brigstocke and series producer Caroline Norris used their industry contacts to put together a creative team consisting mostly of veterans of the adult UK comedy community.

They also approved the adoption—insofar as was possible in a programme aimed at young children—of the core franchise precept of "history with the nasty bits left in",[5] which frequently involved "gross-out"-style bodily function humour and comic violence.

"[8] To that end, adult historical satires such as Blackadder and the Monty Python films were shown at the first writers' meeting to demonstrate the proposed tone, and these influences would be visible throughout the show's run.

[10] The divisions by historical era or civilisation in the book series are carried over in the TV show, focusing on events in or directly affecting Great Britain and (to a lesser extent) the larger Western world.

[2][12] During the fifth and final series the show featured a handful of significant post-World War II (or "Troublesome Twentieth Century") events, including the civil rights movement and the Space Race between the US and the USSR.

Many are recognisable parodies of other popular media or celebrities, in formats ranging from spoof commercials to mock TV shows, newscasts, magazines, video games and film trailers.

[18] The show also created several popular recurring characters and concepts, notably "Stupid Deaths", in which a skeletal, platinum-blond Grim Reaper amuses himself while processing souls for admittance to the afterlife by forcing candidates from throughout history to relate the embarrassing details of their demise.

[2][19] HHTV News' Bob Hale and his eccentric-but-erudite in-studio reports provide a broader picture on historical events (such as the Wars of the Roses and the French Revolution), in a style reminiscent of presenter Peter Snow.

However, after the creative team noted the critical and popular success of the major exception ("Born 2 Rule", which featured King Georges I–IV performing in the style of a boyband) the decision was taken from the second series onwards to continue in that vein.

[26][27] The show's creators were acutely aware of educational possibilities, but—in line with Deary's overall mandate for the franchise—saw their basic role as popularising history, inspiring further curiosity about the academic subject rather than attempting to teach it seriously.

[26] Taking cues from what Deary describes as his "seriously subversive" attitude towards the mainstream British history education model[5] meant that the show inevitably incorporated sociopolitical comment.

[15] While BBC executives in large part were willing to concede the requirements of reflecting historical realities, some topics, notably suicide, needed careful handling to avoid potentially negative impact on younger viewers.

[15][32] At first the sketches were derived almost exclusively from the books, whose multimedia approach, consisting of short anecdotes interspersed with cartoons, diaries, newspaper articles and recipes, proved easily adaptable to the screen either as raw material or creative inspiration.

[41][42] In the same year, several sketches were commissioned as part of the BBC's live television coverage of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, to be performed on Tower Bridge, but due to time constraints only one was aired.

[44] The cast members were recruited from sketch and character comedy, having previously had roles in Gavin & Stacey, Peep Show, The Thick of It and The Mighty Boosh TV series among others.

Several of the writers and researchers also occasionally appeared in front of the camera, including Punt, Jenner, George Sawyer and Susie Donkin, while actors Mathew Baynton and Ben Willbond sometimes contributed to the writing.

Laurence Rickard was recruited solely as a writer, but found himself part of both the senior writing staff and starring cast after creating the character of Bob Hale, whose extended, convoluted monologues proved impossible to hand over to anyone else.

[8] The demands of filming thirteen episodes' worth of material in the same timeframe as a standard six-episode sketch show, while coping with the many complex makeup and wardrobe changes required, resulted in casting also being partially dependent on the logistics of moving a performer from one character to another.

[4][13] Recurring characters were if at all possible played by the actor who had originated the part, leading to the development of several signature roles, as for example Baynton's Charles II, Jim Howick's Shouty Man, Rickard's Bob Hale, Willbond's Henry VIII, Martha Howe-Douglas's Elizabeth I, Simon Farnaby's Death and Sarah Hadland's Queen Victoria.

[2] Clare Heal of the Daily Express, in her review of the third series, praised the show's "spot-on spoofs of modern telly" and agreed that "There's no particular target audience but pretty much anyone of any age will find something in there for them".

"[11] Stephen Kelly of The Guardian argued that the fourth series had definitively transcended its roots to become not just "the best show on children's television—it's one of the smartest comedies on TV", performed by an "astonishing cast ... so superb that even special guest stars such as Chris Addison can look slightly out of their depth.

"[56] Sarah Dempster of The Guardian said that "Four years into its ingenious 'making history look less crap' operation ... HH remains true to its aim, with meticulously harvested historical data + roaringly well-observed pop culture pastiches = seemingly infinite heritage lolz.

"[57] Writing in The Independent, Grace Dent commended the cast in particular, saying that the show "has the distinct feel of a group of bright, young, erudite, writery-actory sparks having a tremendously good time.

"[58] Venning of The Stage reiterated his praise of the show, adding that "it also has the courage to tackle potentially controversial events head on", specifically citing the song featuring the Civil Rights Movement activist Rosa Parks as retelling her story in a "clever, concise and accessible way without trivialising it.

"[62] More specifically, in September 2014, responding to a complaint from the Nightingale Society, the BBC Trust determined that the show had breached editorial guidelines in the sketch highlighting the controversy surrounding Mary Seacole's role in nursing history.

"[5] Writing for entertainment website DorkAdore, Anna Lowman added that "Terry Deary had the fine idea of getting kids into history by giving the facts a human face and a joke or two ...