Not content with making us laugh in the here and now, puntastic comedian Tim Vine is jumping back to bygone ages in his new BBC1 comedy pilot Tim Vine Travels in Time.

One minute Tim is in his antiques shop, cracking jokes to a live studio audience and the next he’s in Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood in the year 1205!

Tim, 50, rings TV Times from the Edinburgh Festival, where he’s busy entertaining fans with his stand-up show. Here, he tells us all about his new TV adventure, his comedy heroes and the one storyline that would make him go back to Not Going Out.

What was your inspiration for this show, Tim?

I like the little plays Morecambe and Wise used to do, and I’ve always loved Up Pompeii! and how Frankie Howerd did a running commentary to camera. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so I feel very grateful that I can do the same for this show.

it has been a long time in the making, hasn’t it?

Yes, we came up with the idea 10 years ago, developed it with various production companies, but it never got off the ground. The problem with my comedy is that it doesn’t always work so well on paper; it’s very daft and needs an audience. The number of times people have got my scripts and heard themselves telling the jokes in their head – that’s a disaster.