Billy behaving Badly!

Comedian Sir Billy Connolly reflects on some of the wilder moments from his 50-year stand-up career

- TESS LAMACRAFT, IAN MACEWAN.

NEW FACTUAL

Billy Connolly Does...

Thursday, Gold HD, 9 pm

He's older and wiser, but Sir Billy Connolly hasn't lost his knack for recounting hilarious anecdotes about his wild days. And there is plenty to enjoy in the seven-part series Billy Connolly Does..., in which the 79-year-old reflects on his eventful life and the highlights of his 50-year stand-up career from his home in Florida.

Mixing archive footage with new interviews, the series kicks off with an episode themed around bad behavior - and there's no shortage of material to draw on.

Here, the Big Yin shares some tales of wine, women, and song...

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Before he became the rock superstar who recorded Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty was in a band with Connolly called The Humblebums. And while Rafferty would become famous for his melancholy songs of love and loss, Connolly remembers his great sense of fun.

"Gerry was a scream,' he grins. 'He used to have me on the floor, on my hands and knees!

On one memorable night, the pair were being driven back from a gig in a car with a loudspeaker system, and Rafferty grabbed the mic. 'A truck bearing a load of poisonous snakes has crashed,' he announced to shocked locals. 'Leave your house and assemble on the steps of the town hall!'

WHEN IN ROME...