The gritty early 2000s could very well be summed up in a single late-night BBC comedy – Monkey Dust, an animated dark comedy sketch show that ran for three series between 2003 and 2005.

It enjoyed critical acclaim, but  as with most of the Corporation's boundary-pushing adult humour, it was confined to the late night graveyard slots and so it was missed by many contemporary viewers.

Primarily acting as a social commentary on the issues of the day, it courageously tackled issues such as depression, terrorism, suicide, paedophilia, and homosexuality in an outrageously funny and satirical manner, frequently applying a sort of disturbing sunniness to them. Often this was done thematically, with lengthy reoccurring jokes and characters, with a slow build towards a more unnerving punchline.

The show’s stand-out sequences included the Daisy Harris murder investigation, a chillingly close parody of the media circus that is the modern murder investigation and the continuing tale of Ivan Dobsky, an insane criminal obsessed with a space hopper he refers to as Mr Hoppy.

The variety of gruesome settings and surroundings provided an often terrifyingly realistic image of Britain in the early noughties – complete with disturbing reality television shows, hysterical public reactions and, dull, repressive architecture. The visuals were bleak; flickering streetlights, dark corners, and decaying buildings, reinforced by sombre, depressing music.

The show was also wonderfully animated, oddly drawn to compliment the often bizarre satire – the characters are creepily still and slothful, almost blending into the stagnant environments.

It’s odd to look back at an era we now see as a boom time rendered in such a depressing and dispirited way, but Monkey Dust was a show which excelled at social commentary like no other, laying a quirky demanour over the bleakest of topics. The result was some of the most original satire ever shown on British TV and a show that is still worth a revisit.