http://www.teletext.co.uk/tvplus/preview/default.aspxen-gbWed, 15 Jul 2009 22:05:39 GMThttp://www.teletext.co.uk/images/Logo64x64.gifhttp://www.teletext.co.ukBy Dave Mark - There were some people at Jeremy Beadle&#39;s funeral who half expected him to leap out of the coffin and push a microphone in their faces.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/entertainment/tv-plus/previews/~4/Xp6dP3yqwiY" height="1" width="1"/>
To say that the late, great man was TV's most infamous prankster is something of an understatement.

As the face of Beadle's About, he tapped into the British public's appetite for watching people pushed to the end of their tether.

In one prank, Beadle hid a victim's car in a huge lorry during a journey on a cross-Channel ferry.

Another time, he sent an overweight person to a bed showroom to try out - and, of course, break - all the beds under their enormous weight.

He once even involved the police, marines and air corps to convince a Dorset housewife that aliens had landed in her back garden.

But Beadle was just one of the leading lights in a field that has produced some of television's biggest laugh-out-loud moments.

It all started in 1947 with the radio show Candid Microphone. The idea was simple: use real members of the public, in fabricated situations, and record the results.

That led to a true TV institution in the form of Candid Camera.

The premise involved concealed cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed.

Victims were told: "Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"

Candid Camera paved the way for a raft of imitators. A UK version began in 1960 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse.

The UK's Candid Camera imitators, in turn, paved the way for Beadle, whose main rival was Noel Edmonds with his legendary House Party "Gotchas".

The hidden camera show has come back in recent years, with Punk'd torturing US celebrities with practical jokes.

Jackass revels in placing ordinary people in outrageous situations, such as when its stars dress as pensioners on out-of-control disability scooters.

Comedians like Dom Joly have also had great fun filming people's reactions to stunts, such as staged fights between giant squirrels, or crawling across a zebra crossing dressed as a snail.

ITV's new show Anonymous has a lot to live up to. It sees Stephen Mulhern invite Jennie McApline, Louis Walsh and Matt Dawson to wear disguises to play tricks on fans and famous friends.

Anonymous, Saturdays, ITV1, 6.30pm.

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