There's been a valuable + interesting series by amiable, dry British comedian Paul Merton on BBC Four (i think that was the channel), with individual programmes on the silent clowns Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and Harold Lloyd- each rounded off with a short. For me, the pick of these was undoubtedly Keaton's early little masterpiece The Goat. Alongside this, a programme by Matthew Sweet extolling the unsung virtues of British silent cinema, and several films screened, like A Cottage on Dartmoor (which he thinks the best British silent). Now i agree with Sweet that this film gives the lie to those who think of director Asquith as mainly a director of filmed theatre, cos it is quite imaginative. Still, i'm far from convinced that British silents are anywhere near the standard of the international masterpieces of the period- which unfortunately were not shown. So many viewers will have remained unaware of the true brilliance of the silent era; a missed opportunity.