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The League of Gentlemen is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives of bizarre characters, most of whom are played by three of the show's four writers – Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and Reece Shearsmith – who, along with Jeremy Dyson, formed the League of Gentlemen comedy troupe in 1995. The series originally aired for three series from 1999 until 2002 followed by a film in 2005.
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Dracula. Together with Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson, he is a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen. He played Tycho Nestoris in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Sally Elizabeth Phillips is an English actress, television presenter and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show Smack the Pony. She is also known for her roles in Miranda as Tilly, I'm Alan Partridge as Sophie, Parents as Jenny Pope, Set the Thames on Fire as Colette in 2015 and her guest appearances as the fictional Prime Minister of Finland Minna Häkkinen in the US TV series Veep. Phillips also co-starred in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as Mrs Bennet and in the role of Shazza in all three films of the Bridget Jones franchise.
Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt is an English actor, producer and narrator, best known for playing Dr "Mac" Macartney in the comedy television series Green Wing (2004–2006).
Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is perhaps best known for being a member of The League of Gentlemen, alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he later created, wrote and starred in the sitcom Psychoville, as well as the dark comedy anthology series, Inside No. 9.
Steven James Pemberton is an English actor, comedian and writer, best known as a member of The League of Gentlemen with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and starred in the black comedy Psychoville and the anthology series Inside No. 9. His other television credits include Doctor Who, Benidorm, Blackpool, Shameless, Whitechapel,Happy Valley and Mapp and Lucia.
Clocking Off is a British television drama series which was broadcast on BBC One for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott.
Hippies is a six-part British television comedy series broadcast on BBC 2 from 12 November to 17 December 1999. It was created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, the writing partnership most famous for Father Ted, but the scripts were written by Mathews alone. It starred Simon Pegg, Sally Phillips, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Darren Boyd.
Psychoville is a British psychological horror-thriller black comedy mystery television series created and written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton for the BBC. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009. Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French, Jason Tompkins, Daniel Kaluuya and Eileen Atkins in additional starring roles. The first series was followed by a Halloween special, broadcast on 31 October 2010, which saw Imelda Staunton and Jason Watkins added to the main cast. The second series was first broadcast on 5 May 2011 and ended on 6 June. Reece Shearsmith has officially announced that there will not be a third series. In February 2020, Shearsmith and Pemberton's follow-up series, Inside No. 9, crossed over with Psychoville and brought back five of the characters for the episode "Death Be Not Proud".
Katy Wix is a Welsh actress, comedian and author. She is best known for her television roles as Daisy in Not Going Out, Carole in Stath Lets Flats, Mary in Ghosts and Sarah Ferguson in The Windsors. She has also appeared in Outnumbered, Miranda and as a series contestant on Taskmaster. She has written two series of her own sitcom for BBC Radio 4, Bird Island. In 2021 she published her first work of non-fiction, Delicacy.
Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully is a sitcom on BBC Radio 4, written by Eddie Robson and produced by Ed Morrish. It concerns the invasion of the small Buckinghamshire village of Cresdon Green by an alien race called the Geonin. The programme stars Hattie Morahan as Katrina Lyons, a 30-something professional from London who was visiting her parents at the time of the invasion, with Charles Edwards as Uljabaan, the leader of the aliens in smooth-talking human form. The Radio Times called it "the sitcom success story of 2012..."
Inside No. 9 is a British black comedy anthology television programme that first aired in 2014. It is written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and produced by the BBC. Each 30-minute episode is a self-contained story with new characters and a new setting, and all star Pemberton or Shearsmith. Aside from the writers, each episode has a new cast, allowing Inside No. 9 to attract a number of well-known actors. The stories are linked only by the number 9 in some way and a brass hare statue that is in the background of all episodes. Settings include a suburban house, a gothic mansion and a barn. Pemberton and Shearsmith took inspiration for Inside No. 9 from an episode of Psychoville, a previous project, which was filmed in a single room. This episode was, in turn, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Rope.
"Sardines" is the first episode of British dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. Written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, it premiered on BBC Two and BBC Two HD on 5 February 2014. In the episode, a group of adults play sardines at an engagement party. Rebecca, the bride-to-be, finds a boring man named Ian in a wardrobe; he introduces himself as a colleague of Jeremy, Rebecca's fiancé. The pair are subsequently joined by family, friends and colleagues of Rebecca and Jeremy. As more people enter the room and step into the wardrobe, secrets shared by some of the characters are revealed, with various allusions to incestuous relationships, child sexual abuse and adultery. The humour is both dark and British, with references to past unhappiness and polite but awkward interactions.
"A Quiet Night In" is the second episode of the British dark comedy television anthology series Inside No. 9. It first aired on 12 February 2014 on BBC Two. Written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, it stars the writers as a pair of hapless burglars attempting to break into the large, modernist house of a couple—played by Denis Lawson and Oona Chaplin—to steal a painting. Once the burglars make it into the house, they encounter obstacle after obstacle, while the lovers, unaware of the burglars' presence, argue. The episode progresses almost entirely without dialogue, relying instead on physical comedy and slapstick, though more sinister elements are present in the plot. In addition to Pemberton, Shearsmith, Lawson and Chaplin, "A Quiet Night In" also starred Joyce Veheary and Kayvan Novak.
"Last Gasp" is the fourth episode of the first series of British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It first aired on 26 February 2014 on BBC Two. The story revolves around the ninth birthday of the severely ill Tamsin. Tamsin's parents Jan and Graham have arranged with charity WishmakerUK for singer Frankie J Parsons to visit as a treat for their daughter. Frankie dies after blowing up a balloon, leading to arguments between Graham, WishmakerUK representative Sally and Frankie's assistant Si over the now-valuable balloon containing Frankie's last breath. The story, written by Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, was inspired by someone Pemberton had seen on television who collected air from different places. The episode is more comedic than others in the series, and critiques celebrity culture and human greed.
"The Harrowing" is the sixth and final episode of the first series of British dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. It aired on 12 March 2014 on BBC Two. The episode was written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and stars Shearsmith, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Helen McCrory, Poppy Rush and Sean Buckley. While comedic in places, "The Harrowing" makes extensive use of gothic horror elements transmuted into a modern context. The plot follows Katy (Edwards), who has been hired to housesit for eccentric siblings Hector (Shearsmith) and Tabitha (McCrory). They rarely leave the house, but have an event to attend. They tell Katy about their bedridden, disabled brother Andras (Buckley), who cannot speak but will ring a bell if he needs assistance. Katy is joined by her friend Shell (Rush) once Hector and Tabitha leave, and, upon hearing Andras's bell, the pair reluctantly head upstairs. The episode takes place in Hector and Tabitha's mansion, which is kept deliberately cold and filled with paintings depicting Hell. The writers experimented with a variety of possible endings, hoping to make the episode's close both interesting and scary.
"The Devil of Christmas" is a Christmas special of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9, and the first episode of the third series. It was first aired on 27 December 2016 on BBC Two. The episode was directed by Graeme Harper and written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Stylistically, it took heavy inspiration from classic 1970s anthology programmes, such as Beasts, Thriller, Tales of the Unexpected and Armchair Thriller, and was filmed using authentic equipment. Pemberton intended the episode to be a recreation of this kind of classic programming, with critics characterising it as a homage, pastiche or loving parody.
"The Bill" is the second episode of the third series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It first aired on 21 February 2017, on BBC Two. The episode was written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, and was directed by Guillem Morales. "The Bill" focuses on four men—Archie, Malcolm, Kevin, and Craig—arguing over who should pay the bill in a restaurant at closing time, much to the dismay of the waitress Anya. It addresses themes of masculinity and competition, and the English north–south divide is a recurring issue; Craig, the visiting southerner, is wealthier than the other three, and unfamiliar with some of their terminology.
Ankle Tag is a situation comedy series which aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2017 and 2018. The show was aired as a pilot in November 2015 before two series were broadcast from August 2017. It stars Elis James, Katy Wix and Steve Speirs, and was written by Gareth Gwynn and Benjamin Partridge. Series 3 starts on 28 May 2020.
Self-Storage is a situation comedy series which aired on BBC Radio 4. The show ran for a two series of six episodes and first aired in September 2007. It starred Reece Shearsmith, Mark Heap and Tom Goodman-Hill, and was written by Tom Collinson and Barnaby Power.
References
- ↑ "Bird Island". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ↑ "Bird Island Returns". The Velvet Onion. Retrieved 14 July 2019.