Bremner, Bird and Fortune

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Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner Bird & Fortune title card.jpg
Bremner, Bird & Fortune title card
Created by Rory Bremner
John Bird
John Fortune
Starring Rory Bremner
John Bird
John Fortune
Pauline McLynn
Frances Barber
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series19 (7 as Rory Bremner...Who Else?, 12 as Bremner, Bird and Fortune)
No. of episodes158 (62 as Rory Bremner...Who Else?, 96 as Bremner, Bird and Fortune)
Production
Running time60 minutes (including Television advertisements)
Production companyVera Productions
Original release
Network Channel Four
Release9 October 1993 (1993-10-09) 
4 May 2010 (2010-05-04)

Bremner, Bird and Fortune, originally titled Rory Bremner...Who Else?, is a satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting comedy impressionist Rory Bremner with the veteran satirical comedy duo John Bird and John Fortune (known as "The Two Johns"). From 1993 to 2008 the show ran for 19 series, followed by several one-off episodes until 2010.

Contents

History

1986–1992: Now Something Else / The Rory Bremner Show

Rory Bremner's first television series, Now Something Else, started in 1986 on BBC Two and ran for seven series, with the title changed to The Rory Bremner Show from the fourth series onwards. The BBC gave him his own television series after successful shows at the Edinburgh festival. [1] The series also had input from Jeremy Hardy, Steve Nallon, Steve Brown, Enn Reitel, Jim Sweeney and Steve Steen. [2] In 1989 John Bird started to contribute to the show, as did John Fortune starting in 1991. [3]

1993–1998: Rory Bremner...Who Else?

In 1993 Bremner moved to Channel 4. His new show, Rory Bremner...Who Else?, featured Bird and Fortune prominently, and over the seven series the show developed into a more hard-edged, satirical and political show, with sketches satirising subjects such as The Jerry Springer Show , Ainsley Harriott and sporting personalities being reduced.

1999–2010: Bremner, Bird and Fortune

By 1999 all non-political sketches were dropped and the show was refocused purely on political satire, with a name change.

In 2002 three members of the show's production team, Geoff Atkinson, Steve Connelly and Tristam Shapeero, were nominated for a BAFTA for Best Comedy Programme or Series. [4] Bird and Fortune were nominated for a BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance in 2001 and Best Comedy Performance in 2002. [5] They did not win, however.

In 2003, the 2002 one-off special At Her Majesty's Pleasure won a Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Entertainment. [6]

In October 2004, Bremner, Bird and Fortune published a book based on the show, called You Are Here: A Dossier (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 288 pages, ISBN   0-297-84778-3, also available as a paperback from Orion mass market paperback, ISBN   0-7528-6493-9). [7] In 2004 Rory Bremner was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance. [8]

In November 2008 a four-part miniseries was produced called Silly Money. The trio looked at the economic downturn, with fewer of the usual sketches and co-stars. The episodes contained many more George Parr sketches than usual (the standard being one per episode). They also included a number of archive clips to further illustrate points and create satire from them based on hindsight.

The last full series was broadcast in late 2008. Two further miniseries, both having three episodes, focussed more on specific issues. The Last Show Before The Recovery started on 7 June 2009 and looked at the banking crisis, while The Daily Wind-Up, aired from 2–4 May 2010, focused on the 2010 United Kingdom general election. [9] The Daily-Wind Up were the last three episodes of Bremner, Bird and Fortune.

Regular features

For most of its run, the show was almost entirely political, but in the later series different genres of sketches were introduced. The programme featured regular stand-up impressionism sections by Bremner. Another feature was interviews between Bird and Fortune, alternating each episode between interviewer and interviewee, with the interviewee usually being a man in a government position or a businessman, almost always named George Parr, who ended up exposing the idiocies of his area of expertise. There were also heavily researched, bitingly satirical three-handed historical narratives; the dinner party sketches, featuring Bird, Fortune, Pauline McLynn and Frances Barber; and other small sketches. Each episode ended with a (usually political) musical number.

Episodes

Now Something Else / The Rory Bremner Show

40 episodes in total

Rory Bremner...Who Else?

62 episodes in total

Bremner, Bird and Fortune

[10] [11] [12]

96 episodes in total

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory Bremner</span> Scottish comedian

Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner, is a Scottish impressionist and comedian, noted for his work in political satire and impressions of British public figures. He is best known for co-starring with John Bird and John Fortune in the comedy sketch shows Rory Bremner...Who Else? and Bremner, Bird and Fortune, as well as being a team captain on the first two series of comedy panel show Mock the Week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bird (actor)</span> English actor (1936–2022)

John Michael Bird was an English actor, director, writer and satirist. He performed in the television satire boom of the 1960s, appearing in That Was the Week That Was. His television work included many appearances with John Fortune. Bird had an acting career in film, television, theatre and radio for over 55 years. He appeared in films including Take A Girl Like You (1970) and Jabberwocky (1977) as well as in television shows such as Joint Account, Marmalade Atkins, El C.I.D. and Chambers. He and Fortune also starred with Rory Bremner in the sketch show Bremner, Bird and Fortune (1993–2010), on Channel 4, which was nominated for BAFTA TV Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Fortune</span> English actor and writer (1939–2013)

John Courtney Fortune was an English actor, writer and satirist, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the television series Bremner, Bird and Fortune.

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References

  1. "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Rory Bremner". BBC. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  2. "The Rory Bremner Show". BFI. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  3. "Rory Bremner, comedian : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 2012-06-10. {look under CV}
  4. "BAFTA Television Awards". bafta.org. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  5. "BAFTA Television Awards". bafta.org. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  6. "2003". Broadcasting Press Guild. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  7. "You Are Here by Rory Bremner, John Bird, John Fortune". Orion Books. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007.
  8. "BAFTA Television Awards". bafta.org. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  9. Bremner, Bird and Fortune: The Daily Wind-Up Channel 4 site Archived 8 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "BFI Bremner, Bird and Fortune". Archived from the original on 1 January 2014.
  11. "Episodate Bremner, Bird and Fortune". 17 October 1999.
  12. "Bremner, Bird and Fortune at TV Maze".