Dame Maureen Diane Lipman is an English actress, columnist and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was made a dame in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts.
Gold is a British pay television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W, with classic comedy based programming now airing on Gold, non-crime drama and entertainment programming airing on W, and quiz shows and more high-brow comedy airing on Dave. It shows repeats of classic programming from the BBC, ITV and other broadcasters. Every December, from 2015 until 2018, the channel was temporarily renamed Christmas Gold. This has since been discontinued, although the channel still continues to broadcast Christmas comedy.
My Family is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadcast from 2002 onwards. My Family was voted 24th in the BBC's "Britain's Best Sitcom" in 2004 and was the most watched sitcom in the United Kingdom in 2008. As of 2011, it is one of only twelve British sitcoms to pass the 100-episode mark. In April 2020, BBC One began airing the series from the first episode in an 8 pm slot on Friday nights; along with this all 11 series were made available on BBC iPlayer.
Michael Joseph Pennington, better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, angry comedic rants, and use of surreal humour.
UKTV Media Limited, trading as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through a joint venture between the BBC and Thames Television. It is one of the United Kingdom's largest television companies.
U&Yesterday is a British free-to-air television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It launched on 30 October 2002 as UK History and relaunched in its current format on 2 March 2009. It is available on satellite through Sky, Freesat and through the digital terrestrial provider Freeview. Hours on Freeview had previously been cut, with transmissions finishing at 6 pm, but were restored on 1 June 2010.
Michele Dotrice is an English actress. She played Betty Spencer, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, portrayed by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, which ran from 1973 to 1978, and returned in 2016 for a special.
Agony is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1979 to 1981. Made by London Weekend Television, it stars Maureen Lipman as Jane Lucas who has a successful career as an agony aunt but whose own personal life is a shambles. It was created by Len Richmond and real-life agony aunt Anna Raeburn, both of whom wrote all of the first series. The second and third series were written by Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds.
About Face is a British sitcom consisting of twelve unconnected half-hour episodes starring Maureen Lipman. Each episode featured a guest cast of familiar personalities. The first set of six installments was broadcast in November–December 1989 and the second set in January–February 1991.
Respectable is a British sitcom, first shown in six episodes from 30 August to 4 October 2006 on Five; it was later repeated on Paramount Comedy 1 and Paramount Comedy 2.
Andrew Iain Mackenzie Taylor was a British comic, writer and director.
Gareth Gwynn is a comedy writer, performer and radio presenter. He is the co-writer of the television sitcoms Bull and Tourist Trap and the radio sitcoms Ankle Tag, Passing On and Social Club FM.
The Job Lot is a British sitcom. The series is set in a busy West Midlands Job Centre, and focuses on the relationships between the staff, and the job-seekers.
Crackanory is a storytelling television series aimed at adults and inspired by the popular children's series Jackanory. It is broadcast on the UKTV channel Dave. Each episode features tales narrated by contemporary comedians and actors, containing a mix of live-action, original music and animation, all read from the same oversized chair, in a set consistent and reflective of the story. The first series attracted widespread critical acclaim and over half a million viewers to Dave. There are a number of reoccurring themes through the series, with the fictional company Tripec Plastics, the town of Specsham, and "fat Nicola from accounts" being frequently referenced.
Detectorists is a British comedy television series first broadcast on BBC Four in October 2014. It is written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, who also stars alongside Toby Jones.
Dane Baptiste is a British stand-up comedian, writer and presenter. He was the first Black British act to be nominated for the "Best Newcomer" award at 2014's Edinburgh Comedy Awards and his comedy series Sunny D premiered on BBC Three in Spring 2016. He has made numerous TV and radio appearances, and hosts his own podcast Dane Baptiste Questions Everything. In January 2021, Baptiste's comedy pilot Bamous launched on BBC Three / BBC One.
Toby Williams is a British actor, writer and award-winning stand-up comedian performing both as himself and Dr George Ryegold. He is known for a number of appearances on television including regular or recurring roles on Vanity Fair, Porters and Sex Education.
"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.
Henry IX is a 2017 British comedy series created by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, that aired on the television channel Gold.
John-Luke Roberts is a British stand-up comedian, writer, actor and performer.
