20 February(1998-02-20)– 27 March 1998(1998-03-27)
Is It Bill Bailey? was a stand up/sketch comedy series written by and starring British actor and comedian Bill Bailey. One series of six episodes was produced and aired on BBC Two in 1998. It has never been recommissioned or released on DVD. It was to be repeated for the first time since original transmission on Dave from 23 September 2008, but was dropped from the schedules a few days before broadcast.
Each episode featured Bailey performing stand-up comedy on stage, interspersed with sketches starring himself and other actors. As well as performing parodies of pop songs or performers, Bailey would deconstruct music from television shows such as Doctor Who or Starsky and Hutch.
The programme was produced by BBC Scotland and many of the sketches featured Scottish actors such as Forbes Masson and Ford Kiernan. Geraldine McNulty, Norman Lovett and Simon Pegg also featured. Additional material was contributed by frequent collaborators Sean Lock and Martin Trenaman. The shows were directed by Edgar Wright, who went on to direct the sitcom Spaced and the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, all of which starred Simon Pegg. Bailey had a cameo in Hot Fuzz, as well as a small role in Spaced. He was also approached to appear in Shaun of the Dead as a zombie, but was busy with other engagements at the time. Many songs and routines featured in the show were first performed in his Cosmic Jam tour and TV show Asylum, and several were later used during his Bewilderness tour.
The title is derived from the game "Rizla" (also known as "Who Am I?"), in which players are assigned the name of a celebrity or animal and must ask other players yes–no questions to determine who they are. The opening credits of the show depict Bailey with a Rizla on his forehead, bearing his own name.
Spaced is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bisley, two twenty-something Londoners who, despite only having just met, decide to move in together after she gives up on squatting and he is kicked out by his ex-girlfriend. Supporting roles include Nick Frost as Tim's best friend Mike, Katy Carmichael as Daisy's best friend Twist, Mark Heap as lodger Brian who lives downstairs and Julia Deakin as landlady Marsha.
Julia Margaret Deakin is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the sitcoms So Haunt Me (1992–1994), Oh Doctor Beeching! (1996–1997) and Spaced (1999–2001). Her film appearances include Hot Fuzz (2007) and High-Rise (2015).
Simon John Pegg is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the films Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), known collectively as the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, all of which saw Wright directing and Pegg starring alongside Nick Frost. Pegg and Frost also wrote and starred in the sci-fi comedy film Paul (2011).
Mark Robert Bailey, known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom Black Books and his appearances on the panel shows Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI, as well as for his stand-up comedy work. He plays a variety of musical instruments and incorporates music into his performances.
Joseph Murray Cornish is an English comedian and filmmaker. With his long-time comedy partner, Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut Attack the Block. He also co-wrote The Adventures of Tintin with Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright, and Ant-Man, with Wright, Adam McKay and Paul Rudd.
Black Books is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, and written by Moran, Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Linehan and Arthur Mathews. It was broadcast on Channel 4, running for three series from 2000 to 2004. Starring Moran, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig, the series is set in the eponymous London bookshop and follows the lives of its owner Bernard Black (Moran), his assistant Manny Bianco (Bailey) and their friend Fran Katzenjammer (Greig). The series was produced by Big Talk Productions, in association with Channel 4.
Dylan William Moran is an Irish comedian, writer, actor, artist and poet. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series Black Books, and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He was also one of two lead characters in the Irish black comedy film A Film with Me in It.
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed. The film co-stars Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, and Penelope Wilton. It is the first installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, followed by Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013).
Norman Lovett is a British stand-up comedian and actor best known for his portrayal of Holly, the ship's computer in Red Dwarf.
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz is an English actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in numerous British and American comedy series, and film roles such as the voice of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Pete in Shaun of the Dead (2004), and The Sommelier in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017). He also appeared as the title character in the live-action series of The Tick (2016), received attention in the late 2010s for political satire videos in which he dubbed over videos of Donald Trump with various comedic voices, and has directed music videos for acts such as Hot Chip.
Kevin Eldon is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including Fist of Fun, This Morning with Richard Not Judy, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, Big Train, Brass Eye and Jam. In 2013, Eldon appeared in his own BBC sketch series It's Kevin. He has also appeared in minor speaking roles in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Edgar Howard Wright is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a signature editing style that includes transitions, whip pans and wipes. He began making independent short films before making his first feature film A Fistful of Fingers in 1995. Wright created and directed the comedy series Asylum in 1996, written with David Walliams. After directing several other television shows, Wright directed the sitcom Spaced (1999–2001), which aired for two series and starred frequent collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Nicholas John Frost is a British actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy of films, consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), and the television comedy Spaced (1999–2001). He also appeared in Joe Cornish's film Attack the Block (2011). He co-starred in the 2011 film Paul, which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator and best friend Simon Pegg. He has also portrayed various roles in the sketch show Man Stroke Woman. In 2020, he cocreated and starred in the paranormal comedy horror series Truth Seekers with Pegg.
Hot Fuzz is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysterious and gruesome deaths in a West Country village. It is the second and most successful film in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, succeeding Shaun of the Dead (2004) and followed by The World's End (2013).
Jim Field Smith is an English film and television director, writer and producer.
Asylum is a British comedy series which was shown on Paramount Comedy Channel in 1996. Set in a mental asylum, it ran for one series of six episodes. Unlike traditional sitcoms or comedy television shows, it was to some extent an opportunity for stand-up routines by various comedians, mixed with an overall story involving much black humour. It is significant for involving a large number of British comedians, many of whom went on to work on some of the most successful comedy programmes of the 2000s. It marked the first collaboration of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, who would go on to make cult sitcom Spaced and Shaun of the Dead. Many of the characters names were the same as those of the actors who portrayed them.
Hot Fuzz: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album to the 2007 British crime-comedy film, Hot Fuzz. The album was released on 19 February 2007 in the United Kingdom, and on 17 April 2007 in the United States and Canada. The UK release contains 22 tracks, and the US/Canada release has 14. In 2023 La La Land Records release a 2 disc expanded edition of the complete film score.
Michael Smiley is a Northern Irish comedian and actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Kill List (2011) and The Lobster (2015). He has also made appearances in British television series such as Luther, Utopia, Black Mirror and Doctor Who.
The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy is an anthology series of British comedic genre films directed by Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and produced by Nira Park. The series stars Pegg, Nick Frost, and Bill Nighy, with several other actors, including Rafe Spall and Martin Freeman, also appearing in all three films. The trilogy consists of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013).
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to public prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the sitcom Spaced, directed by Edgar Wright. He went on to co-write and star in the Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy: Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013). He and frequent collaborator Nick Frost wrote and starred in the sci-fi film Paul (2011). He is also known for the role of Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the Star Trek reboot film seriesStar Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Star Trek Beyond (2016).
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