The Fast Show
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| The Fast Show | |
|---|---|
 'Suit You Sir!' - Mark Williams and Paul Whitehouse |
|
| Genre | Sketch comedy |
| Creator(s) | Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson |
| Starring | Paul Whitehouse Charlie Higson Arabella Weir John Thomson Caroline Aherne (1994-1997) Simon Day Mark Williams Paul Shearer |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 25 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | 1994 – 2000 |
The Fast Show is a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for four series from 1994 to 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne (1994–1997). Other significant cast members included Paul Shearer, Felix Dexter, Rhys Thomas, Jeff Harding and Donna Ewin.
The show produced two national tours, the first in 1998 with the cast of the BBC spoof quiz show Shooting Stars and the second being their 'Farewell Tour' in 2002. The Fast Show was loosely structured and relied on character comedy, long-running gags, and many catchphrases, which influenced shows such as Big Train and Little Britain.
It was one of the most popular sketch shows of the 1990s and had a long-lasting impact upon British culture. The show has been released on video, DVD and audio CD. Some of its characters, Ron Manager, Ted and Ralph, Swiss Toni and Billy Bleach have had their own spin-off programmes.
Contents |
[edit] Style and content
The series was the brain child of Paul Whitehouse and his writing partner and friend, Charlie Higson. They wanted to break away from Harry Enfield and Chums, a show in which they had appeared and written for. They asked friends and fellow comedians Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne to star with them and the show became a runaway success.
The show was characterised by the fast-cut delivery of its sketches, some of which lasted only a few seconds. This method was reportedly developed by Whitehouse and Higson after they witnessed a promotional preview for a forthcoming series of Harry Enfield and Chums produced in this manner. The Fast Show was a working title that went unchanged through production and eventually remained as the final title.[citation needed]
The first series introduced the characters Ted and Ralph, 'Unlucky' Alf, Ron Manager, The Suit You Tailors, Arthur Atkinson, Bob Fleming and many others, who, despite their sketchy and gritty beginnings, became 'cult characters' cherished all around the world.[citation needed]
Amongst the writers of the show were: the major cast (who appeared as the characters they had written) and contemporary comedy writers such as Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (best remembered for the sitcom Father Ted starring Dermot Morgan), Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and Craig Cash (of The Royle Family).
Perhaps the success of The Fast Show was due to the public being able to associate the characters as caricatures of people from day-to-day life and their suitable catchphrases.
Some of the most popular characters in the show appeared to be those who were often present but never had any 'official' name, being tightly written to give their catchphrase/punchline and end the sketch. Prime examples include "Does Anyone Fancy a Pint?" played by Whitehouse, "You Ain't Seen Me, Right!" and "I'll Get My Coat", played by Williams, and "Ha!" an elderly woman played by Weir.
Other long-standing running jokes in the programme included: "Cheesy Peas" in various different forms, shapes and flavours, in satirical adverts presented by a northern lad (Paul Whitehouse) who claims, "They're good for your teeth!" The fascination with Jesus Christ was another popular group of sketches where various characters would end the sketch with the exclamation "He died for all our sins, didn't he?" or something similar, and most controversially, "We're from the Isle of Man", featuring a stereotype of weird, surreal, townfolk in a setting portrayed as an abjectly impoverished and desolate cultural wasteland.
Many of the characters were parodies of well-known personalities: indeed, Louis Balfour (of the Jazz Club) is very much like Bob Harris of The Old Grey Whistle Test, Ron Manager appears to most closely resemble football pundit Trevor Brooking — although the parodic intent of the character is broader, and portrays how often football pundits have little to say of any real substance, and will sometimes waffle. Arthur Atkinson is a parody of Arthur Askey, and Lord Ralph Mayhew is said to be based on film director John Boorman.
The show ended in 2000, with a three-part "Last Ever" show, after four series and a Christmas special.
The theme tune was "Release Me" a song which became a hit for pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck, originally represented in the opening credits by Whitehouse in the guise of abnormally transfiguring singer Kenny Valentine. In the several series that followed, the tune only appeared in the closing credits.
[edit] Major characters
The show featured many characters. Many of the smaller and less significant are listed at Fast Show characters. Some of the more prominent are:
- 'Unlucky' Alf, the lonely old pensioner for whom nothing ever goes right. His hook is his resigned "Oh bugger!" as something terrible happens. He often predicts a bad event that is quite obvious, only to find something else occurs as he tries to avoid the first problem. (Paul Whitehouse, all series)
- Anyone fancy a pint? A man (Whitehouse) who is featured in increasingly boring or bizzare situations, such as a dinner party where a woman is talking about how she was abandoned as a child and crying about everyone letting her down. Whitehouse then interrupts at the most insensitive moment asking "anyone fancy a pint?", before he and most of the men in the room leave.
- Archie the pub bore. Talks to people in the pub, and when they mention their profession, no matter what it is, he always claims to have had the same profession, saying that it is the 'hardest game in the world. Thirty years, man and boy!' He has an obsession with Frank Sinatra, almost invariably steering the conversation towards the singer, before mentioning how he and his friend Stan faired on a recent fishing trip. (Whitehouse, series 3)
- Arthur Atkinson, parody of 1940s music hall entertainers such as Max Miller and Arthur Askey, played by Paul Whitehouse, introduced by Tommy Cockles (Simon Day), himself a parody of presenters of TV history, especially Denis Norden (Whitehouse, all series)
- Billy Bleach, tousle-mopped pub know-it-all who gets it all wrong. (This character starred in his own series, Grass which was shown on BBC Three, later shown on BBC Two.) (Day, all series)
- Bob Fleming, the ageing incompetent host of Country Matters, who has an extremely bad cough (Higson, all series)
- Brilliant Kid, a parody of British children's TV presenters who walks through a series of peculiar backgrounds describing various innocuous, everyday things as 'brilliant!' (Whitehouse, all series)
- Cal Hooper,(his name is a reference to the former West Indian Cricketer Carl Hooper) Australian presenter of That's Amazing, a spoof of pop-science shows. Normally the person on his show was trying to pass off an everyday animal or object as something magical. (Day, all series)
- Chanel 9, a mock Mediterranean television channel with low production values based on a combination of cultural clichés and made up languages (mostly pseudo Spanish, Greek, and Egyptian, with the odd, random French, Italian and even English sounding words thrown in for humourous effect). (Various, all series)
- Chris the Crafty Cockney, claims to be an incurable kleptomaniac ("I'll nick anything, me"). He is left alone with something valuable and invariably steals it (Whitehouse, series 2–3)
- Colin Hunt, unfunny office joker (Higson, series 2–3)
- Competitive Dad, who is over-critical and demanding of his kids, and always has to get one up on them. (Day, series 2–3)
- Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior, who is into saving the planet (his somewhat dubious methodology invariably undermined by his wife's behaviour), Mike Oldfield records, and swinging. A parody of a late-night magazine programme presented by Mike Reid. "Moonlight Shadow" by Mike Oldfield is used as the theme tune to sketches featuring the character (Day, series 3)
- Professor Denzil Dexter of the University of Southern California and his various bizarre scientific experiments (Thomson, series 1–2)
- The 13th Duke of Wybourne, posh, rumpled dinner jacketed, cigar smoker, finds himself in unsuitable places (Whitehouse, series 3)
- Ed Winchester, an American reporter. He beams at the camera and says "Hi! I'm Ed Winchester!" in a very upbeat voice, before the camera cuts to another scene. (Jeff Harding).
- I'll Get Me Coat, a socially challenged Brummie, who is unable to maintain a conversation with appropriate answers, and therefore disgraces himself before using the punchline (Williams, all series)
- Insecure Woman, who appears in a variety of different locations, sometimes bizarre exclaiming: "Does my bum look big in this?" (Weir, all series)
- Jesse a verbally challenged country bumpkin who exclaims his strange diets, fashion tastes and experiments, usually in the form of "This week, I 'ave been mostly..." (Williams, series 2–3)
- John Actor, who plays Inspector Monkfish, the tough uncompromising cop who often exclaims to the nearest woman, "Get your knickers on and get me a cup of tea!" (Day, series 2–3). Loosely based on the BBC series Dangerfield. Sometime between the end of series 3 and the last episode John Actor passed away.
- Johnny Nice Painter, who goes insane at the mention of the colour black. (Higson, series 3)
- Ken and Kenneth, the "Suit you!" tailors who bombard potential customers with innuendo about their private life, (Whitehouse and Williams, all series)
- Louis Balfour, presenter of Jazz Club (a parody of The Old Grey Whistle Test), based on a blend of Bob Harris and Roger Moore. (Thomson, series 2–3)
- No Offence, a rude South African department store cosmetics sales woman (Weir, series 3)
- "Our" Janine Carr, teenage mum with a unique world outlook. She refuses to reveal who the father of her baby is because "it's not fair to grass on your headmaster" (Aherne, series 1–2)
- The Offroaders, Simon and Lindsey, despite their unusually high confidence and esteem, are useless at their profession ("sorted!", "gripped!"). (Higson and Whitehouse, all series)
- Patrick Nice, a man who tells us of unusual and special experiences (discovering the original copy of the Bible, finding out he is a direct descendant of Kubla Khan, etc.), followed by his catchphrase, "Which was nice." (Williams, series 2–3)
- Ron Manager, nonsense talking football pundit. Doesn't actually know very much about football (Whitehouse, all series)
- Rowley Birkin QC, a retired barrister, tells mostly unintelligible stories at the fireside. Occasionally, his speech becomes coherent for a short while, containing strange phrases such as "The whole thing was made completely out of rubber" or "Snake! Snake!". Almost always ends his stories with "I'm afraid I was very, very drunk!" (Whitehouse, series 2–3). The character is reprised as a working barrister in the spin-off feature Ted and Ralph. Whitehouse revealed on the UK chatshow Parkinson that the idea for the character came from someone he met in Iceland.
- Roy & Renée, endless chattering from Renée and her verbally challenged husband Roy. (Thompson and Aherne, series 1–2)
- Swiss Toni, a car salesman who compares everything to making love to a beautiful woman. (Higson, series 3)
- Ted & Ralph - country squire Lord Ralph Mayhew attempts to strike up an intimate relationship with his estate worker Ted. (Whitehouse and Higson, all series). This was also the title of a one-off hour-long spin-off feature, reprising the characters, with cameos from a few other characters as well.
[edit] Trivia
- A great favourite of Johnny Depp who appeared in a sketch with the "Suit You" tailors ("An American Gentleman") in The Last Fast Show Ever, screened in three parts over Christmas 2000. In a deleted scene on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" DVD, Depp uses the "I'll get me coat" catchphrase. Depp uses another catchphrase within the movie when he is telling the two guards a story while trying to steal the ship. Elizabeth Turner has just fallen off the ledge and we see a shot of Depp's character telling the two guards a presumable story and the scene switches just in time to hear Jack Sparrow say "...And then they made me their chief" as Elizabeth hits the water in the background.
- Aherne starred in the first three series (however she didn't appear in the final episode of series three) and she did not appear in the final show The Last Fast Show Ever, presumably because of her commitment to the BBC sitcom The Royle Family.
- When the programme was shown on BBC America it was renamed 'Brilliant' to avoid confusion with an American programme of the same name.
- Simon Day claimed to have based the character of Competitive Dad on a man he once saw at a public swimming pool, who challenged his two young children to a race and then swam away at top speed, leaving them struggling at the other end.
- Arabella Weir later turned Insecure Woman into Jackie Payne, heroine of her very successful novel Does My Bum Look Big In This?
- Fast Show catchphrases are referenced in at least two episodes of the BBC TV children's show, Tweenies. In one episode, after Jake has told Fizz a joke that falls embarrassingly flat, he sheepishly says "I'll get my coat." In another episode, as the Tweenies are singing a song, Milo speaks an aside to camera à la Louis Balfour: "Good enough for jazz - NICE!"
- Many Fast Show characters have appeared in adverts: Ken and Kenneth, Jeese, Chanel 9 and The Unpronounceables advertised the beer Holsten Pils; Rowley Birkin QC advertised British Gas; Brilliant Kid advertised Milk and a character probably based on Dave Angel played by Day advertises Powergen. Ken and Kenneth have also been used in an advert for "The Link."
- Phrase "Thirty years, man and boy" was taken from the undertaker in Shakespeare´s Hamlet.
[edit] Filming locations
Unusually for a sketch show, a significant proportion of The Fast Show was shot externally. During the early series much of this filming was done around the Tees Valley & Yorkshire Dales in the North-East of England. Locations include:
- Darlington - 'The Running Family' were shown around various locations in the town centre, including The Cornmill Centre. Darlington was the childhood home of Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) whose longterm comedy partner Bob Mortimer was one of the writers
- Richmond - The market place in Ted & Ralph's trip to the shops
- Railway Street in Langley Park is used in 'Unlucky' Alf's scenes
- Keld, North Yorkshire - The campsite used in a Dave Angel scene
- Aske Hall - Background in early Ted & Ralph scenes
- Scotch Corner - Garage used in Swiss Toni's early scenes
- Middlesbrough - docks used in 'hard of hearing stuntman' scenes, scene on Transporter Bridge
- Newcastle upon Tyne - including the 'Shore Leave' sketch, the scene where Chris the Crafty Cockney steals the woman's suitcases (shot in Newcastle Central station), and some of the Sir Geoffrey Norman MP sketches, such as the one where he is pulled over by a policeman for speeding and the one where he refuses to pay the taxi driver after getting out of the car (shot outside the main entrance to Newcastle Central station)
[edit] Where are the cast now?
- Paul Whitehouse has appeared in two successful sitcoms since the end of the show, voiced a character in the film Corpse Bride and appeared in the third Harry Potter film (although his role was cut).
- Charlie Higson has continued to work as a novelist, starred in the Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni, and remains enthusiastic about the show's success.
- Caroline Aherne has been reclusive. She quit the show after the third series, to move on to The Royle Family. She suffered with alcoholism in 2002 but returned to television comedy in October 2006, co-writing and starring in a one-off special episode of The Royle Family
- Arabella Weir continues to appear on the show Grumpy Old Women. She has also written two novels.
- Simon Day appears in Powergen adverts as a decidedly Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior-like character. He has also appeared in Fast Show spin-offs Grass (featuring Billy Bleach) and Swiss Toni.
- John Thomson continues to appear on British television, including major roles in Blackpool and Cold Feet. He stated in October 2005 that he longed for a Fast Show movie.
- Mark Williams is associated with his role of Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films. He continues to act and write his own material.
[edit] Down The Line
In 2006, Higson and Whitehouse produced and starred in Down The Line, a spoof phone-in show for BBC Radio 4. The show also featured many of the regular Fast Show cast, including Simon Day, Arabella Weir, Rhys Thomas and Felix Dexter. A second series of Down The Line was broadcast in 2007.
[edit] The future
It is unlikely that there will be more Fast Shows. However, the characters are so diverse and have depth and backstories that can be adapted so that more spin-offs are possible. John Thomson is perhaps most enthusiastic for a movie based on the show (probably along the lines of The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse).
[edit] DVDs
Numerous Fast Show DVDs are available including :
- The Fast Show : Series 1 (includes cast interviews with Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Arabella Weir and Mark Williams)
- The Fast Show : Series 2
- The Fast Show : Series 3 and 1996 Christmas Special
- The Fast Show : The Last Fast Show Ever, Part One
- The Fast Show Farewell Tour (Live)
[edit] You Ain't Seen These, Right!
This was the title of a one-off programme featuring various sketches which were filmed but did not make it onto the final show. Some of these were:
- An ensemble series of sketches made by the whole male team, as members of a golf club, in which Charlie Higson's character was dating a beautiful young woman. The rest of the team are initially dismissive of him as a sad old man, but cannot help gawping over her, until Paul Whitehouse's character blurts out to her similarly young and attractive friend "God, I'd love to come over your tits!"
- A chain-smoking car driver played by Mark Williams who rants about anything and everything through his wound-down window. A study of road rage. "Shoe shop?! Shoe Shop?!"
- A mediaeval king played by Simon Day, who 'loves being king' because he gets to boss everyone about.
- A middle aged man, played by John Thomson, who always finds an excuse to leave the room as soon as the conversation gets round to "women's things."
These sketches are included in the UK edition of the boxed VHS videotape set of Series 3.
[edit] External links
| The Fast Show |
|---|
| Performers |
| Paul Whitehouse | Charlie Higson | Caroline Aherne | John Thomson | Simon Day | Arabella Weir | Mark Williams Paul Shearer | Donna Ewin | Rhys Thomas | Jeff Harding |
| Characters |
| Characters with spin-off shows: Ted and Ralph | Swiss Toni | Ron Manager | Billy Bleach The Suit You Tailors | 'Unlucky' Alf | Arthur Atkinson | Rowley Birkin QC | Brilliant Kid | Bob Fleming Chanel 9 | Chris the Crafty Cockney | Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior | Johnny Nice Painter | The 13th Duke of Wybourne Full List of Characters |
