Bremner, Bird and Fortune

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Bremner, Bird and Fortune

Bremner, Bird & Fortune title card
Format Satirical Comedy
Created by Rory Bremner, John Bird and John Fortune
Starring Rory Bremner, John Bird, John Fortune, Pauline McLynn and Frances Barber
Country of origin UK
No. of episodes 78 (As of Series 13, Episode 5)
Production
Running time 60 minutes (included Television advertisements)
Broadcast
Original channel Channel Four
Original run 17 October 1999 – Present
External links
IMDb profile

Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune ("the Two Johns") with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.

The show, which started in 1999, is currently in its 13th series, which began airing on 13th April 2008.

[edit] Regular features

Rory Bremner performs a sketch.
Rory Bremner performs a sketch.

The show is almost entirely political, but in recent series different genres of sketches have been introduced. The programme features regular stand-up impressionism sections by Bremner.

Another feature are interviews between Bird and Fortune, one of them normally as George Parr, a man in a government position or a businessman, who normally ends up exposing the idiocies of their area of expertise.

There are also heavily researched, bitingly satirical three-handed historical narratives, the dinner party sketches, featuring Bird, Fortune, Pauline McLynn and Frances Barber, other small sketches and ends with a usually political musical number.

[edit] Books and Awards

In October 2004, they 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).

In 2000 Bird and Fortune were nominated for a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for Best Entertainment Performance.

In 2002 and 2003, two years running, three members of the show's production team, Geoff Atkinson, Steve Connelly and David G. Croft, were nominated for a BAFTA for Best Comedy Programme or Series and Bird and Fortune were nominated for a BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance or Best Comedy Performance. In 2005 Rory Bremner was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance.

Bremner Bird and Fortune was filmed up until the second series 11 in 2006 at The Riverside Studios. It is Now filmed in Teddington Studios, South London. Series 11 was filmed in Studio 1 and Series 13 was filmed in studio 2. Teddington Studios was once the home to comedy greats as Benny Hill, Kenney Everett and Tommy Cooper.

The next series, 14, is being filmed at The Fountain Studios in Wembley, London

In 2003 the episode "At Her Majesty's Pleasure" won a Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Entertainment.

[edit] External links