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The Fast Show
''The Fast Show'', known as ''Brilliant'' in the US, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams (actor), Mark Williams, John Thomson (comedian), John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne. Other significant cast members included Felix Dexter, Paul Shearer, Rhys Thomas (comedian), Rhys Thomas, Jeff Harding (actor), Jeff Harding, Maria McErlane, Eryl Maynard, Colin McFarlane and Donna Ewin. Loosely structured and reliant on character sketches, running gags and many catchphrases, its fast-paced "blackout gag, blackout" style set it apart from traditional sketch series because of the number and relative brevity of its sketches; a typical half-hour TV sketch comedy of the period might have consisted of nine or ten major items, with contrived situations and extended setups, whereas the premiere episode featured 27 sketches in 30 minutes,Dewhurs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Julian Whitehouse (born 17 May 1958) is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy series ''The Fast Show'', and has also starred with Harry Enfield in the shows '' Harry & Paul'' and ''Harry Enfield & Chums''. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders. Early life Whitehouse was born on 17 May 1958, in Stanleytown, Glamorgan.Comic Paul tells of talent change WalesonSunday.co.uk. 28 October 2007 His father, Harry, worked for the and his mother, Anita ( Jones), was a singer with the |
Arabella Weir
Arabella Weir (born 6 December 1957) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series ''The Fast Show'' and ''Posh Nosh'', and has written several books, including ''Does My Bum Look Big in This?'' Weir has also written for ''The Independent'' and ''The Guardian'' and the latter's ''Weekend'' magazine. Early life and education Weir was born in 1957, in San Francisco, California, to Scottish parents. She is the daughter of former British ambassador Sir Michael Weir and his wife, Alison ( Walker) Weir. She attended nursery school in Washington D.C., where her father was posted as a member of the British diplomatic corps. She later attended the Sacre Coeur Convent in Cairo, and the French Lycee in London. Both her parents were Scottish, and met while they were studying at the University of Oxford; her father was from Dunfermline and her mother was from the Scottish Borders, daughter of the headmaster of a small boarding school. As a child, Weir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Thomson (comedian)
John Patrick Thomson (born Patrick Francis McAleer; 2 April 1969) is an English comedian, narrator and actor best known for his roles in ''The Fast Show'', ''Men Behaving Badly'', ''Cold Feet'', ''24 Hour Party People'', ''Grimsby (film), The Brothers Grimsby'' and ''Coronation Street''. Early life Thomson was born in 1969 in Walkden, Worsley, Lancashire, to Mary McAleer, who gave him up for adoption six weeks later. He was adopted from the Catholic Children's Rescue Society by Andrew and Marita Thomson, a businessman and a bookseller from Didsbury. He has one younger brother, Ben (born to his adoptive parents).Cooke, Rachel (2003-05-11"Infamy, infamy ..." ''The Observer''. Retrieved on 2007-02-17 He attended All Hallows Catholic High School near Preston, Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, leaving with three GCE Ordinary Level, O-levels. He then attended Runshaw College between 1985 and 1987, studying for four GCE Advanced Level (United Kingdom), A-levels, including theatre studies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caroline Aherne
Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host ''The Mrs Merton Show, Mrs Merton'', in various roles in ''The Fast Show'', and as Denise in ''The Royle Family'', a series which she co-wrote. She won BAFTA awards for her work on ''The Mrs Merton Show'' and ''The Royle Family''. Aherne narrated the Channel 4 reality television series ''Gogglebox'' from its inception in 2013 until 8 April 2016. Aherne died of cancer at the age of 52. Early life Aherne was born in Ealing, London, on 24 December 1963, the second child of Irish parents Bartholomew Edmond "Bert" Aherne, a railwayman with London Transport Board, London Transport, and Mary Frances "Maureen" Aherne (''née'' Regan). From the age of two, Aherne was brought up in Wythenshawe, Manchester.Rinaldi, Graham.Aherne, Caroline (1963–). screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved on 25 August 2007. Like her brother, Patrick, Ah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Day
Simon William Day (born 7 June 1962) is an English comedian and actor known for his roles in the sketch show ''The Fast Show'' and the sitcom ''Grass''. Career Day was born in Blackheath, London, and rose to fame as a stand-up comic, winning the '' Time Out'' new act of the year in 1991 with his music hall character Tommy Cockles. He then appeared on the BBC One show ''Paramount City'' as a weekly guest. He continued working live all over England before joining up with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer for two tours and two series of ''Big Night Out''. He continued to work with Vic Reeves throughout the 1990s. In 1994 he was a cast regular in ''Saturday Zoo'', Channel 4's Saturday night extravaganza, in which he appeared as groundbreaking white rapper Ice Pick. His other TV credits include ''Heartbeat'', ''Jonathan Creek'', '' Sensitive Skin'', ''Love Soup'', ''Driving School'', and '' Skins''. His film credits include ''Shakespeare in Love'', as a ferryman on the Thames. In 2006 he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shooting Stars (British TV Series)
''Shooting Stars'' is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as three full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with two series before returning to BBC Two for another three series from 2008 until its cancellation in 2011. Created and hosted by double-act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, it uses the panel show format but with the comedians' often slapstick, surreal and anarchic humour that does not rely on rules in order to function, with the pair apparently ignoring existing rules or inventing new ones as and when the mood takes them. Format The basic format of the show is that of a conventional panel game. The hosts (Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer) ask questions of the two teams with points awarded for "correct" answers; however, scoring is largely arbitrary. Each episode is produced by editing together excerpts of a longer session. Rounds include "true or false", the film clip round, the impressions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Videocassette
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassette recorders (VCRs) and camcorders. Videotapes have also been used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram. Because video signals have a very high bandwidth, and stationary heads would require extremely high tape speeds, in most cases, a helical-scan video head rotates against the moving tape to record the data in two dimensions. Tape is a linear method of storing information and thus imposes delays to access a portion of the tape that is not already against the heads. The early 2000s saw the introduction and rise to prominence of high-quality random-access video recording media such as hard disks and flash memory. Since then, videotape has been increasingly relegated to archival and simi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted And Ralph
Ted and Ralph are fictional characters created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, played by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson in the BBC comedy sketch show ''The Fast Show''. They featured in all three series of the show, and are arguably amongst the most recognised of the show's characters. Characters Lord Ralph Mayhew (Higson) is an impoverished aristocrat in his early 30s who lives in his family mansion on an expansive country estate. He has never married or had children and is secretly in love with Ted. Ralph is painfully shy and reserved, occasionally hinted to have previously suffered from mental illness. The juxtaposition of Ralph's over-friendliness and Ted's embarrassed silence forms the basis for the humour in the sketches. Other characters, when seen, particularly Ted's fellow estate workers, seem aware of Ralph's sexuality and are uncomfortable in his presence, or make blatantly homophobic double-entendres, which Ralph always misses. Ted (Whitehouse) is an Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni is a British television comedy character played by Charlie Higson. He is a 50-something car dealer, usually depicted wearing a grey suit and with his hair styled in a platinum blond bouffant quiff; his accent is reported to be based on Higson's own poor impersonation of Sean Connery. The character was created by Charlie Higson and Bob Mortimer, and first appeared in 1995 in a sketch in the second series of ''The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer'', attempting to sell a car to the Bra Men. He became best known as a recurring character in another BBC comedy series, ''The Fast Show'', debuting in the show's third series in 1997. He featured in sketches alongside Rhys Thomas as Paul, a junior employee, in which Swiss would typically compare some activity to "making love to a beautiful woman", with the use of comically exaggerated sexual innuendo. Swiss later reappeared in a sitcom, also titled ''Swiss Toni'', which developed both the character and his situation beyond the conf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off (or spinoff) is a radio program, television program, film, video game or any narrative work, derived from already existing works that focus on more details and different aspects from the original work (e.g. particular topics, characters or events). One of the earliest spin-offs of the modern media era, if not the first, happened in 1941 when the supporting character Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve from the old time radio comedy show ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' became the star of his own program ''The Great Gildersleeve'' (1941–1957). In genre fiction, the term parallels its usage in television; it is usually meant to indicate a substantial ''change in narrative viewpoint and activity'' from that (previous) storyline based on the activities of the series' principal protagonist and so is a shift to that action and overall narrative thread of some other protagonist, which now becomes the central or main thread (storyline) of the new sub-series. The ''new protagoni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is known in particular for his television work, including ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' and '' Harry & Paul'', and for the creation and portrayal of comedy characters such as Kevin the Teenager and "Loadsamoney". Early life Born in Horsham, Sussex, he is the eldest of four children (and only son) of English television, radio and newspaper journalist and presenter Edward Enfield and his wife, Deirdre Jenkins. The Enfield family are descendants of the nineteenth-century philanthropist Edward Enfield. He was educated at the independent Arundale School in Pulborough, Dorset House School, Worth School, Collyer's Sixth Form College (all in West Sussex) and the University of York, where he was a member of Derwent College and studied politics. He squatted in Hackney and worked for a while as a milkman. Career Enfield first came to wide public attention when appearing on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore free of commercial advertising. It is a comparatively well-funded public-service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public-service networks worldwide. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched (starting on 21 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
