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''Big Train'' is a British television sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan. The first series was broadcast on
BBC Two 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 an ...
in 1998, while the second, in which Linehan was not involved, aired in 2002.


Overview

The series starred the actors Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap, and Simon Pegg in both series one and two, with Julia Davis and Amelia Bullmore in the first series ( Nick Frost also appeared in two episodes), and Rebecca Front, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Catherine Tate in the second series. All have starred in a variety of other comedy shows including ''
I'm Alan Partridge ''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept radio DJ and television presenter who has been left by his wife and dropped from the BB ...
'', '' Look Around You'', '' Spaced'', '' Smack the Pony'', '' Brass Eye'' and '' Green Wing.'' Catherine Tate went on to get her own show on the BBC, '' The Catherine Tate Show''. The first series was directed by Graham Linehan and other series contributors included David Mitchell. The pilot episode was directed by Chris Morris but was never broadcast in full. Some sketches from the pilot are scattered through the series. Apart from Pegg, all of the first series regular cast members subsequently starred in Morris' sketch comedy '' Jam'' (2000). The title of the show is derived from the song run during the credits, "Big Train", which was recorded by Max Greger and his Orchestra. The writers were fond enough of the song to name the show after it. The song has since been adopted for a commercial for Virgin Trains. Both series were shot entirely on location (series one on 35mm film and series two on DigiBeta) and later shown to a live audience so that a laugh track could be recorded.


Comedy style and notable sketches

Following in the tradition of
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
, the comedy of ''Big Train'' is based on the subversion of ordinary situations by the surreal or macabre. For example, one scene features a bad-mannered man casually stabbed to death by his embarrassed wife at a dinner party. In a recurring sketch from the first series, an animated staring contest is accompanied by commentary from BBC
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commentator Barry Davies and comedy actor and impressionist Phil Cornwell. The Stare-out Championship was based on a self-published comic book by Paul Hatcher and was animated by
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. The championship is portrayed as a huge event akin to the World Cup and the anecdotes told by the commentators often echoed those from real sporting events, such as performance enhancing drugs, streakers and the theft of the trophy. Some other notable sketches included: *A Ming the Merciless-style galactic despot that struggles to subjugate planets and imprison princes while doing the housework, checking his answerphone and being hospitalised after 'slipping on the little mat that goes around the toilet'. *A romantic drama conducted entirely in French in which a woman has a relationship with a set of temporary traffic lights, much to the anguish of her human admirer. *Fat handed t***' -A man with unfeasibly large hands that is ridiculed by members of the public when engaging in any kind of detailed work, such as embroidery. *An office manager who repeatedly distracts his employees - when they demand their promised overtime payment - with magic tricks, juggling and cute animals before running from the office, hailing a taxicab and flying away aboard an airliner. *An English tourist asking two Frenchmen for directions, only to have them nonchalantly respond, in perfect English, that they can't understand her as they don't speak English. *A series of sketches in which 1970s and 1980s pop musicians were placed in unusual or surreal contexts (such as
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from Dexys Midnight Runners being reanimated as Frankenstein's Monster, Daryl Hall and
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acting as social workers, and
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as a Wild West bounty hunter pursuing The Bee Gees).


Transmission details

''Big Train'' originally aired on
BBC Two 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 an ...
on Monday nights during the following periods: * Series one (6 episodes): 9 November – 14 December 1998 * Series two (6 episodes): 7 January – 11 February 2002


Reception

Despite running for two series, ''Big Train'' attracted only a limited audience. Even so, the series was well received by critics, with the first series voted "Best 'Broken Comedy' Show" at the prestigious British Comedy Awards
in 1999 ''In 1999'' is a 1912 one-act comedic short play by William C. deMille, originally produced by Jesse L. Lasky, that was popular upon its release. Its gags are based on a future where gender roles are reversed. Production The piece debuted at th ...
. '' The Independent'' called the show "divine". Reviewing the DVD, '' The Guardian'' wrote: "Like most sketch shows, ''Big Train'' is not without its misses, but as a breeding ground for comedy talent and a forefather to such modern-day hits as ''
Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album '' Second Light'' ...
'' and '' That Mitchell and Webb Look'', it remains a gem, boasting some of the finest performances Pegg, Davis and the rest have ever delivered", whilst another author of the same publication called it "one of the most original and most consistently funny sketch shows in years".


Home media

The Complete Series 1 and 2 has been released in the US and the UK. From March 2021, both series became available on Britbox.


References


External links

* * *
''Big Train''
on TV.com {{Arthur Mathews 1998 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings 1990s British television sketch shows 2000s British television sketch shows BBC television sketch shows English-language television shows Television series by Fremantle (company) Television series created by Graham Linehan