''Coogan's Run'' is a 1995 UK TV series featuring Steve Coogan as a series of odd characters living in the fictional town of Ottle. It was written by various people including Coogan,

Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benja ...

, David Tyler,

Graham Linehan Graham Linehan () (born 22 May 1968) is an Irish television writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), ''Black Books'' (2000–2004) and '' The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013). He has also ...

, Arthur Mathews,

Geoffrey Perkins Geoffrey Howard Perkins (22 February 1953 – 29 August 2008) was a British comedy producer, writer and performer. Best known as the BBC head of comedy (1995–2001), he produced the first two radio series of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galax ...

and

Henry Normal Henry Normal (real name Peter James Carroll, born 15 August 1956) is a writer, poet, TV and film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Manchester Literature Festival) and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival. In Ju ...

. The series consists of six self-contained stories, although Coogan's characters from the other episodes in the series make occasional

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

Cast

* Steve Coogan - Paul Calf / Gareth Cheeseman / Ernest Moss / Peter Calf / Mike Crystal / Stewart Crump / Tim Fleck * John Thomson - Robin Moss * Malcolm Raeburn - Inspector Lynch *

Teresa Banham Teresa Banham, also known and credited as Theresa Banham (born 1964) is a British television and theatre actress perhaps best known for playing the role of the Broadfell Prison Governor in the first part of the '' Doctor Who'' Christmas special, ...

- Debs * Adrian Scarborough - Councillor Hillary Crabbe *

Philip Martin Brown Philip Martin Brown (born 9 July 1956) is a British actor from Manchester. He is known for his long-running portrayal of English teacher Grantly Budgen in the hit BBC One school-based drama series ''Waterloo Road (TV series), Waterloo Road'', w ...

- PC Ted Cornwall * Roger Morlidge - Prison Officer * Derek Howard - Reverend Dowd * John Clegg - Alf

Episodes

In order of broadcast: Get Calf featured the already well known characters

Paul Calf Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...

and his sister Pauline (both played by Coogan). Paul gets into trouble with three criminal brothers after witnessing a bank robbery and being forced to identify them in court. He joins a cult and retreats to their residence where he is lured into a porn film. In Dearth of a Salesman, Coogan plays the insensitive, egotistical computer hardware salesman

Gareth Cheeseman Gareth Cheeseman was a fictional salesman played by Steve Coogan in the episode "Dearth of a Salesman" of Coogan's series ''Coogan's Run''. The character is probably best remembered for his blue Ford Probe company car, which ends up being crus ...

. With similarities to Coogan's most famous creation,

Alan Partridge Alan Gordon Partridge is a comedy character portrayed by the English actor Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, h ...

, Gareth attempts to socialise and make a big sale during a sales conference while constantly checking to see if his car is safe. Despite his faults, Gareth appears destined to land a big contract, but fate intervenes. A Handyman For All Seasons: Main character Ernest Moss had previously appeared in live shows giving a safety lecture (as seen on the 1994 video release ''Live 'n' Lewd''). Set in 1960 and mostly filmed in black and white. Ernest Moss (Coogan), a general repairman, attempts to stop a large new property development in his home village while making repairs to his fellow villagers' homes. This episode also saw Coogan play the laddish Peter Calf, the father of Paul. Thursday Night Fever: Mediocre club entertainer Mike Crystal (Coogan) invents an alter-ego, Clint Stallone, when his career begins to falter. The manager of his club, Clement (

Graham Fellows Graham David Fellows (born 22 May 1959) is an English actor and musician, best known for releasing the 1978 single "Jilted John", which reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart, and creating the comedic character John Shuttleworth in 1986. Jilted ...

), thinks Clint is real and gets his nephew to photograph him in a compromising position with Mike's girlfriend, Debs. Natural Born Quizzers, featuring the mad, trivia-obsessive brothers Stewart and Guy Crump (Coogan and

). When the brothers lost a children's quiz show in 1975, they burned down the studio, killing their parents and one of the sisters from the opposing team. 20 years later, the brothers kidnap their therapist and the surviving sister, Cathy (

Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...

), and make them re-enact the quiz on the roof of a

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

with the now-

transsexual Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignmen ...

quiz host, Jeremy (Angela) Monkhead. It ends with Stewart and Guy taking the trophy and then detonating a bomb. The Curator: Tim Fleck (Coogan), the curator of a very dull museum, is disgusted to find that his museum is being taken over to build a steak house upon his mother's death. On opening night, a masked man attacks the diners.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0111925, title=Coogan's Run BBC television comedy 1995 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings