Armstrong and Miller are an English

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

double act consisting of the actor-comedians

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show '' Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is ...

and

Ben Miller Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two serie ...

. They have performed in two eponymous television sketch shows, the satirical ''Timeghost''

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

, and many individual television appearances.

Works

Radio

Armstrong and Miller was a short-lived radio programme originally broadcast in March 1998. There were four 15-minute episodes and it was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In addition to Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller it starred

Samuel West Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, narrator and theatre director. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor across theatre, film, television and radio. He often appears as reciter with orche ...

, and

Tony Gardner Tony Gardner (born 10 January 1964) is an English actor and doctor. He sits on the national governing body of the actors' trade union Equity. Career Gardner qualified as a physician at Guy's Hospital in 1987, then as a general practitioner in ...

. The Children's Hour was a four-part comedy programme originally broadcast in 1998. It starred Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller as media journalists Craig Children and Martin Bain-Jones in a spoof music/children's/cultural review programme.

Television

''Armstrong and Miller''

Four series of the show have been made by

Absolutely Productions Absolutely Productions is a television production company formed in 1988 by Morwenna Banks, Jack Docherty, Moray Hunter, Pete Baikie, John Sparkes, and Gordon Kennedy, all of whom were the cast of British television comedy sketch show '' Absol ...

, the first airing in 1997. The first two were titled ''Armstrong and Miller'', and the last two ''The Armstrong and Miller Show''. The first series, shown on the

Paramount Comedy Channel Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...

, had six episodes and the subsequent series, all first shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, consisted of seven episodes. The second series was immediately repeated on the Paramount Comedy Channel after its initial broadcast. The fourth series of the show was released on DVD in the UK in 2006.

''The Armstrong & Miller Show''

After the conclusion of the first show, the duo split and branched into acting and presenting, amongst other things. After some five years in hiatus, they renewed their partnership for a new show produced by

Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. History Hat Trick Productions was founded in 1986 by Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville ...

for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. The first studio recording took place on Friday, 23 February 2007, at

BBC TV Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...

and was first broadcast on 26 October 2007. During an appearance on British

chat show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sho ...

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...

'' on Friday 25 September, it was confirmed that the second series of ''The Armstrong & Miller Show'' would begin airing on BBC One on 16 October 2009. There were six episodes in the series. Following the success of the first few series, they published a book, ''The Armstrong & Miller Book'', in early October 2010 based on the characters from the show. The third series of the show began airing on BBC One on 30 October 2010.

Podcasts

In August 2008 they launched a series of podcasts entitled "Timeghost", produced by

Times Online ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

, parodying art and culture critics.

Other collaborations

They also wrote and starred in ''So 90s'', a weekly comedy show aired on

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

between 1997 and 1999. They collaborated on a one-off sitcom called ''Felix and Murdo'', broadcast on Channel 4 on 28 December 2011. They collaborated with fellow

Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

alumni

Mitchell and Webb Mitchell and Webb are a British comedy double act, composed of David Mitchell and Robert Webb. They are best known for starring in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Peep Show'' and their radio and TV sketch shows '' That Mitchell and Webb Sound'' and '' ...

for the 2009

Red Nose Day Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

fundraising event. They co-wrote and starred in several short sketches, including one incorporating Armstrong and Miller's World War II airmen characters. Due to media commitments they rarely do nationwide tours, the most recent one taking place from September to November 2010. In 2018, Armstrong and Miller presented a one-off show called ''We Are Most Amused and Amazed'' to mark the 70th birthday of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

Toff Media

The pair have formed a production company named Toff Media.

References

{{reflist English comedy duos