''Chelmsford 123'' is a British television

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

produced for

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

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 ...

. Chelmsford ran for two series, of six and seven episodes respectively, in 1988 and 1990. The series was set in the British town of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in the year AD 123 and concerned the power struggle between Roman governor Aulus Paulinus (

Jimmy Mulville James Thomas Mulville (born 5 January 1955) is an English comedian, comedy writer, producer and television presenter. He is best known for co-founding (in 1986) the British independent television production company Hat Trick Productions with ...

) and the British chieftain, Badvoc ( Rory McGrath). Britain is a miserable place, cold and wet – just the place to exile Aulus for accidentally insulting the Emperor's horse but also give him something useful to do. Aulus, probably a play on

Aulus Platorius Nepos Aulus Platorius Nepos was a Roman senator who held a number of appointments in the imperial service, including the governorship of Britain. He was suffect consul succeeding the ''consul posterior'' Publius Dasumius Rusticus as the colleague of ...

, the governor of

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...

between 122 and 125, was a rather delicate Roman and was usually outwitted by the scheming Badvoc, who hadn't had a haircut for twenty-five years. Many of the other regular "Hat Trick" actors, previously seen in shows such as ''

Who Dares Wins ''Who Dares Wins'' (Latin: ''Qui audet adipiscitur''; el, Ο Τολμών Νικά, ''O tolmón niká''; french: Qui ose gagne; it, Chi osa vince; Portuguese: ''Quem ousa vence''; German: ''Wer wagt, gewinnt'') is a motto made popular in the ...

'', appeared. Both series are available on

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—requir ...

. Series 1 and 2 were released on DVD by Acorn Media UK on 15 September 2011.

Principal cast

* Rory McGrath as Badvoc, A British chieftain *

as Aulus Paulinus, the Roman Governor of Britain *

Philip Pope Philip R. J. Pope is a British composer and actor. He is best known for role as Tony Angelino in Only Fools And Horses. He was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford. Performer Pope appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festi ...

as Grasientus, Aulus' Brother in-law. (Pope also wrote the series' title music.) *

Howard Lew Lewis Howard Lew Lewis (21 August 1941 – 20 January 2018) was a British comedian and actor, best known for his roles in comedy series including ''Maid Marian and Her Merry Men'', ''Brush Strokes'' and ''Chelmsford 123''. Biography Lewis was b ...

as Blag *

Neil Pearson Neil John Pearson (born 27 April 1959) is a British actor, known for his work on television. He was nominated for the 1994 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for '' Between the Lines'' (1992–1994). His other television roles include ''Drop the D ...

as Mungo *

Erika Hoffman Erika Hoffman is an English actress known for portraying Lesley Bainbridge in the BBC comedy '' Brush Strokes'' from series two onwards. When the ''Brush Strokes'' series ended, she joined fellow cast member Howard Lew Lewis in the Channel 4 com ...

as Gargamadua, Badvoc's girlfriend (Series 1 only) * Robert Austin as Functio (Series 1 only) *

Geoffrey McGivern Geoffrey M. McGivern is a British actor in film, radio, stage and television, as well as a comedian. Career He played Ford Prefect in the radio series (1978–80) and subsequent LP releases of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' by Dougla ...

as Wolfbane (one episode in Series 1, regular cast member in Series 2) Also appearing in a number of episodes were: *

Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at Shakespeare's Globe, St Martin's Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic. Early life Whiteh ...

as Viatorus, engineer, bringer of rain, sculptor (3 episodes) *

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

as Taranis, British "warrior" (2 episodes) (also sometime programme associate). *

Chris Langham Christopher Langham (born 14 April 1949) is an English writer, actor, and comedian. He is known for playing the cabinet minister Hugh Abbot in the BBC sitcom '' The Thick of It'', and as presenter Roy Mallard in '' People Like Us'', first on B ...

as The Gate Guard and later Chief Of Security (2 episodes) *

Bill Wallis William Wallis (20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013) was a British character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre. Biography Wallis was born in Guildford in Surrey, the only son of A ...

as Emperor Hadrian (2 episodes).

Episode list

Series 1: 1988

* ''Arrivederci Roma''—9 March 1988 (''sections in Rome played entirely in Latin, until Aulus arrives in Britain'') * ''What's Your Poison?''—16 March 1988 * ''The Girl of My Dreams''—23 March 1988 * ''One For The Road''—30 March 1988 * ''Vidi Vici Veni''—6 April 1988 * ''Peeled Grapes and Pedicures''—13 April 1988

Series 2: 1990

* ''Heads You Lose''—9 January 1990 * ''Get Well Soon''—16 January 1990 * ''Bird Trouble''—23 January 1990 * ''Odi, et Amo''—30 January 1990 * ''The Secret War''—6 February 1990 * ''Mine's a Double''—13 February 1990 * ''Something Beginning With 'E' ''—20 February 1990 (''as with first episode, sections in Rome played entirely in Latin, until the Emperor arrives in Britain'')

References

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, 0094432 Channel 4 sitcoms Fiction set in Roman Britain 1988 British television series debuts 1990 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms 1990s British sitcoms Television series by Hat Trick Productions Television series set in the Roman Empire Latin-language television