The Fast Show
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The Fast Show was a BBC comedy sketch show programme which ran for four series from 1994 to 2000, starring Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne (1994-1997).
The show produced two national tours, the first in 1998 with the cast of the BBC spoof quiz show Shooting Stars and the second being their 'Farewell Tour' in 2002. The Fast Show was loosely structured and relied on character comedy, long-running gags, and endless catchphrases, that influenced shows such as Big Train and Little Britain.
It was one of the most popular sketch shows of the 1990s and had a long-lasting impact upon British culture. The show has been released on video, DVD and audio CD. Some of its characters, Ron Manager, Ted and Ralph, Swiss Toni and Billy Bleach have had their spin-off programmes.
Style and Content
The Fast Show was the brain child of Paul Whitehouse and his writing partner and friend Charlie Higson. They wanted to break away from Harry Enfield and Chums, a show which they had appeared and written for. They asked friends and fellow comedians Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne to star with them and the show became a runaway success.The show was characterised by a fast cut delivery style of its sketches, some of which lasted only a few seconds. This method was reportedly developed by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson after they witnessed a promotional preview for a forthcoming series of Harry Enfield and Chums produced in this manner. It is presumably from this delivery method the programme gained its title.
The first series introduced us to Ted and Ralph, 'Unlucky' Alf, Ron Manager, The Suits You Tailors, Arthur Atkinson, Bob Fleming and many other characters, who, despite their sketchy and gritty beginnings, became 'cult characters' cherished all around the world.
Amongst the writers of the show were: the major cast (who appeared as the characters they had written) and comedy writers of the time like: Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews (best remembered for excellent sit-com Father Ted starring Dermot Morgan), Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and Craig Cash (of The Royle Family fame).
Perhaps the success of The Fast Show was due to the public being able to associate the characters in the program as caricatures of people who you would meet in day-to-day life and their suitable, hilarious catchphrases.
Some of the most popular characters in the show appeared to be those who were often present but never had any 'official' name, those who are tightly structured to give their catchphrase/punchline and end the sketch. Prime examples include Does Anyone Fancy a Pint? played by Whitehouse, You Ain't Seen Me, Right!, and I'll Get My Coat played by Williams, and Ha! an elderly woman played by Weir.
Other long-standing running jokes in the program included: Cheesy Peas in various different forms, shapes and flavours, in satirical adverts presented by a northern lad (Paul Whitehouse) who claims: They're good for your teeth! The fascination with Jesus Christ was another popular group of sketches where various characters would end the sketch with the exclamation He died for all our sins, didn't he? or something similar, and most controversially We're from the Isle of Man - featuring a false stereotype of weird and surreal people who happen to be inhabitants.
Many of the characters were parodies of well-known personalities: indeed, Louis Balfour (of the Jazz Club) is very much like Bob Harris of The Old Grey Whistle Test fame, Ron Manager appears to most closely resemble football pundit Trevor Brooking - although the parodic intent of the character is broader, and portrays how often football pundits have little to say of any real substance, and will sometimes waffle - Arthur Atkinson - very obviously a parody of Arthur Askey, and Lord Ralph Mayhew is said to be based on film director John Boorman.
The show ended in 2000, with a three-part "Last Ever" show. After four series and a Christmas special packed full of catchphrases, as a certain character would say - the show was 'Brilliant!
Major Characters
The show featured many characters. Many of the smaller and less significant characters are listed at Fast Show characters. Some of the more memorable are:
- 'Unlucky' Alf, the lonely old pensioner for whom nothing ever goes right. His hook is his resigned "Awww bugger!" as something terrible happens. (Paul Whitehouse - all series)
- Archie the pub bore. Talks to people in the pub, and when they mention their profession, no matter what it is, he always claims to have had the same profession, 'x...Hardest game in the world. Thirty years, man and boy!' (Whitehouse - series 3)
- Arthur Atkinson, parody of 1940s music hall entertainers such as Max Miller and Arthur Askey, played by Paul Whitehouse, introduced by Tommy Cockles (Simon Day), himself a parody of presenters of TV history, especially Dennis Norden (Whitehouse - all series)
- Billy Bleach, tousle-mopped pub know-it-all who gets it all wrong. (This character starred in his own series, 'Grass' which was shown on BBC Three, later shown on BBC Two.) (Day - all series)
- Bob Fleming, the aging incompetent host of Country Matters, who has an extremely bad cough (Higson - all series)
- Brilliant Kid, a parody of British Children's TV presenters who walks through a series of peculiar backgrounds describing various innocuous, everyday things as 'brilliant!' (Whitehouse - all series)
- Carl Hooper, Australian presenter of That's Amazing, a spoof on pop-science shows. (Day - all series)
- Chanel 9, a Mediterranean television channel with low production values based on a combination of languages (mostly Italian, Spanish, and Greek, but some completely made up) (various - all series). Paul Whitehouse later revealed that Welsh language television was also a target of this parody.
- Chris the Crafty Cockney, claims to be an incurable kleptomaniac ("I'll nick anything me"). He is left alone with something valuable and invariably steals it (Whitehouse - series 2-3)
- Colin Hunt, unfunny office practical joker (Higson - Series 2-3)
- Competitive Dad, who is over-critical and demanding of his kids, and always has to get one up on them.. (Day - series 2-3)
- Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior, who's into saving the planet (with a somewhat dubious methodology), Mike Oldfield records, and swinging. A parody of a late-night magazine program presented by Mike Reid. (Day - series 3)
- Professor Denzil Dexter of the University of Southern California and his various bizarre scientific experiments (Thomson - series 1-2)
- The 13th Duke of Wybourne, posh, rumpled dinner jacketed, cigar smoker, finds himself in unsuitable places (Whitehouse - series 3)
- Insecure Woman, who appears in a variety of different locations, sometimes bizarre exclaiming: "Does my bum look big in this?" (Weir - all series)
- Jesse a verbally challenged country bumpkin who exclaims his strange diets, fashion tastes and experiments. (Williams - series 2-3)
- John Actor, who plays Inspector Monkfish, the tough uncompromising cop who often exclaims "get your knickers on and get me a cup of tea!" (Day - series 2,3)
- Johnny Nice Painter, who goes insane at the mention of the colour black. (Higson - series 3)
- Ken and Kenneth, the "Suit you!" tailors who bombard potential customers with innuendo about their private life, (Whitehouse and Williams - all series)
- Louis Balfour, presenter of Jazz Club (a parody of The Old Grey Whistle Test), based on a blend of Bob Harris and Roger Moore. (Thomson - series 2-3)
- No Offence, a rude South African department store cosmetics sales woman (Weir - series 3)
- "Our" Janine Carr, teenage mum with a unique world outlook. She refuses to reveal who the father of her baby is because "it's not fair to grass on your headmaster" (Aherne - series 1-2)
- Ron Manager, nonsense talking football pundit. Doesn't actually know very much about football (Whitehouse - all series)
- Rowley Birkin QC, drunk old upper class man (presumably a retired barrister from the QC appellation in his name) tells mostly unintelligible stories at the fireside. Occasionally, his speech becomes intelligible for a short while, containing strange phrases such as "the whole thing was made completely out of rubber" or "Snakes! Snakes!". Almost always ends his stories with "I'm afraid I was very, very drunk!" (Whitehouse - series 2-3). The character is reprised as a working barrister in the spin-off feature Ted and Ralph
- Roy & Renée, endless chattering from Renée and her verbally challenged husband Roy. (Thompson and Ahearne - series 1-2)
- Swiss Toni, a car salesman who compares everything to making love to a beautiful woman. (Higson - Series 3)
- Ted & Ralph - country squire Lord Ralph Mayhew attempts to strike up an intimate relationship with his estate worker Ted. (Whitehouse and Higson - all series). This was also the title of a one-off hour-long spin-off feature, reprising the characters, with cameos from a few other Fast Show characters as well.
Trivia
- A great favourite of Johnny Depp who appeared in a sketch with the "Suit You" tailors ("An American Gentleman") in The Last Fast Show Ever, screened in three parts over Christmas 2000. In a deleted scene on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" DVD, Depp uses the "I'll get me coat" catchphrase.
- Aherne starred in the first three series (however she didn't appear in the final episode of series three) and she did not appear in the final show The Last Fast Show Ever, presumably because of her commitment to the BBC sitcom The Royle Family.
- When the programme was shown on BBC America it was renamed 'Brilliant' to avoid confusion with an American programme of the same name.
- Simon Day claimed to have based the character of Competitive Dad on a man he once saw at a public swimming pool, who challenged his two young children to a race and then swam away at top speed, leaving them struggling at the other end.
- Arabella Weir later turned Insecure Woman into Jackie Payne, heroine of her very successful novel Does My Bum Look Big In This?
- Fast Show catchphrases are referenced in at least two episodes of the BBC TV children's show, Tweenies. In one episode, after Jake has told Fizz a joke that falls embarrassingly flat, he sheepishly says "I'll get my coat". In another episode, as the Tweenies are singing a song, Milo speaks an aside to camera à la Louis Balfour: "Good enough for jazz - NICE!"
Filming Locations
For a sketch show a significant proportion of The Fast Show was external shots. During the early series much of this filming was done around the Tees Valley & Yorkshire Dales in the North-East of England. Locations include:- Darlington - 'The Running Family' were shown around various locations in the town centre, including [The Cornmill Centre]. Darlington was the childhood home of Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) whose longterm comedy partner Bob Mortimer was one of the writers.
- Richmond - The market place in Ted & Ralph's trip to the shops.
- Keld, North Yorkshire - The campsite used in a Dave Angel scene
- [Aske Hall] - Background in early Ted & Ralph scenes
- Scotch Corner - Garage used in Swiss Toni's early scenes
- Middlesbrough - docks used in 'hard of hearing stuntman' scenes, scene on Transporter Bridge.
- Newcastle upon Tyne - including the 'Shore Leave' sketch, the scene where Chris the Crafty Cockney steals the woman's suitcases (shot in Newcastle Central station), and some of the Sir Geoffrey Norman MP sketches, such as the one where he is pulled over by a policeman for speeding and the one where he refuses to pay the taxi driver after getting out of the car (shot outside the main entrance to Newcastle Central station).
Where are the Cast now?
Since the programme ended the main cast members have generally been professionally quiet.- Paul Whitehouse - has appeared in two successful sitcoms since the end of the show, voiced a character in the film Corpse Bride and appeared in the third Harry Potter film (although his role was cut).
- Charlie Higson - has since become a novelist, and whilst he no longer appears on television, remains enthusiastic about the show's success.
- Caroline Aherne - has remained very quiet. She quit the show after the third series, to move on to the Royle Family, she suffered with alcoholism in 2002 and will return to writing a new episode of the Royle Family for Christmas 2006 after an absence of 4 years.
- Arabella Weir - continues to appear on the show Grumpy Old Women, she has written two novels.
- Simon Day - appears in Powergen adverts as a decidedly Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior like character. He has also appeared in Fast Show spin-offs Grass featuring Billy Bleach, and Swiss Toni.
- John Thomson - continues to appear on British television, including major roles in Blackpool and Cold Feet. He stated in October 2005 that he longed for a Fast Show movie.
- Mark Williams - is associated with his role of Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films. He continues to act and write his own material.
The Future?
It is unlikely that there will be more Fast Show. However, the characters are so diverse and have depth and backstory that can be adapted that more spin-offs are possible. John Thomson is pehaps most enthusiastic of all the cast, he states that he wishes for a Fast Show movie (probably along similar lines of The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse).DVDs
Numerous Fast Show DVDs are available including :
- The Fast Show : Series 1 - includes cast interviews (Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Arabella Weir and Mark Williams)
- The Fast Show : Series 2
- The Fast Show : Series 3 and 1996 Christmas Special
- The Fast Show : The Last Fast Show Ever, Part One
You Ain't Seen These, Right!
This was the title of a one-off programme featuring various characters which were filmed but did not make it onto the final show. The most memorable were:
- An ensemble piece made by the whole male team, as members of a golf club, in which Paul Shearer was dating a beautiful young blonde woman. The rest of the team cannot help gawping over her, until Paul Whitehouse's character blurts out 'God, I'd love to come over your tits!'
- A chain-smoking car driver played by Mark Williams who rants about anything and everything through his wound-down window. A study of road rage. "Shoe shop?! Shoe Shop?!"
- A medieaval king played by Simon Day, who 'loves being king' because he gets to boss everyone about.
- A middle aged man, played by John Thompson, who always finds an excuse to leave the room as soon as the conversation gets round to 'women's things'
External links
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