Attention Scum! was a short lived television comedy series directed by Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...

. It starred Simon Munnery

Simon Munnery

Simon Munnery, also known by his stagenames of Alan Parker: Urban Warrior and The League Against Tedium, is an English comedy writer and experimental standup comedian...

 as his League Against Tedium character and contained acerbic stand-up

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 routines atop of a transit van and sketches including mainstays such as "24 Hour News" (performed by Johnny Vegas

Johnny Vegas

Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...

), operatic intermissions by Kombat opera and a two characters engaged in a duel over their hats.

Broadcast

Originally shown in February on BBC 2 at 11:45pm on Sundays, the program was not repeated on the BBC and only played on the now-defunct network UK Play. In 2001, it was nominated for a Golden Rose of Montreux although the BBC had already declined to fund a second season.

There has not been an official DVD release.

History

The origin of the series lies in a 1994 cabaret act, Cluub Zarathustra, co-founded by Munnery and Lee, and performed at the Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh Festival

The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...

. Cluub Zarathustra was nominated for a Perrier Award in 1999. A never transmitted (or commissioned) TV pilot of Cluub Zarathustra for Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

was filmed in 1996.

External links

Comedy Guide

• Guardian review and interview
• League Against Tedium - semi-official site