The Cabaret of Dr Caligari
Encyclopedia
The Cabaret of Dr Caligari was a BBC Radio 4
comedy
series first broadcast in November and December 1991. It was written by Alan Gilbey, and produced by Anne Edyvean.
Starring John Woodvine
as Dr. Bryon Caligari
, Victoria Wicks
as Anthrax and Sylvester McCoy
as Snuff, The Cabaret of Dr Caligari is a macabre comedy about the goings on at a night club owned by Dr Caligari. The episodes centre around the unpleasant actions of an individual (usually a character strongly associated with the 1980s), who finds themselves in Dr Caligari's nightclub, catching up with them in a suitably ironic way.
The title of the series is a reference to the 1919 German Expressionist
film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This has caused confusion for some listings sites, and some radio presenters have stumbled when introducing it. A previous use of "The Cabaret of Dr Caligari" was in The Sandman #17, Calliope, 1989, in which it is a comic book.
It was originally created as a late night live show created for the London Bubble Theatre Company
featuring early career performances by Sharron D Clarke, Lisa Spenz and Lynn Whitehead.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series first broadcast in November and December 1991. It was written by Alan Gilbey, and produced by Anne Edyvean.
Starring John Woodvine
John Woodvine
John Woodvine is an English stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.-Early life:...
as Dr. Bryon Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
, Victoria Wicks
Victoria Wicks
Victoria Wicks is a British actress best known for her television work playing Sally Smedley in Drop the Dead Donkey, Mrs Gideon in The Mighty Boosh, Harriet Lawes, the Head of Roundview College in Skins, and for her work with Howard Barker's theatre company, The Wrestling School...
as Anthrax and Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
as Snuff, The Cabaret of Dr Caligari is a macabre comedy about the goings on at a night club owned by Dr Caligari. The episodes centre around the unpleasant actions of an individual (usually a character strongly associated with the 1980s), who finds themselves in Dr Caligari's nightclub, catching up with them in a suitably ironic way.
The title of the series is a reference to the 1919 German Expressionist
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This has caused confusion for some listings sites, and some radio presenters have stumbled when introducing it. A previous use of "The Cabaret of Dr Caligari" was in The Sandman #17, Calliope, 1989, in which it is a comic book.
It was originally created as a late night live show created for the London Bubble Theatre Company
London Bubble Theatre Company
The London Bubble Theatre Company was founded in 1972. The company has a vision that "every Londoner has access to creating, participating in, and enjoying theatre - to communicate, connect and inspire"...
featuring early career performances by Sharron D Clarke, Lisa Spenz and Lynn Whitehead.
Episodes
- A Word in your Ear - a DJ is plagued by calls from those he has wronged until he cannot bear to go on listening...
It featured Kerry ShaleKerry ShaleKerry Shale is a UK-based actor, writer and voice-over artist. He is married to Suzanne Shale, a former Oxford University law don, now a specialist in the field of medical ethics.-Theatre:...
as DJ Rick O'Shea, Jane Whittenshaw as Tracey, Adjoa AndohAdjoa AndohAdjoa Andoh is a British film, television, stage and radio actress of Ghanaian descent. Andoh is known on the UK stage for lead roles at the RSC, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre, and is a familiar face on British television Adjoa Andoh (born 1962) is a British...
as Donna, Mark Straker as Keith and Clarence Smith as Sparks. - Comedian's Moon - an alternative comic, after an encounter with one of his former comedy heroes finds himself turning into something hideous...
It featured Stephen TompkinsonStephen TompkinsonStephen Tompkinson is a British actor. He is best known for his work in comedy and drama productions such as Drop the Dead Donkey, Ballykissangel, Grafters, In Deep, Wild at Heart and DCI Banks....
as Kevin Scorch, Adjoa AndohAdjoa AndohAdjoa Andoh is a British film, television, stage and radio actress of Ghanaian descent. Andoh is known on the UK stage for lead roles at the RSC, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre, and is a familiar face on British television Adjoa Andoh (born 1962) is a British...
as Ali, Ronald Herdman as Bernie CladdingBernard ManningBernard John Manning was an English comedian and nightclub owner. He was born and raised in Manchester in northwest England....
and Alan Barker as Sidney Grease. The jokes for this episode were written by Lee HurstLee HurstLee Hurst is an English stand-up comedian. He is perhaps best known as a panellist on the comedy sports quiz They Think It's All Over, where he was a regular from 1995 to 1998.In 1999, Hurst was voted no...
. - The Conversion - a yuppie, after cashing in on the publicity surrounding the strange project of "de-gentrification" her retired trade union leader father is undertaking, tries to have him sectioned only to be caught up in his dream...
It featured Joanna May as Debbie Brothers, Roger Watkins as "Flash" Jack BrothersVic FeatherVictor Grayson Hardie Feather, Baron Feather was General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress in Great Britain from 1969 to 1973....
, Terence EdmondTerence EdmondTerence Edmond was an English actor, who played PC Ian Sweet in 78 episodes of Z-Cars between 1962 and 1964....
as Tom, Eric Allan as Dick, Ronald Herdman as Tarquin, Clarence Smith as Wayne, Alan Barker as Jeremy and Adjoa AndohAdjoa AndohAdjoa Andoh is a British film, television, stage and radio actress of Ghanaian descent. Andoh is known on the UK stage for lead roles at the RSC, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre, and is a familiar face on British television Adjoa Andoh (born 1962) is a British...
as the Estate Agent. - Teenage Psycho Chainsaw Bimbos - a video store owner and obsessive fan of horror films (of the second-rate slasher variety) finds himself trapped in a fantasy world of his own creation...
It featured Stephen TompkinsonStephen TompkinsonStephen Tompkinson is a British actor. He is best known for his work in comedy and drama productions such as Drop the Dead Donkey, Ballykissangel, Grafters, In Deep, Wild at Heart and DCI Banks....
as Tope Romero, Cassie Macfarlane as Carrie, Jane Whittenshaw as Gail, Clarence Smith as the postman and Alan Barker as Damien. - The Homeless Who Ate London - a freak chemical spill turns the homeless of London into a giant blob. And the person responsible is a little surprising...
It featured Jane Whittenshaw as the Computer, Charles Milham as the General, Alex Barker as Agent OrangeAgent OrangeAgent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
, Gerald Denny as a Homeless Geordie, David McKinney as a Homeless Boy, Richard Tate as Professor PseudonymBernard QuatermassProfessor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading up the British Experimental Rocket Group...
, Ronald Herdman as the Driver, Sharon Henry as the Hitchhiker, and Cassie Macfarlane as Kate Pushy. - The Body Politic - an M.P. is introduced to the consequences of eroding the NHSNational Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
...
It featured John ShrapnelJohn ShrapnelJohn Shrapnel is an English actor.Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel....
as Mr. Meagre, Adjoa AndohAdjoa AndohAdjoa Andoh is a British film, television, stage and radio actress of Ghanaian descent. Andoh is known on the UK stage for lead roles at the RSC, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre, and is a familiar face on British television Adjoa Andoh (born 1962) is a British...
as Mrs. Meagre, Cassie Macfarlane as the Past, Clarence Smith as the Present and Alan Barker as the Future.