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The League of Gentlemen (comedy)
Encyclopedia
The League of Gentlemen are a quartet of British dark comedy
writers/performers, formed in 1995 by Jeremy Dyson
, Mark Gatiss
, Steve Pemberton
and Reece Shearsmith
. The television programme for which they are best known, although officially labelled a sitcom, was initially more sketch-based, linked together by their common setting: the fictional village
of Royston Vasey
, set somewhere in the north of England
. The show contains elements of horror
. The first series aired on BBC Two
in 1999, and follows the lives of dozens of the town's bizarre inhabitants, played by Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith in a number of different guises and make-up. The television series was filmed mainly in Hadfield
, but also features Glossop
, Marsden
, Mottram
, Hope Valley
(Derbyshire), and Todmorden
.
The series ended in 2002 although a movie version of the show was released in 2005. Rumours have circulated since 2007 that the show would return for a full length series or special but nothing has ever been confirmed nor denied. However, Shearsmith and Pemberton did reunite in 2009 to create a similarly-dark BBC sitcom, Psychoville
.
movie, The League of Gentlemen
. In 1997 they were awarded the Perrier award for comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and their radio series
On the Town with The League of Gentlemen, debuted on BBC Radio 4
. On the Town was set in the fictional town of Spent. They won a Sony Award
for this six-episode run. In 1999 the show moved to television
and quickly acquired a cult following
. A total of three series have been produced, the first airing in 1999, the second in 2000 and the third in 2002. A Christmas Special was broadcast in December 2000, after the airing of the second series. Along with The Fast Show
, the series is credited with the revival of the sketch show format in BBC comedy. Its influence can be seen on later series, particularly Little Britain
(the first series of which was directed by Steve Bendelack
, and script-edited by Gatiss).
Filming took place mainly on location in the north Derbyshire
town of Hadfield
and consequently had no live audience. A laugh track
was added to the first and second series, by inviting a studio audience to watch a playback of the completed episodes as well as the filming of certain interior scenes, such as the Dentons'. The laughter track was dropped from the Christmas Special and Series 3 when shown in the UK
.
The group took the show on tour for the first time in 2001, using a mixture of old and new material. In early 2005 a special one-off sketch was broadcast on the BBC for Comic Aid, a charity benefit for the tsunami disaster
. In this, two of the most popular characters, Tubbs and Papa Lazarou
, kidnapped Miranda Richardson
. A feature-length film, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
, was released on 3 June 2005. Later in the same year, the League toured the UK with their new pantomime-themed show, The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You
, which ran from October to mid-December.
The BBC has expressed interest in a fourth series, though the Radio Times
has claimed that there is little chance of this. Shearsmith is more positive about the idea on the unofficial website, though he adds that any new series will not be set in Royston Vasey, as the group believes the village has exhausted its comedy potential. In any case, they have said that their decision would depend on critical reaction to the film and their second tour. It is unclear whether a fourth series would continue the style of the third series or return to the sketch-show format of the first two.
In September 2006, the unofficial website reported that The League of Gentlemen were to 'reunite' at the beginning of 2007, most likely to plan for the fourth series. Shearsmith and Pemberton appeared on The Russell Brand Show
on December 22, 2006. When asked "Will there be any more of The League of Gentlemen?", Shearsmith simply replied "Yes", but was quick to change the subject and not reveal anything about a new series. On the official website, Shearsmith's blog
entry for May 23, 2007 stated that the entire troupe had recently met up in London's West End
: "We discussed our next project - it seems we have hit upon something. Early days - but exciting nevertheless."
In May 2008, Shearsmith confirmed that although he and Steve would be making Psychoville
(broadcast in 2009) without the other members of the league, the League would re-unite in the future. Despite this claim, Gatiss appears in the show as an actor who is murdered by the characters played by Pemberton and Shearsmith.
In 2010, a one off radio show, The League of Gentlemen's Ghost Chase, was broadcast on 28 October for Halloween. Unlike other shows, this was not a scripted dark comedy but a documentary of the members spending a night at The Ancient Ram Inn
, reputedly the most haunted hotel in the country.
, Bernice, on Christmas Eve
.
Nearly all of the characters live in Royston Vasey. Tubbs and Edward Tattsyrup run the local shop, despite the fact it is far away from the actual centre of the town. However, they believe themselves to be local and will protect their localness by any means. Deeper inside Royston Vasey, there is Pauline Campbell-Jones, a Restart
officer at the local Job Centre who hates the "Dole
Scum" she has to work with. Then there is Barbara Dixon, a transsexual taxi driver who goes into great detail about her process of sexual conversion. Alongside them is Mr Matthew Chinnery, a vet who suffers from a curse which results in any animal he comes into contact with dying a violent death; the Rev. Bernice Woodall, the local priest who does not believe in God and spends her time berating her parishioners; and Hilary Briss, "The Demon Butcher of Royston Vasey" known for serving his "Special stuff" to a select few customers.
Elsewhere, there is Charlie and Stella Hull, whose marriage is falling apart. There is also Judee Levinson and her cleaning lady Iris Krell, who are in a constant mind-battle. Levinson has a grand lifestyle, while Iris has a grand sex life. Then there is Geoff Tipps, who works in the local plastics company. Geoff likes comedy, but is hopeless at joke-telling. His relationship with his workmates Mike Harris and Brian Morgan is shaky, with Brian having a relationship with Geoff's wife, and Geoff often threatening people with a gun under pressure.
Royston Vasey has its share of visitors. Benjamin Denton comes to the town on a hiking trip, but his friend is killed by Tubbs and Edward. He is forced to stay with his toad-loving Uncle Harvey and Auntie Val, whose house is managed in an insanely ordered manner, with them being paranoid about germs and masturbation. There is also "Legz Akimbo" theatre company, who perform plays for the area, and whose manager Ollie Plimsoles is often shown to be unsuitable for acting. From abroad, there is Herr Lipp, a homosexual German exchange teacher who has a disturbing and monstrous side. The most evil of all the visitors is Papa Lazarou, a circus ringmaster with a blackface
, who calls everybody "Dave" and steals wives.
It is widely believed that a lot of the characters and indeed the town are based on Pemberton's home town of Chorley
, with Royston Vasey based on Adlington
, a village within Chorley Borough. The character of Herr Lipp is believed to be based on a hospital chaplain Steve Pemberton encountered after suffering a heart attack in Germany and Pauline is primarily based on a restart officer of Reece Shearsmith's. Similarly, Ollie Plimsolls is based on a community theatre actor that Shearsmith had worked with. In the DVD commentary
on the second series, Pemberton and Shearsmith state that Papa Lazarou's speech patterns are based on their former landlord, who would phone their flat and insist on speaking only to Steve. Gatiss has said in interview that the local shop was inspired by a shop in the village of Rottingdean
and that he was influenced growing up around the former Winterton Hospital
asylum near Sedgefield
.
The majority of the inhabitants of the village — male and female — are played by Reece Shearsmith
, Steve Pemberton
, and Mark Gatiss
, and the script was written by these three, along with Jeremy Dyson
. Dyson, not an actor like the others, appears only in cameo
roles. As there are usually only three actors on screen at any one time, the different characters mostly play out their own stories in several serialised sketches, rarely crossing into each others' storylines. Only rarely do actors "meet themselves". Exceptions include Papa Lazarou facing the Reverend Bernice in the Christmas Special (both Reece Shearsmith), Les McQueen buying a magazine from Pop's son (both Mark Gatiss), and Alvin Steele buying food from Iris at a supermarket checkout in Series 2 (again, both Mark Gatiss). The idea is taken further in the The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
, when the characters meet the actors (especially when Herr Lipp meets his creator, Steve Pemberton). In the live shows, when Pam Doove was auditioning for a part in the Christmas Nativity Play, directed by Olly Plimsolls, Pam had to audition in front of Olly's Legz Akimbo colleague Dave (Pemberton), who said that Olly couldn't make it "for obvious reasons" (Shearsmith plays both Pam and Olly in the television series).
and Papa Lazarou
came from a former landlord Pemberton and Shearsmith had. The village sign reads, "Welcome to Royston Vasey. You'll never leave!" In real life, Royston Vasey is the given name of comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown
, who makes several appearances as the town's foulmouthed mayor.
award, a Royal Television Society
award and the Golden Rose of Montreux
. In 2003, its creators were listed in The Observer
as among the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2004 The Radio Times
listed Papa Lazarou
as the 8th funniest comedy sketch of all time.
The series was cited as an inspiration for the later Canadian
series Death Comes to Town
, a reunion project for the Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall
.
British dark comedy
British dark comedy refers to a comedy containing gloomy or disturbing elements, produced in Britain. One of the most successful British dark comedies is the League of Gentleman, coming in at number 41 in the BBC Britain's Best Sitcom.-2000s:...
writers/performers, formed in 1995 by Jeremy Dyson
Jeremy Dyson
Jeremy Dyson is an English screenwriter and, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, a participant in The League of Gentlemen.-Early life:...
, Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
, Steve Pemberton
Steve Pemberton
Steve James Pemberton is an English actor, comedian, writer and performer, most famous as a member of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
and Reece Shearsmith
Reece Shearsmith
Reeson "Reece" Shearsmith is an English actor and writer. He is most famous for his work as part of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
. The television programme for which they are best known, although officially labelled a sitcom, was initially more sketch-based, linked together by their common setting: the fictional village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Royston Vasey
Royston Vasey
Royston Vasey is a small fictional town in the north of England, and the setting of the BBC television comedy series The League of Gentlemen. It has made famous the comedic phrase "a Local Shop for Local People". Royston Vasey is the real name of british stand-up comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown, who...
, set somewhere in the north of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The show contains elements of horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
. The first series aired on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
in 1999, and follows the lives of dozens of the town's bizarre inhabitants, played by Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith in a number of different guises and make-up. The television series was filmed mainly in Hadfield
Hadfield, Derbyshire
Hadfield is a parish and small residential town in High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It lies very close to the River Etherow which forms the border between Derbyshire and Greater Manchester...
, but also features Glossop
Glossop
Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...
, Marsden
Marsden, West Yorkshire
Marsden is a large village within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, west of Huddersfield and located at the confluence of the River Colne and the Wessenden Brook...
, Mottram
Mottram
Mottram may refer to:* People:** Craig Mottram, an Australian distance runner** Don Mottram, an English flavour chemist** Ralph Hale Mottram, an English writer** Richard Mottram, a senior UK civil servant** Eric Mottram, an English poet...
, Hope Valley
Hope Valley
Hope Valley could refer to:*The Hope Valley, Derbyshire*The Hope Valley, Shropshire*Hope Valley, Rhode Island, a village*Hope Valley, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth*Hope Valley, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide...
(Derbyshire), and Todmorden
Todmorden
Todmorden is a market town and civil parish, located 17 miles from Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley and has a total population of 14,941....
.
The series ended in 2002 although a movie version of the show was released in 2005. Rumours have circulated since 2007 that the show would return for a full length series or special but nothing has ever been confirmed nor denied. However, Shearsmith and Pemberton did reunite in 2009 to create a similarly-dark BBC sitcom, Psychoville
Psychoville
Psychoville is an award-winning British dark comedy television serial written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009. Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French and Jason Tompkins in...
.
History
The stage show began in late 1994, and it was not long before the team took as their name the title of a Jack HawkinsJack Hawkins
Colonel John Edward "Jack" Hawkins CBE was an English actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman. The youngest of four children in a close-knit family,...
movie, The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen (film)
The League of Gentlemen is a 1960 British crime film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick and Richard Attenborough. It was based on the 1958 novel by John Boland and adapted by Bryan Forbes, who also starred in the film...
. In 1997 they were awarded the Perrier award for comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and their radio series
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
On the Town with The League of Gentlemen, debuted on BBC Radio 4
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...
. On the Town was set in the fictional town of Spent. They won a Sony Award
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...
for this six-episode run. In 1999 the show moved to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and quickly acquired a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
. A total of three series have been produced, the first airing in 1999, the second in 2000 and the third in 2002. A Christmas Special was broadcast in December 2000, after the airing of the second series. Along with The Fast Show
The Fast Show
The Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and...
, the series is credited with the revival of the sketch show format in BBC comedy. Its influence can be seen on later series, particularly Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
(the first series of which was directed by Steve Bendelack
Steve Bendelack
Steve Bendelack is a British film and television director, who has worked primarily on a range of highly-acclaimed comedy programmes.Originally an assistant to Peter Fluck and Roger Law on satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image, Bendelack went on to direct the show in later years...
, and script-edited by Gatiss).
Filming took place mainly on location in the north Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
town of Hadfield
Hadfield, Derbyshire
Hadfield is a parish and small residential town in High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It lies very close to the River Etherow which forms the border between Derbyshire and Greater Manchester...
and consequently had no live audience. A laugh track
Laugh track
A laugh track is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television programming of comedy shows and sitcoms.The term "laugh track" does not apply to the genuine audience laughter on shows that shoot in...
was added to the first and second series, by inviting a studio audience to watch a playback of the completed episodes as well as the filming of certain interior scenes, such as the Dentons'. The laughter track was dropped from the Christmas Special and Series 3 when shown in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The group took the show on tour for the first time in 2001, using a mixture of old and new material. In early 2005 a special one-off sketch was broadcast on the BBC for Comic Aid, a charity benefit for the tsunami disaster
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
. In this, two of the most popular characters, Tubbs and Papa Lazarou
Papa Lazarou
Papa Lazarou is a fictional character in the BBC TV comedy programme The League of Gentlemen.He appeared in two episodes, a Christmas special, and the film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. The character is part written by and played by Reece Shearsmith.Papa Lazarou has been listed as both the...
, kidnapped Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
. A feature-length film, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a feature film spin-off of the popular British television comedy series The League of Gentlemen. Starring Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the film was written by the cast with Jeremy Dyson, and directed by Steve Bendelack...
, was released on 3 June 2005. Later in the same year, the League toured the UK with their new pantomime-themed show, The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You
The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You
The League Of Gentlemen Are Behind You is a pantomime themed stage show by The League of Gentlemen. It was their second major UK tour and premiered in 2006. The show was a departure from the Gents' trademark dark humour, thanks to the whimsical pantomime nature of it...
, which ran from October to mid-December.
The BBC has expressed interest in a fourth series, though the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
has claimed that there is little chance of this. Shearsmith is more positive about the idea on the unofficial website, though he adds that any new series will not be set in Royston Vasey, as the group believes the village has exhausted its comedy potential. In any case, they have said that their decision would depend on critical reaction to the film and their second tour. It is unclear whether a fourth series would continue the style of the third series or return to the sketch-show format of the first two.
In September 2006, the unofficial website reported that The League of Gentlemen were to 'reunite' at the beginning of 2007, most likely to plan for the fourth series. Shearsmith and Pemberton appeared on The Russell Brand Show
The Russell Brand Show
The Russell Brand Show is the name of several works:* The Russell Brand Show , a radio show and podcast* The Russell Brand Show , a television show...
on December 22, 2006. When asked "Will there be any more of The League of Gentlemen?", Shearsmith simply replied "Yes", but was quick to change the subject and not reveal anything about a new series. On the official website, Shearsmith's blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
entry for May 23, 2007 stated that the entire troupe had recently met up in London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
: "We discussed our next project - it seems we have hit upon something. Early days - but exciting nevertheless."
In May 2008, Shearsmith confirmed that although he and Steve would be making Psychoville
Psychoville
Psychoville is an award-winning British dark comedy television serial written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009. Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French and Jason Tompkins in...
(broadcast in 2009) without the other members of the league, the League would re-unite in the future. Despite this claim, Gatiss appears in the show as an actor who is murdered by the characters played by Pemberton and Shearsmith.
In 2010, a one off radio show, The League of Gentlemen's Ghost Chase, was broadcast on 28 October for Halloween. Unlike other shows, this was not a scripted dark comedy but a documentary of the members spending a night at The Ancient Ram Inn
The Ancient Ram Inn
The Ancient Ram Inn is a Grade II* listed building and a former pub located in Wotton-under-Edge, a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. It is believed to be one of the most haunted hotels in the country. This famous inn is owned by and the home to John Humphries. It...
, reputedly the most haunted hotel in the country.
Radio Series (1997)
In the radio series, the plot involved outsider Benjamin Denton visiting his aunt and uncle in Spent to be interviewed for a job at the local power plant. Not surprisingly, he missed the interview and was forced to stay longer than expected.Series 1 (1999)
In the first television series, a sketch show, the main plot involves a new road being built through Royston Vasey, raising the possibility of great numbers of strangers visiting the town. The road development ends when Tubbs and Edward discover that the construction manager is their long lost son, David, and convince him to end construction and live "locally".Series 2 (2000)
The second series, also a sketch show, sees a deadly epidemic of nosebleeds grip the town's inhabitants, killing many. The plot is resolved after some confusion over the cause of the nosebleeds, involving butcher Hilary Briss' "special stuff", Benjamin Denton's escape from his relatives, and the murders in the Local Shop.Series 3 (2002)
The third and final series focused on a different character each week but with the overlaps creating a more complex layering of the plot, more akin to a one-off episode of a situation comedy (albeit with intertwined plots) than a traditional sketch show. The end of each episode features a white van swerving to avoid a pedestrian and crashing into a garden wall. Some residents escape unharmed, while others are not so lucky. A red plastic bag is seen being blown by the wind through the town in every episode, indicating that all the stories occur simultaneously. This is the only series that does not include a laughter track.Specials
The Christmas Special took the slightly different format of three self-contained stories, with three of the characters seeking the help of the vicarVicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
, Bernice, on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
.
Characters
The League of Gentlemen have played in total nearly a hundred characters, many created in the early stage shows, others during the span of the television series and some specially for the team's film.Nearly all of the characters live in Royston Vasey. Tubbs and Edward Tattsyrup run the local shop, despite the fact it is far away from the actual centre of the town. However, they believe themselves to be local and will protect their localness by any means. Deeper inside Royston Vasey, there is Pauline Campbell-Jones, a Restart
Restart (training course)
Restart was a programme in the United Kingdom for people who were long-term unemployed. The aim was to encourage them to find work. It was run by Jobcentres....
officer at the local Job Centre who hates the "Dole
Jobseeker's Allowance
Jobseeker's Allowance is a United Kingdom benefit, colloquially known as the dole . It is a form of unemployment benefit paid by the government to people who are unemployed and seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and is intended to cover living expenses while the...
Scum" she has to work with. Then there is Barbara Dixon, a transsexual taxi driver who goes into great detail about her process of sexual conversion. Alongside them is Mr Matthew Chinnery, a vet who suffers from a curse which results in any animal he comes into contact with dying a violent death; the Rev. Bernice Woodall, the local priest who does not believe in God and spends her time berating her parishioners; and Hilary Briss, "The Demon Butcher of Royston Vasey" known for serving his "Special stuff" to a select few customers.
Elsewhere, there is Charlie and Stella Hull, whose marriage is falling apart. There is also Judee Levinson and her cleaning lady Iris Krell, who are in a constant mind-battle. Levinson has a grand lifestyle, while Iris has a grand sex life. Then there is Geoff Tipps, who works in the local plastics company. Geoff likes comedy, but is hopeless at joke-telling. His relationship with his workmates Mike Harris and Brian Morgan is shaky, with Brian having a relationship with Geoff's wife, and Geoff often threatening people with a gun under pressure.
Royston Vasey has its share of visitors. Benjamin Denton comes to the town on a hiking trip, but his friend is killed by Tubbs and Edward. He is forced to stay with his toad-loving Uncle Harvey and Auntie Val, whose house is managed in an insanely ordered manner, with them being paranoid about germs and masturbation. There is also "Legz Akimbo" theatre company, who perform plays for the area, and whose manager Ollie Plimsoles is often shown to be unsuitable for acting. From abroad, there is Herr Lipp, a homosexual German exchange teacher who has a disturbing and monstrous side. The most evil of all the visitors is Papa Lazarou, a circus ringmaster with a blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
, who calls everybody "Dave" and steals wives.
It is widely believed that a lot of the characters and indeed the town are based on Pemberton's home town of Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
, with Royston Vasey based on Adlington
Adlington, Lancashire
Adlington is a town and civil parish in Lancashire, England, near the West Pennine Moors and the town of Chorley. Six miles northwest of Bolton, it became a separate parish in 1842 then grew into a town around the textile industry. It has a population of 5,270.-Toponymy:The last element 'ington'...
, a village within Chorley Borough. The character of Herr Lipp is believed to be based on a hospital chaplain Steve Pemberton encountered after suffering a heart attack in Germany and Pauline is primarily based on a restart officer of Reece Shearsmith's. Similarly, Ollie Plimsolls is based on a community theatre actor that Shearsmith had worked with. In the DVD commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
on the second series, Pemberton and Shearsmith state that Papa Lazarou's speech patterns are based on their former landlord, who would phone their flat and insist on speaking only to Steve. Gatiss has said in interview that the local shop was inspired by a shop in the village of Rottingdean
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a coastal village next to the town of Brighton and technically within the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, on the south coast of England...
and that he was influenced growing up around the former Winterton Hospital
Winterton Hospital
Winterton Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in County Durham, England and was one of the biggest in Europe.-History:A site for the Durham County Asylum was purchased in 1855 on land between the villages of Fishburn and Sedgefield. The hospital was to be designed by the architect John Howison, the...
asylum near Sedgefield
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a small town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It has a population of 4,534.Sedgefield has attracted particular attention as the Member of Parliament for the wider Sedgefield constituency was the former Prime Minister Tony Blair; he was the area's MP from 1983 to 2008,...
.
The majority of the inhabitants of the village — male and female — are played by Reece Shearsmith
Reece Shearsmith
Reeson "Reece" Shearsmith is an English actor and writer. He is most famous for his work as part of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
, Steve Pemberton
Steve Pemberton
Steve James Pemberton is an English actor, comedian, writer and performer, most famous as a member of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
, and Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
, and the script was written by these three, along with Jeremy Dyson
Jeremy Dyson
Jeremy Dyson is an English screenwriter and, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, a participant in The League of Gentlemen.-Early life:...
. Dyson, not an actor like the others, appears only in cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
roles. As there are usually only three actors on screen at any one time, the different characters mostly play out their own stories in several serialised sketches, rarely crossing into each others' storylines. Only rarely do actors "meet themselves". Exceptions include Papa Lazarou facing the Reverend Bernice in the Christmas Special (both Reece Shearsmith), Les McQueen buying a magazine from Pop's son (both Mark Gatiss), and Alvin Steele buying food from Iris at a supermarket checkout in Series 2 (again, both Mark Gatiss). The idea is taken further in the The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a feature film spin-off of the popular British television comedy series The League of Gentlemen. Starring Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the film was written by the cast with Jeremy Dyson, and directed by Steve Bendelack...
, when the characters meet the actors (especially when Herr Lipp meets his creator, Steve Pemberton). In the live shows, when Pam Doove was auditioning for a part in the Christmas Nativity Play, directed by Olly Plimsolls, Pam had to audition in front of Olly's Legz Akimbo colleague Dave (Pemberton), who said that Olly couldn't make it "for obvious reasons" (Shearsmith plays both Pam and Olly in the television series).
Atmosphere
The show contains dark humour, with many of the scenes inspired by horror films (the policeman who visits Tubbs and Edward in the first series is a reference to The Wicker Man), documentaries (Dr. Carlton came from a programme called Change of Sex which featured a "monstrously unsympathetic" doctor) and personal experience - Legz Akimbo came from the writers' experiences in amateur theatre; Pauline Campbell-Jones came from Reece Shearsmith's own Restart officerNew Deal (UK)
The New Deal is a programme of active labour market policies introduced in the United Kingdom by the Labour government in 1998, initially funded by a one off £5bn windfall tax on privatised utility companies. The stated purpose is to reduce unemployment by providing training, subsidised employment...
and Papa Lazarou
Papa Lazarou
Papa Lazarou is a fictional character in the BBC TV comedy programme The League of Gentlemen.He appeared in two episodes, a Christmas special, and the film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. The character is part written by and played by Reece Shearsmith.Papa Lazarou has been listed as both the...
came from a former landlord Pemberton and Shearsmith had. The village sign reads, "Welcome to Royston Vasey. You'll never leave!" In real life, Royston Vasey is the given name of comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown
Roy 'Chubby' Brown
Roy "Chubby" Brown is an English stand-up comedian, notorious for his decidedly blue humour. The controversial nature of his act means that he rarely appears on major television channels, and Brown has attracted accusations that his comedy style is outdated whilst also being described as "The most...
, who makes several appearances as the town's foulmouthed mayor.
Reaction
The series has garnered considerable critical acclaim, as well as a BAFTABritish Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
award, a Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
award and the Golden Rose of Montreux
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
. In 2003, its creators were listed in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as among the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2004 The Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
listed Papa Lazarou
Papa Lazarou
Papa Lazarou is a fictional character in the BBC TV comedy programme The League of Gentlemen.He appeared in two episodes, a Christmas special, and the film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. The character is part written by and played by Reece Shearsmith.Papa Lazarou has been listed as both the...
as the 8th funniest comedy sketch of all time.
The series was cited as an inspiration for the later Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
series Death Comes to Town
Death Comes to Town
Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town is an eight-episode Canadian mini-series that aired on CBC Television on Tuesdays between January 12 and March 16, 2010. The show takes place in a fictional Ontario town called Shuckton where their mayor has been murdered...
, a reunion project for the Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States...
.
Books
- A Local Book for Local PeopleA Local Book for Local PeopleA Local Book For Local People is a book by the British comedy team The League of Gentlemen. It is similar to comedy books by Monty Python and The Goodies in that it is a collection of loose material collected in a scrap book format...
(2000) London: 4th Estate, ISBN 1-84115-346-X - The League of Gentlemen: Scripts and That (2003) London: BBC Worldwide, ISBN 0-563-48775-5
- The League of Gentlemen's Book of Precious Things (2007) London: Prion, ISBN 1-853-75621-0
External links
- www.leagueofgentlemen.co.uk
- The League of Gentlemen Website!
- Lunacynet.com - character index
- derbyshire|Hadfield, Glossop, Derbyshire, England, SK13 1 Link to map of Hadfield, where most of the series was filmed.