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The League of Gentlemen is a troupe of British comedy performers, and the name of their stage, radio, and latterly television series. The show, which is a cross between a sitcom and sketch show, details the bizarre goings-on in a fictional Northern-English village, which in the radio series was called Spent, and on television Royston Vasey.
The stage show began in late 1994, and soon the team adopted their name from the Jack Hawkins movie, The League of Gentlemen and took the Perrier award for comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1997. The same year the radio series On the Town with The League of Gentlemen, debuted on BBC Radio 4, and won a Sony Award for the first series. In 1998 the show transferred to television and quickly acquired a cult following. There has been one six-episode series on radio and three on television. Along with The Fast Show the series is credited with the revival of the sketch show format in BBC Comedy and its influence can be seen on the later series Little Britain.
Filming takes place mainly on location in the north Derbyshire town of Hadfield and consequently has no live audience. A laugh track was added to the first two series, but this was dropped from the Christmas special and the third series, when shown in the UK. The programme is made in 16:9 widescreen, which means that some of the visual gags might be hard to spot in letterboxed 4:3 format.
Overview
The League of Gentlemen is a sketch show, but over the run of a series the sketches involving a certain set of characters form an overall story. In addition to this there is often overlap, with the events and characters of one story playing a part in another. There was also a Christmas special after the second series, which took a slightly different format of three self-contained stories, with three of the characters seeking the help of the vicar, Bernice, on Christmas Eve. The third series was different again focusing 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 sitcom (albeit one where all the episodes join up at the end) than a traditional sketch show.
The majority of the inhabitants of the village are played by Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, and Mark Gatiss, and the script was written by the three with Jeremy Dyson. It was directed by Steve Bendelack. The theme tune was composed by The Divine Comedy's Joby Talbot. The series has also garnered considerable critical acclaim, acquiring a BAFTA award, a Royal Television Society award and the Golden Rose of Montreux. In 2003, its creators were listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
The show has a lot of dark humour. Even the village sign is somewhat ominous, reading, in a similar style to many hundreds of such signs throughout the UK, "Welcome to Royston Vasey. You'll never leave." In real life, Royston Vasey is the given name of comedian Roy Chubby Brown; Brown makes several cameo appearances as the town's (characteristically) foulmouthed mayor.
The programme has particularly high production values, with numerous detailed sets and complex character makeup, and particular attention is lavished on lighting and cinematography. The series is filmed on high-definition video tape, and post-processed to give it a high-quality film grain effect. A number of outdoor scenes (particularly the varied outdoor shots of the village shop and the intricate opening pan over the village) rival a major motion picture in terms of cinematography.
Main characters
Edward and Tubbs Tattsyrup
Edward and Tubbs, played by Shearsmith and Pemberton respectively, are the proprietors of Royston Vasey's local shop, conveniently located on the top of a hill some distance away from the town. Both have distinctly piggy noses (the actors have their noses held up with tape).
Edward has a phobia about outsiders and is likely to challenge people with the question, "Are you local?" and dismiss those who reply "no" with, "This is a local shop, for local people; there's nothing for you here" – one of the show's best-known catchphrases.
Tubbs, though also scared of newcomers, dreams of visiting the "bright lights" of towns and cities, whose existence Edward has tried to keep from her. She tends to ask "Are you local?" with both hope and fear mixed in her voice, but is afraid that visitors may take her "precious things" from the shelves of the shop.
Edward and Tubbs have a son David who develops a bestial nature after his reunion with his parents at the end of Series 1 (he was, prior to that, a road manager responsible for building a road threatening to link Royston Vasey to the outside world throughout Series 1) and is kept locked up in the attic. During the second series they attempt to kidnap a wife for David, in the end the unwitting victim is Barbara (see below).
The couple are responsible for a large number of murders in the area.
Barbara
The transsexual Barbara is proprietor of the local taxi firm, Bab's Cabs, and likes to regale passengers with graphic descriptions of her upcoming operation. She has a deep voice and a necklace with her name on it which nestles in amongst her chest hair. We never see her face. At the end of Series 1 the operation is botched by substitute surgeon Mr. Chinnery (see below), with the result that in Series 2 Barbara can't tell what sex she is any more. To further confuse matters, Barbara is seen heavily pregnant in Series 3 (and gives birth to twins, both of whom resemble Tubbs and Edward).
Mr. Chinnery
A cheerful and disarming man, Mr. Chinnery is the accident-prone local veterinarian (not "Dr. Chinnery", as he is a veterinary surgeon). Most of the animals he treats end up dying, including a pregnant cow whose insides were mangled when he attempted to help the calf but put his hand up the wrong passage while a group of schoolchildren looked on, a sheepdog whom he mistakenly put to sleep while the owner was out of the room fetching the actual patient, and a tortoise he blasted out of its shell while attempting to give it oxygen.
In the Christmas special, Mr. Chinnery told Bernice the story of how his great-grandfather, the foremost vet of his time, was cursed to have any animal he touched "meet a dreadful end" and that his descendants would carry the curse after him. Bernice reassured him that there was no such thing as curses.
Many of Chinnery's disasters, including the cow and dog incidents, are parodies of scenes from the BBC's All Creatures Great and Small. Mark Gatiss' performance is reminiscent of Peter Davison, who played Tristan Farnon on that program. (Gatiss is also a famous fan of Doctor Who, where Davison played the title character for three years.)
Pauline, Mickey and Ross
Pauline is a "restart officer", leading mandatory (and exceedingly condescending) "restart courses" which the chronically unemployed are compelled to attend. Pauline cannot conceal her contempt for the "dole scum" who attend her course at Royston Vasey's Jobcentre, and her humiliation at joining their sorry ranks is too much for her to bear. Pauline has an obsession with pens. Mickey and Ross are two of the people taking the restart course. Mickey, a simpleton, wants to be a fireman.
Geoff, Mike and Brian
Geoff, Mike, and Brian all work at the local plastics injection-moulding company. The three getting together always results in Geoff in a fit of rage. Enroute to an away day training session they become lost in the woods and turn to barabarism in a parody of The Lord of the Flies.
Additional characters
- Rev. Bernice Woodall
- The Dentons, obsessed with cleanliness and toads
- Herr Lipp, a German tour-guide with "unusual tastes", and his unwitting amour Justin
- Papa Lazarou, blackfaced proprietor of a travelling circus and freakshow, with a frighteningly acquisitive nature ("You're my wife now Dave!")
- Legz Akimbo (Oliver Plimsoles, Dave Parkes, Phil Proctor), a particularly earnest travelling theatre troupe
- Judee and her cleaning lady Iris, both with troubled private lives, a microcosm of the class struggle
- Charlie and Stella
- Henry and Ally
- Pop (the world's worst father and its seediest landlord) and his cringing sons Richie and Al
- Christopher Frost, store detective
- Charity Shop Workers
- Ken Sweeny, blind photographer
- Les McQueen, former rhythm guitar player for 70s glam rock band Creme Brulée, now working in the hospital laundry
- Lance (Joke Shop)
- Little Don (played by Don Estelle), who runs a zoo on a town roundabout
- Kenny Harris (Dog Cinema)
- Alvin & Sunny Steele (run Windemere Guest House)
- Mayor Larry Vaughn
- Stump Hole Caverns guide
- Farmer Jed Tinsell
- Hilary Briss (butcher), whose wares include the secret "special stuff", possibly implicated in a frightening haemoragic epidemic
Reference
External links
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