By the end of the '90's, British comedy had undergone a serious change, conventional sitcoms suddenly started to phase out in favour of more dark humour. Perhaps the darkest of the dark was 'The League Of Gentlemen'. It all took place in a fictional little town named Royston Vasey ( which is in fact the real name of controversial stand-up comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown who appeared occasionally in the show as the town's foul mouthed mayor ). Royston Vasey is a strange place peopled by strange and grotesque people. A sign at the entrance of the town reads, ''Welcome To Royston Vasey, You'll Never Leave'', which is true if your first port of call is to the 'Local Shop', which is run by the grotesque Tubbs and Edward who don't take kindly to non-local people.
Other inhabitants of the eerie town are toad-obsessed Harvey and Val Denton and their put-upon nephew Benjamin, has-been rhythm guitarist Les McQueen, foul mouthed restart officer Pauline, even more foul mouthed vicar Bernice Woodall, overwrought workmen Brian, Geoff and Mike, cannibalistic butcher Hilary Briss, cack-handed vet Dr. Chinnery ( whose careless handling of his patients is usually very gruesome ) among several but perhaps the strangest of them all ( yes, even stranger than Tubbs and Edward ) is Papa Lazarou, a raspy voiced circus master who kidnaps women whilst whispering to them: ''You're my wife now!''.
In the first series, workers plan to build a new road through Royston Vasey, which meets in the face of opposition from Tubbs and Edward. In the second series, people of Royston Vasey are slowly dying from a nosebleed epidemic ( which was brought on by their consumption of 'special stuff', which is provided by the butcher Hilary Briss ). A Christmas special, done in the form of a horror movie, unfolded the traumatic back-stories of some of the characters. However, the third series was quite different from the rest, shot without a studio audience, it became more a comedy serial than a sitcom, with a situation involving a red carrier bag and a car crash bringing all of the characters into one story.
It all sounds vile, distasteful and macabre, it was meant to be, but it was often amusing, if sometimes a bit too near the knuckle for my liking. The scripts were written by Reece Shearsmith ( who my sister used to have a massive crush on ), Mark Gattis, Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson. All but Dyson were the main performers in the show. Dyson only appeared in minor or background roles.
After series three, the show came to an end, though the cast took their creation on tour twice with 'The Leauge Of Gentlemen Live' ( 2001 ) and 'The League Of Gentlemen Are Behind You!' ( done in the form of panto and which toured in 2005 ). A feature film, 'The League Of Gentlemen - Apocalypse' was made in 2004 and saw the characters come to life and confront their creators to try and get them to write more episodes. It was fab.
In 2017, the show was revived for three special episodes and contrary to all expectations it turned out to be better than it had a right to be, though Pemberton, Shearsmith and co have stated that that is where the story of 'The League Of Gentlemen' will end.
Other inhabitants of the eerie town are toad-obsessed Harvey and Val Denton and their put-upon nephew Benjamin, has-been rhythm guitarist Les McQueen, foul mouthed restart officer Pauline, even more foul mouthed vicar Bernice Woodall, overwrought workmen Brian, Geoff and Mike, cannibalistic butcher Hilary Briss, cack-handed vet Dr. Chinnery ( whose careless handling of his patients is usually very gruesome ) among several but perhaps the strangest of them all ( yes, even stranger than Tubbs and Edward ) is Papa Lazarou, a raspy voiced circus master who kidnaps women whilst whispering to them: ''You're my wife now!''.
In the first series, workers plan to build a new road through Royston Vasey, which meets in the face of opposition from Tubbs and Edward. In the second series, people of Royston Vasey are slowly dying from a nosebleed epidemic ( which was brought on by their consumption of 'special stuff', which is provided by the butcher Hilary Briss ). A Christmas special, done in the form of a horror movie, unfolded the traumatic back-stories of some of the characters. However, the third series was quite different from the rest, shot without a studio audience, it became more a comedy serial than a sitcom, with a situation involving a red carrier bag and a car crash bringing all of the characters into one story.
It all sounds vile, distasteful and macabre, it was meant to be, but it was often amusing, if sometimes a bit too near the knuckle for my liking. The scripts were written by Reece Shearsmith ( who my sister used to have a massive crush on ), Mark Gattis, Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson. All but Dyson were the main performers in the show. Dyson only appeared in minor or background roles.
After series three, the show came to an end, though the cast took their creation on tour twice with 'The Leauge Of Gentlemen Live' ( 2001 ) and 'The League Of Gentlemen Are Behind You!' ( done in the form of panto and which toured in 2005 ). A feature film, 'The League Of Gentlemen - Apocalypse' was made in 2004 and saw the characters come to life and confront their creators to try and get them to write more episodes. It was fab.
In 2017, the show was revived for three special episodes and contrary to all expectations it turned out to be better than it had a right to be, though Pemberton, Shearsmith and co have stated that that is where the story of 'The League Of Gentlemen' will end.