Author: Simon Dunn
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Packet Of Three
In 1991, Channel 4 began airing Packet Of Three, a stand-up/sitcom combi oven, produced by Fine Time, and starring Frank Skinner, Jenny Eclair, and Henry Normal. The opening titles looked like this. I remember watching this when it was first on, and it was probably the first time I’d seen Frank or Jenny on my…
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Michael Palin’s Teeth
Here’s a radio advert for Monty Python’s Life Of Brian. And here’s a review of the exclusive performance they mention, from the next day (9th November 1979) in the Daily Mirror.
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The Long Theatrical Gestation Of Duty Free
Yesterday we looked at the fascinating theatrical origins of Rising Damp. Another sitcom, also co-written by Eric Chappel, with Jean Warr, which likewise had an origin in a play, was Duty Free. This seemed like it was on all the time in the 1980s, but it only aired for three series and 22 episodes between…
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The Theatrical Origins Of Rising Damp
Let’s tell a story through newspaper clippings. Here’s the first, from The Stage on the 4th March 1971. Some sources put this premiere as 1973, but it had its first reading at the Hampstead Theatre Club in 1970. The announcement here of the full play gets the writer’s name wrong. It should of course be…
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Starting From Scratch
There’s always something to be found when thumbing through a giant reference book of television, and today I came across the US sitcom Starting From Scratch. This was a syndicated show starring Bill Daily and Connie Stevens, and aired from October 1988 to April 1989, but more interestingly it was created by Brian Cooke. Cooke…
