I’d read the story that Susan Belbin saw Alan Davies rehearsing for a sitcom and bought him in for an audition for Jonathan Creek before. Here’s Alan telling it himself.
I’m intrigued to know what the sitcom was. In the above clip he makes it sound like a pilot, and it’s ambiguous to me whether he was in it, or just there for support.
Here are the screentests he did with Caroline Quentin.
Hugh Laurie initially agreed to play the titular role, and Rik Mayall was considered too, along with Nigel Planer, both of whom cropped up later in the series.
It’s always been interesting to see Renwick using his experiences making the show to inform later episodes. Remember this from yesterday?
Well, the Honey Wagon plays a major part in the episode The Chequered Box. I imagine the plot about the day for night was inspired by a shoot too.
And again, just because I love this photo …
