The Comedians (1971 TV series)

The Comedians
Genre	Comedy
Directed by	Dave Warwick
Starring	Russ Abbot Lennie Bennett Stan Boardman Jim Bowen Jimmy Bright Duggie Brown Mike Burton Dave Butler Brian Carroll Frank Carson Mike Coyne Jimmy Cricket Colin Crompton Pauline Daniels Charlie Daze Vince Earl Steve Faye Eddie Flanagan Stu Francis Ken Goodwin Jackie Hamilton Jerry Harris George King Bobby Knutt Bernard Manning Mike McCabe Paul Melba Mick Miller Hal Nolan Tom O'Connor Tom Pepper Bryn Phillips Mike Reid George Roper Harry Scott Freddie Stuart Sammy Thomas Johnny Wager Roy Walker Charlie Williams Lee Wilson Lenny Windsor
Composer(s)	Derek Hilton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	12
No. of episodes	81 (including 3 specials)
Production
Producer(s)	Ian Hamilton Johnnie Hamp
Editor(s)	D .L. Hayes Ron Swayne
Location(s)	Granada Studios, Manchester
Running time	30 minutes (including adverts)
Production company(s)	Granada Television
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3
Original release	12 June 1971 – 28 December 1993

The Comedians is a British television show of the 1970s (later reprised in the mid-1980s and early 1990s) produced by Johnnie Hamp of Granada Television.^[1] The show gave a stage to nightclub and working men's club comedians of the era, including Russ Abbot, Lennie Bennett, Stan Boardman, Jim Bowen, Jimmy Bright, Duggie Brown, Mike Burton, Dave Butler, Brian Carroll, Frank Carson, Mike Coyne, Jimmy Cricket, Colin Crompton, Pauline Daniels, Charlie Daze, Vince Earl, Steve Faye, Eddie Flanagan, Stu Francis, Ken Goodwin, Jackie Hamilton, Jerry Harris, George King, Bobby Knutt, Bernard Manning, Mike McCabe, Paul Melba, Mick Miller, Hal Nolan, Tom O'Connor, Tom Pepper, Bryn Phillips, Mike Reid, George Roper, Harry Scott, Sammy Thomas, Johnny Wager, Roy Walker, Charlie Williams, Lee Wilson and Lenny Windsor.^[2]

Also featured on the TV show, were Shep's Banjo Boys, a 7-piece band comprising (for the first 5 series) Charlie Bentley (tenor banjo), John Drury (sousaphone), Andy Holdorf (trombone), John Orchard (piano), John Rollings (drums), Graham Shepherd (banjo) and Howard Shepherd (lead banjo). In 1973, the line up was Mike Dexter (banjo), Tony "Tosh" Kennedy (sousaphone), Ged Martin (drums), Tony Pritchard (trombone), Graham Shepherd (banjo) and Howard "Shep" Shepherd (lead banjo).^[2]

The Comedians began as an experiment for Granada TV. Filmed before a live audience in Manchester, comics each performed 20-minute sets, which were then edited together into half-hour shows. Each edition featured up to ten stand-up comics.

Working men's clubs are numerous in Britain, especially in North East England and have been a useful training ground for artists, especially comedians. Most of these clubs are affiliated to the CIU (Working Men's Club and Institute Union) founded in 1862 by the Rev. Henry Solly. There are also political clubs, as well as Servicemen's Clubs affiliated to the Royal British Legion.

It was remarkably popular during the earlier series. An LP recording of the show reached the best-seller charts, several sell-out national tours followed, including a season at the London Palladium, and the programme won the Critics' circle Award.

The comedy frequently took the form of anecdotes or jokes and often involved racist or sexist stereotypes. Like other British comedy successes of the day, notably, Love Thy Neighbour, this kind of entertainment was acceptable on British television during this period but would not be so today. Viewing the series in retrospect it stands as a major social document of the times.

In recent years, the series has been repeated on the (now defunct) British satellite television channel Plus, and can now be bought, on DVD, having been released by Network.

DVD releases

The first seven series including a DVD set (containing the first seven series broadcast 1971–74) have been released on DVD by Network.

See also

• The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	12 June 1971	24 July 1971	7
2	18 September 1971	30 October 1971	7
3	19 February 1972	1 April 1972	7
4	7 July 1972	2 September 1972	8
5	10 November 1972	29 December 1972	8
6	6 April 1973	25 May 1973	8
7	26 January 1974	16 March 1974	8
8	21 July 1979	1 September 1979	5
9	23 November 1979	15 February 1980	8
10	2 June 1984	16 June 1984	4
11	1 June 1985	6 July 1985	6
12	9 June 1992	23 July 1992	5

Specials

Date	Entitle
24 December 1971	The Comedians' Christmas Party
22 December 1973	Christmas Special
28 December 1993	The Comedians' Christmas Cracker

References

1. Gillespie, James. "Return of the Comedians". Daily Express. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
2. Chris Perry (10 November 2014). The Kaleidoscope British Christmas Television Guide 1937-2013. Lulu.com. pp. 150–. ISBN 978-1-900203-60-9.

External links

• The Comedians at the Internet Movie Database.
• Classic Telly: Tributes to The Comedians.