| Big Train | |
|---|---|
| Format | Sketch comedy |
| Created by | Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews |
| Starring | Simon Pegg Mark Heap Kevin Eldon Amelia Bullmore (series 1) Julia Davis (series 1) Rebecca Front (series 2) Tracy-Ann Oberman (series 2) Catherine Tate (series 2) |
| Country of origin | Britain |
| No. Sketch comedy consists of a series of short Comedy scenes or vignettes called "sketches" commonly between one and ten minutes long Graham Linehan (born 1969 is an Irish television writer and director who often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular Arthur Mathews (born c 1959 in County Meath, Ireland) is an Irish comedy writer who often with writing partner Simon Pegg (born Simon John Beckingham; 14 February 1970) is an award-winning English Actor, Comedian, Writer Mark Heap (born 13 May 1957 in Kodaikanal, India is an English Actor best known for a variety of Television comedy roles including struggling Kevin Eldon ( b 1960 Chatham, Kent, England) is an English Stand-up comic and Actor. Amelia Bullmore (born 31 January 1964) is an English actress writer and comedian Julia Davis (born 1966 is an English comedy Writer and Performer. Rebecca Front (born June 28, 1965) is an English Comedienne and actress, perhaps Tracy-Ann Oberman (born August 1966 in London) is an English television theatre and radio Actress, best known for her role as Chrissie Watts Catherine Tate (born Catherine Ford 12 May 1968) is an English comedienne and Actress. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | 9 Nov, 1998 – 11 Feb, 2002 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Big Train is a surreal British television comedy sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, writers of the successful sitcom Father Ted. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and Sketch comedy consists of a series of short Comedy scenes or vignettes called "sketches" commonly between one and ten minutes long Arthur Mathews (born c 1959 in County Meath, Ireland) is an Irish comedy writer who often with writing partner Graham Linehan (born 1969 is an Irish television writer and director who often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular Father Ted was a popular 1990s Television Situation comedy set around the lives of three Irish Catholic priests on the remote (and It was first broadcast in 1998 with a second series, in which Linehan was not involved, shown in 2002. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
Contents |
Overview
Following in the tradition of Monty Python, the comedy of Big Train is based on the subversion of ordinary situations by the surreal or macabre. Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) is the collective name of the six creators of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British Television For example, one scene features a bad-mannered man casually stabbed to death by his embarrassed wife at a dinner party. The series is probably most famous for a recurring sketch from the first series, a stare-out competition accompanied by commentary from BBC football commentator Barry Davies and Phil Cornwell. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Barry George Davies MBE (born 24 October 1940 in London, England) is a British sports commentator. Phil Cornwell (born 5 October 1957 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex) is an English Comedian, Actor, impressionist The stare-out competition was based on a comic book by Paul Hatcher and was animated by Chris Shepherd. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Chris Shepherd is a Television / Film Writer and director. Born in Anfield Liverpool in 1966.
Despite running for two series, Big Train attracted only a limited audience. Even so, the first series was voted "Best 'Broken Comedy' Show" at the prestigious British Comedy Awards in 1999. The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year Host Jonathan Ross Television radio and film Winners first nominees indented Best TV Sitcom Both series were released on DVD on 25 October 2004. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "
Its stars included Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap, and Simon Pegg in both series one and two, with Julia Davis, and Amelia Bullmore in the first series, and Rebecca Front, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Catherine Tate in the second series. Kevin Eldon ( b 1960 Chatham, Kent, England) is an English Stand-up comic and Actor. Mark Heap (born 13 May 1957 in Kodaikanal, India is an English Actor best known for a variety of Television comedy roles including struggling Simon Pegg (born Simon John Beckingham; 14 February 1970) is an award-winning English Actor, Comedian, Writer Julia Davis (born 1966 is an English comedy Writer and Performer. Amelia Bullmore (born 31 January 1964) is an English actress writer and comedian Rebecca Front (born June 28, 1965) is an English Comedienne and actress, perhaps Tracy-Ann Oberman (born August 1966 in London) is an English television theatre and radio Actress, best known for her role as Chrissie Watts Catherine Tate (born Catherine Ford 12 May 1968) is an English comedienne and Actress. All its lead actors have starred in a variety of other comedy shows including I'm Alan Partridge, Look Around You, Spaced, Smack the Pony and Brass Eye. I'm Alan Partridge is a BBC Situation comedy. Two series of six episodes were produced the first in 1997 and the second in 2002 Look Around You is a BBC television Comedy series devised and written by Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, and in the first series Spaced is a British Television Situation comedy written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and Smack the Pony was a British Sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on Channel 4. Brass Eye is a UK television series of satirical spoof documentaries which aired on Channel 4 in 1997 and was re-run in 2001 Catherine Tate went on to get her own show on the BBC, The Catherine Tate Show. The Catherine Tate Show is an award-winning British Television Sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate who stars in all of the show's The first series was directed by Graham Linehan and other series contributors included David Mitchell. David Mitchell (born 14 July 1974 is a British Actor, Comedian and Writer.
The pilot episode was directed by Chris Morris but was never broadcast in full. Christopher Morris (born 5 September 1965 in Bristol) is an English Comedian, Writer, director, producer, Some sketches from the pilot are scattered through the series.
Although a sketch about a train being pushed by a giant appeared in the first series, the actual title of the show is derived from the song run during the credits, of which the writers were fond enough to name the show after it. The song "Big Train" was recorded by Max Greger and his Orchestra. This has since been adopted for a commercial by Virgin Trains. Virgin Trains is a Train operating company in the United Kingdom, which currently provides services from London Euston to the North West
Both series were shot entirely on location (series one on 35mm film and series two on DigiBeta) and later shown to a live audience so that a laugh track could be recorded. 35 mm film is the basic Film gauge most commonly used for both still Photography and Motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its Betacam is a family of half-inch professional Videotape products developed by Sony from 1982 onwards
Memorable sketches
- Some hypnotherapists fail to cure a person of their smoking habit, and in desperation bring in The Evil Hypnotist (Eldon), a sinister-looking man wearing black top hat and cape. Hypnotherapy is therapy that is undertaken with a subject in Hypnosis. He asks, good-naturedly, "You do know I'm an evil hypnotist?", and then treats the person by sending them into a trance like sleep. When the person wakes up and proves to have been cured, he cackles "It worked, it worked, mwahahahahaha!!", and his colleagues thank him for his help, which he accepts mildly.
- A behind-the-scenes look at the life of an intergalactic tyrant modelled on Ming the Merciless, as he spends his morning watching TV, hoovering his house and listening to his answering machine. Ming the Merciless is a Fictional character who first appeared in the Flash Gordon Comic strip in 1934 At one point, one of his minions comes to the door informing him that a rebel prince has just been captured. The tyrant tells him to "throw him into the pit of ice" before carrying on with his hoovering.
- Two monks dupe another monk into thinking one of them has been killed. When the duped monk is theorizing in full flow ("Death stalks these relics. . . etc") the "dead" monk in the background and the other monk burst out laughing, revealing their practical joke. The duped monk reacts with surprise, embarrassment and very mild annoyance. This was repeated in the second series, when two scientists dupe a co-worker into thinking they haven't found a cure for a lethal virus. Just as he starts to go into full-blown melodramatics ("May God have mercy on our souls, we have created a bastard chimera. A chimera virus is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture Center for Veterinary Biologics as a "new hybrid microorganism created by joining . . ") one of the joking scientists says "It has worked, really!" Again, the duped man is amused but embarrassed, but this time visibly relieved.
- Jesus is the manager of an office who has a heated argument with Satan, one of his workers, over his irresponsibility, his constant practical joking and bad attitude. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally Jesus eventually decides that he'll have to give Satan the sack, but insists he will "write him a reference, but obviously it isn't going to be a glowing report. "
- In order to save their company from a buyout, one of the employees tries to distract a manager by dressing up in a paper bra and panties and doing a dance.
- The Beatles' producer George Martin, despite getting kidnapped by extremists, imprisoned and held hostage, never stops waxing lyrical about working with the Beatles. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Sir George Henry Martin CBE (3 January 1926 is a British record producer arranger and Composer. This eventually drives his fellow prisoner to try and throttle him.
- An English tourist in France asks a local for directions in English. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States In perfect English, the local replies that he can't actually speak English. Another man comes along and, also in perfect English, confesses to not being able to speak a word of the language. She tries to speak to them in German, only for them to confess, in German, to being unable to speak German. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.
- A manager informs his outraged staff that "wanking" is to be banned from their office, as it is becoming a problem. Masturbation refers to Sexual stimulation especially of one's own genitals ( self masturbation) and often to the point of Orgasm, which
- A recurring series of sketches places musical icons from the 1970's and 1980's in bizarre situations. For example:
- The Bee Gees are killed by Chaka Khan in a Western style shoot-out;
- Chairman Mao on his death-bed suddenly comes to life, turns into Bryan Ferry and sings "Virginia Plain" with the rest of Roxy Music;
- A mad scientist creates Kevin Rowland from Dexy's Midnight Runners as Frankenstein's monster, and then joins him in singing 'Let's Make This Precious';
- An ancient Roman gladiator is persuaded to join the rebellion against the corrupt dictatorship - as long as his co-conspirators can provide enough donkeys for the keyboard collection of his fellow slave Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake and Palmer;
- The Artist Formerly Known as Prince stalks a herd of horseracing jockeys in the African wilderness eventually killing one and feeding on its carcass;
- Folk Singer Ralph McTell is confronted by an audience that only wants him to play one song over and over;
- American musicians Hall & Oates attempt to help residents at a crime-ridden housing estate by cleaning up graffiti and performing their hit songs. The Bee Gees were a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. Chaka Khan (born March 23, 1953) is a multiple Grammy Award -winning American singer known for hit songs such as "I'm Every Woman" "I Feel Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945 in Washington, Sunderland) is an English Singer, Musician, Songwriter and occasional " Virginia Plain " is a song written in 1972 by Bryan Ferry. Roxy Music is an English Art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry ( vocals and keyboards) Kevin Rowland (born 17 August 1953, Wolverhampton) is an English Singer - Songwriter and Frontman for Dexys Midnight Runners are a British pop Group with soul influences who achieved their major success in the early to mid 1980s Frankenstein's monster (or Frankenstein's creature) is a Fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein or Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Gladiators (gladiatores "swordsmen" or "one who uses a sword" from la ''gladius'' "sword" were professional fighters in Ancient Rome who fought A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a Musical keyboard. Keith Noel Emerson (born 2 November 1944 in Todmorden, West Yorkshire) is a British Keyboard player and composer Emerson Lake & Palmer ( ELP) were an English Progressive rock supergroup. Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American musician Ralph McTell (born Ralph May in Farnborough, England, 3 December, 1944) is an English singer/songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been Hall & Oates are a Pop music duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates.
Transmission details
Big Train originally aired on BBC2 on Monday nights during the following periods:
- Series one (6 episodes): 9 November - 14 December 1998
- Series two (6 episodes): 7 January - 11 February 2002
Release
The Complete Series 1 and 2 has been released in the US and the UK. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Events 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal. 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
See also
External links
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