British Comedy Guide
Colin's Sandwich. Colin Watkins (Mel Smith). Copyright: BBC
Colin's Sandwich

Colin's Sandwich

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Two
  • 1988 - 1990
  • 12 episodes (2 series)

The story follows the life of an amateur writer and his attempts to get his work published. Stars Mel Smith, Louisa Rix, Mike Grady, Tony Haase, Lee Cornes and more.

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Episode menu

Series 1, Episode 1 - Flaunt It

In episode one Colin, a frustrated writer meets literary agent John Langley at a party. He fails to inform him about his work but does phone him to invite him to dinner at his flat. The evening goes badly however due to Colin's shyness and instead Colin's friend Des monopolises Langley and gets asked to send him a treatment of his work related stories.

Further details

The first episode opens with a dinner party hosted by Jenny (Colin's girlfriend) and featuring Sarah and Richard (mutual friends) as their guests. Colin is bored by them and is rather rude which causes an argument between him and Jenny after they've gone.

Colin has to photocopy 40,000 letters at work (which emphasises the tedium of his job.)

After work the following day Colin plans a quiet night in but is thwarted by Jen who phones him whilst in the bath to inform him they have to be at a dinner party hosted by Sarah and Richard. At the party is literary agent John Langley who Colin is desperate to meet, but a combination of being cornered by the party bore and his own ineptitude means he fails to meet him.

Colin is desperately bored at work which drives him to ask Jen to phone Langley and invite him to dinner. Colin hosts the dinner but is very nervous about it and nearly cancels. During the party Des (Colin's best friend) monopolises Langley's time and is offered a commission on the basis of his stories.

Finally Colin escorts Langley to the tube station but as predicted by Jen ends up taking him all the way home returning to his flat in the early hours of the morning.

Broadcast details

Date
Tuesday 18th October 1988
Time
9pm
Channel
BBC Two
Length
30 minutes

Cast & crew

Cast
Mel Smith Colin Watkins
Louisa Rix Jenny Anderson
Mike Grady Des
Tony Haase Trevor
Andrew Robertson Travers
Kim Clifford Mandy
Jane Booker Sarah Venables
Michael Medwin John Langley
Nicholas Pritchard Richard Venables
Guest cast
Ken Campbell Ted
Writing team
Terry Kyan Writer
Paul Smith Writer
Production team
Jamie Rix Director
John Kilby Producer
Jamie Rix Producer
Phil Southby Editor
Jo Day Production Designer
Andrew Mackenzie Costume Designer
Vicky Pocock Make-up Designer
Bert Postlethwaite Lighting Designer
Christine Büttner Graphics
John Barclay Vision Mixer
Nicholas Barrett (as Nicolas Barrett) Properties
Jim Cadman Sound Designer
Sarah Cobbe Production Assistant
Alec Curtis Camera
Michael Spencer Sound Designer
Peter Laskie Production Manager
Christine Mellor Production Assistant
Kerry Waddell Floor Manager
Mike Jarrett Technical Co-ordinator
Richard Wilson Technical Co-ordinator

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