Could The Fast Show get Ron Manager spin-off?
Could The Fast Show's Ron Manager be getting his own spin-off?
Simon Day has revealed that he and Paul Whitehouse are writing something "about football, when he gets round to it because he's doing so many different things".
Day was speaking on the Quite A Boast: A Celebration of Reeves & Mortimer podcast. He played presenter Clive Graham in the Ron Manager sketches, with Mark Williams as Scottish pundit Tommy Stein. They and Whitehouse previously appeared as their football characters in the 2001 Sky One sports panel show spin-off Jumpers For Goalposts.
Last year Day told the Telegraph that his writing with Whitehouse had always stalled in the past because "we just end up talking about football", suggesting that penning something about the beautiful game might serve as a workaround for their collaborative block.
Interviewed on Radio 4 Extra's The Comedy Club on Tuesday, Whitehouse reiterated the debt that whimsical gaffer Ron owed to Danny Wiseman, a friend he worked with at Hackney Council. Wiseman did "a very good impression" of Alec Stock, sometime boss of Fulham, QPR and Roma, which he in turn took and "morphed" into Ron.
Day told Quite A Boast hosts Paula Wiseman (no relation) and Matt Price that writing together has been challenging because of Whitehouse's various work commitments, including Only Fools And Horses: The Musical, and Day's own ADHD.
He also said that after going sea fishing with Whitehouse in Costa Rica, he'd been the original choice to partner with him on Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. Though as their regular collaborator Rhys Thomas pointed out: "You didn't have a heart attack, so how's that going to work?"
Day said: "[p=80]Bob [Mortimer]] is brilliant because he does that enthusiasm. How much of that is completely real, I don't know, but it completely works ... that's me being cynical probably. But it does really work because Paul is a quiet person, he has a very complicated life and he goes to fish to be quiet ... I don't think anyone ever thought they'd be a double act."
Indeed, Whitehouse himself never saw the appeal of such a travelogue, Day maintained. He recalled him saying: "You've got two celebrities, going round the country, eating dinner? Not for me."
Thanks to Day's ADHD, "He thinks I couldn't sit on a riverbank.
"Though luckily, it's the same with Bob. He's always falling over."
Ron Manager last appeared as part of The Fast Show's live tour revival in the spring, and Day told Price and Wiseman that a larger tour next year will expand to include dates in Wales and Ireland.
The Ultimate Fast Show Collection
The complete collection of The Fast Show, featuring characters such as Ted and Ralph, coughing Bob Fleming, the "Suit you, sir" tailors from hell and the bloke in the stupid hat.
First released: Monday 5th November 2007
DVD- Distributor: 2 Entertain
- Region: 2
- Discs: 7
- Minutes: 700
- Subtitles: English
- Catalogue: BBCDVD2268
Buy and sell old and new items
Search for this product on eBay
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.