The League Of Gentlemen meet to discuss a reunion
The comedy group The League Of Gentlemen have given the strongest indication yet they will reform.
Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson are believed to have met for lunch to discuss how they will mark the 20th anniversary of their first stage gigs.
As spotted by Chortle, Steve Pemberton provided an update whilst speaking at a BFI event last month dedicated to the 1989 film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, And Her Lover.
Asked by the Q&A host whether the group will reunite in front of the camera, Pemberton said: "We do get asked this very often and we always like to be non-committal, but let me put it this way... we're going to have a nice lunch next week and we're going to discuss what we're all up to."
He added: "The 20th anniversary of The League Of Gentlemen isn't too far away, so we'll have a chat. We're still all great friends and we want to work with each other so I'm sure something will crop up."
He concluded: "We'll see. We'll get together and we'll have a chat but we're all very proud of The League Of Gentlemen and we think it still holds up."
Mark Gattis, speaking on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast ahead of the meeting, also confirmed he was hopeful and expectant the group would mark their 20th anniversary by re-forming.
In January it was revealed the BBC approached the group about reuniting, however they were too busy at the time. Speaking in a BCG interview earlier this year, Shearsmith clarified: "We haven't ever said 'no' to the idea of reforming - this was just the wrong time."
The League Of Gentlemen first performed together in late 1994. In 1997 they won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival, which led to a Radio 4 series.
The television show that propelled them to stardom launched on BBC Two in 1999, with the third and final series airing in 2002. A film spin-off followed in 2005.
The group briefly reunited for a one-off charity gig in December 2013. In Royal Free Rocks With Laughter (pictured) the three acting members of the foursome performed the Mau Mau sketch, and scenes involving Pamela Doove and Tubbs & Edward.
Speaking about the gig at the BFI event, Pemberton said it was "amazing" and that the group couldn't believe they topped the bill above people like Rowan Atkinson.
"It always amazes us that the fans are still out there," he added. "We didn't put any kind of spin on it; we just did three of four of our old sketches. It went down really well and I think it reignited our love of doing it again."
All four members of the group are currently busy on other projects. Pemberton and Shearsmith are currently writing the second series of their anthology comedy, Inside No. 9. The episodes are due to be filmed over Christmas and New Year, for broadcast in "March or April time". Meanwhile Mark Gatiss is working with the BBC on Sherlock; and Jeremy Dyson has been Script Editing The Wrong Mans as well as working on Series 2 of Psychobitches.
Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss are both due to star in Mapp And Lucia, the new BBC adaptation of EF Benson's classic novel series, which Pemberton has penned for BBC One.
Below is the video from the British Film Institute Q&A with Pemberton. The discussion about The League Of Gentlemen starts around 6 minutes in: