BBC preparing special to mark 25 years of Harry & Paul
The BBC is reportedly preparing to mark 25 years of the comic partnership between Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse with a new TV special.
The Radio Times reports: "Enfield and Whitehouse are planning to make a special for the BBC marking a quarter of a century since they dazzled the TV comedy scene with Harry Enfield And Chums [sic] in 1990."
Harry Enfield's Television Programme ran for two series on BBC Two from 1990, before being re-born as 1994's Harry Enfield & Chums, running for a further two series on BBC One and coming to a close in 1998.
The series was created by Enfield and Whitehouse alongside writer Charlie Higson and producer Geoffrey Perkins, with Kathy Burke playing the female roles.
An iconic comedy series of the 1990s, it introduced a notable number of characters into British culture; including The Old Gits, The Self-Righteous Brothers, Smashie and Nicey, Tim Nice-But-Dim, Wayne and Waynetta Slob, and Kevin the Teenager, who was the focus of a feature-film spin-off, Kevin & Perry Go Large, in 2000.
Paul Whitehouse met Charlie Higson at the University of East Anglia. After Higson graduated, they moved into a flat together in London and began working as decorators. At one point the duo worked on a house shared by Fry & Laurie, which inspired them to try writing comedy. After moving to a different estate, they met Harry Enfield in a pub and became friends.
When Enfield landed a part in Channel 4's Saturday Live, a show on which Perkins also worked, he invited Higson and Whitehouse to write for him. Some of the characters they developed together entered the national consciousness, notably obnoxious Cockney plasterer Loadsamoney and Greek restaurant owner Stavros.
Having become a star, Enfield was given his own show by the BBC in 1990 - Harry Enfield's Television Programme. Its later rebirth as Harry Enfield & Chums reflected a change in channel, and the increasing prominence of both Kathy Burke and Paul Whitehouse as series regulars.
The show ended in 1998 but in 2007 Enfield and Whitehouse resurrected their partnership for the new BBC sketch show Harry & Paul. This latter incarnation has so far run for four series, with the last full series broadcasting in 2012.
Last year the duo collaborated on Harry & Paul's Story Of The 2s, a one-off special to mark the 50th anniversary of BBC Two. Within the programme they spoofed many of the channel's most loved and well-known formats. The special was broadcast in May 2014 to critical acclaim, and has since gone on to win a number of prestigious awards.
In October, the pair resurrected the Self-Righteous Brothers for a special sketch for The Feeling Nuts Comedy Night, a charity-linked broadcast to highlight the risks of testicular cancer.
The new, currently untitled special, is expected to mix in new sketches alongside re-runs of classic material from the duo's 25 year back catalogue.
Enfield and Whitehouse continue to work independently as well as together. Enfield has just finished starring in Bad Education, whilst Whitehouse is now working on Nurse, a BBC Two comedy drama in which he plays multiple characters.
More details about the duo's reunion special is expected later in the year.
The below sketch sees The Old Gits in hospital: