The Comic Strip Presents... - C4 Comedy Drama

TV comedy drama
Channel 4 / BBC Two / Gold
1982 - 2016
41 episodes (5 series)

Periodic series of satires and spoofs that helped bring alternative comedy to the mainstream and forge a comedy reputation for then-new Channel 4. Stars Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Jennifer Saunders and more.

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The Comic Strip Presents.... Credit: Comic Strip Productions

Genre

Comedy Drama

Broadcast

1982 - 2016

Channels

Channel 4, BBC 2, Gold

Episodes

41 (1 pilot + 5 series)

Stars

Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Robbie Coltrane and Keith Allen

Writers

Peter Richardson and Pete Richens

Directors

Bob Spiers and Peter Richardson

Producers

Peter Richardson, Andrew St. John, Sarah Radclyffe, Simon Wright, Lolli Kimpton and Michael White

Companies

More of a 'brand' than a cohesive series, The Comic Strip Presents... nevertheless set the marker for comedy on Channel 4, and indeed popular comedy in the 1980s - and beyond.

A sporadic collection of self-contained comedy TV films and playlets (not to mention two big-screen spin-offs), the Comic Strip was developed by Peter Richardson, promoter of a late-night comedy event in Soho which took place in a strip club after the last naked-lady show of the evening had finished.

The Comic Strip specials started in 1982 with Five Go Mad In Dorset, and have run up to the present day, with the satirical 50s-style film noir spoof The Hunt For Tony Blair airing in 2011.

Most episodes feature the same 'core' team of actors. Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders appear in many of the shows - sometimes as more than one character - with other familiar faces like Robbie Coltrane and Keith Allen also popping up regularly.

A 30th anniversary episode in the Enid Blyton spoof strand was made for GOLD: Five Go To Rehab.

In 2015 the gang return with newspaper satire The Red Top.