Each week, we will be taking an in depth look at some of the best sitcoms and comedy shows from both the UK and the USA.

Today we will be looking at a comedy that if you live in America you will know it as Brilliant – The Fast Show. 

Trailer 

About the Show

Summary of Plot

UK comedy sketch show depicting most forms of stereotypical mid-90’s British society. – IMDb

Number of Seasons / Episodes

3 Seasons

Characters:

Paul Whitehouse – various roles
Charlie Higson – various roles
Arabella Weir – various roles
Simon Day – various roles
John Thomson – various roles
Caroline Aherne – various roles

Trivia

• In the United States on BBC America, the show’s title was “Brilliant”.
• Johnny Depp is a self-professed fan of the show and has described his cameo appearance in the finale as “… absolutely one of my proudest achievements. No question. It was one of my favourite things, to have been on the last Fast Show.”
• Amy Winehouse appeared in an Competitive Dad sketch in Series 3.
• Paul Whitehouse based Rowley Birkin QC after Andrew Rollo, a man he met whilst on a fishing trip in Iceland.
• The marketplace in Durham was featured in scenes involving Brilliant Kid.
• The Chanel 9 musical nativity play, “Holy Sprog” parodied the celebrity Xmas special genre and the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar”.
• For the third series, the production extended abroad to Iceland. Some scenes with Brilliant Kid and Billy Bleach were shot in Iceland’s volcanic landscapes, waterfalls and hot springs in the background.
• Redcar was used for scenes with the Brilliant Kid walking along the beach. Also Mark Williams appears in a caravan sketch near South Gare, with the steelworks in the distance.
• Inspiration for the Fast Show came from Whitehouse and Higson’s viewing of a preview tape of Harry Enfield’s show “Harry Enfield’s Television Programme”, for which they both made writing contributions. The highlights tape showed only short clips from the show and Whitehouse and Higson decided they wanted to create a sketch show consisting of very short, quick-fire sketches.

Clips

Fat Sweaty Coppers

Tiger Woods

Jazz Club