The Comedians (1971 TV series)

The Comedians is a British television show of the 1970s, later reprised in the mid-1980s, and early 1990s (1972-1993)<ref name="telly">Template:Cite web</ref> produced by Johnnie Hamp of Granada Television.<ref name="bcg">Template:Cite web</ref> The show gave TV exposure to nightclub and working men's club comedians of the era, including Russ Abbot, Jim Bowen and Bernard Manning, many of whom went on to enjoy mainstream success in the 1980s. Filmed before a live audience in Manchester, comics each performed 20-minute sets, which were then edited together into half-hour shows featuring up to thirteen stand-up comics, and lasted a total of 81 episodes.<ref name="Transmissions">Template:Cite web</ref>

Working men's clubs were numerous in Britain, especially in the North of England and have been a useful training ground for artists, especially comedians.<ref name="Transmissions"/> Most of these clubs are affiliated to the CIU (Working Men's Club and Institute Union) founded in 1862 by the Rev. Henry Solly. There are also political clubs, as well as Servicemen's Clubs affiliated to the Royal British Legion.<ref name="Transmissions"/>

The Comedians began as an experiment for Granada TV on Saturday 12th June 1971 at 7pm on ITV1,<ref name="bcg2">Template:Cite web</ref> and the last was a Christmas Special (60 mins) The Comedians Christmas Cracker shown on 28 December 1993, Tuesday at 10.45pm.<ref name="Transmissions"/>

Cast

Comedians appearing on the show included Russ Abbot (initially as Russ Roberts, later as Russ Abbott), Lennie Bennett, Stan Boardman, Jim Bowen, Jimmy Bright, Duggie Brown, Mike Burton, Dave Butler, Brian Carroll, Frank Carson, Johnnie Casson, Eddie Colinton, Mike Coyne, Colin Crompton, Bob Curtiss, Pauline Daniels, Charlie Daze, Les Dennis, Vince Earl, Steve Faye, Ray Fell, Eddie Flanagan, Stu Francis, Mike Goddard (known as Mike Goodwin in the early years of the show), Ken Goodwin, Jackie Hamilton, Jerry Harris, Jimmy Jones, Mike Kelly, George King, Bobby Knutt, Bernard Manning, Jimmy Marshall, Mike McCabe, Paul Melba, Mick Miller, Pat Mooney, Hal Nolan, Tom O'Connor, Tom Pepper, Bryn Phillips, Al Robbins, Don Reid, Mike Reid, George Roper, Harry Scott, Paul Shane, Pat Tansey, Sammy Thomas, Johnny Wager, Roy Walker, Jos White, Charlie Williams, Lee Wilson and Lenny Windsor.<ref name="Express">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Perry2014">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Transmissions"/><ref name="telly"/><ref name="bcg"/>

Also featured on the series were Shep's Banjo Boys, a seven-piece band comprising (for the first five series) Charlie Bentley (tenor banjo), John Drury (sousaphone), Andy Holdorf (trombone), John Orchard (piano), John Rollings (drums), Graham Shepherd (banjo) and Howard Shepherd (lead banjo). In 1973, the line-up was Mike Dexter (banjo), Tony "Tosh" Kennedy (sousaphone), Ged Martin (drums), Tony Pritchard (trombone), Graham Shepherd (banjo) and Howard "Shep" Shepherd (lead banjo).<ref name="Perry2014" />

DVD releases

The first seven series including a DVD set (containing the first seven series broadcast 1971–74) have been released on DVD by Network.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	12 June 1971<ref name="Transmissions"/>	24 July 1971<ref name="Transmissions"/>	7<ref name="Transmissions"/>
2	18 September 1971<ref name="Transmissions"/>	30 October 1971<ref name="Transmissions"/>	7<ref name="Transmissions"/>
3	18 February 1972<ref name="Transmissions"/>	1 April 1972<ref name="Transmissions"/>	7<ref name="Transmissions"/>
4	14 July 1972<ref name="Transmissions"/>	2 September 1972<ref name="Transmissions"/>	7<ref name="Transmissions"/>
5	17 November 1972<ref name="Transmissions"/>	29 December 1972<ref name="Transmissions"/>	7<ref name="Transmissions"/>
6	7 April 1973<ref name="Transmissions"/>	2 June 1973<ref name="Transmissions"/>	8<ref name="Transmissions"/>
7	26 January 1974<ref name="Transmissions"/>	16 March 1974<ref name="Transmissions"/>	7<ref name="Transmissions"/>
8	22 July 1979<ref name="Transmissions"/>	5 August 1979<ref name="Transmissions"/>	13<ref name="Transmissions"/>
	23 November 1979<ref name="Transmissions"/>	15 February 1980<ref name="Transmissions"/>
9	2 June 1984<ref name="Transmissions"/>	16 June 1984<ref name="Transmissions"/>	3<ref name="Transmissions"/>
10	1 June 1985<ref name="Transmissions"/>	13 July 1985<ref name="Transmissions"/>	7<ref name="Transmissions"/>
11	9 July 1992<ref name="Transmissions"/>	23 July 1992<ref name="Transmissions"/>	5<ref name="Transmissions"/>

Specials

Date	Entitle
24 December 1971<ref name="Transmissions"/>	The Comedians' Christmas Party<ref name="Transmissions"/>
22 December 1973<ref name="Transmissions"/>	Christmas Comedians' Music Hall<ref name="Transmissions"/>
28 December 1993<ref name="Transmissions"/>	The Comedians' Christmas Cracker<ref name="Transmissions"/>

External links

• Template:IMDb title
• Classic Telly: Tributes to The Comedians