Harry Enfield & Chums

Harry Enfield's Television Programme was a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield. It was first broadcast on BBC Two in 1990 in the Thursday 9pm slot that had become the traditional time for alternative comedy.

Enfield was already an established name due to his 'Loadsamoney' character (which featured in a few entertainment programmes in the late 1980s), but the series gave greater presence to his frequent collaborators Paul Whitehouse and Kathy Burke - so much so that, in 1994, the show was retitled Harry Enfield and Chums.

Show History

The 1990 series was written solely by Enfield, Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Geoffrey Perkins. The original series titles began with Enfield in a black suit walking towards the camera and blowing a raspberry to the music of a brass band, and ended with him taking a quick drag from a cigarette hidden behind his back. There was also a Christmas special produced for this series.

After the original series, there were a couple of radio appearances and a one-off special for the characters Smashey and Nicey. During the period between series, Enfield concentrated on straight acting parts, and Whitehouse worked on other projects.

Through repeats, the characters proved popular, and in 1994, BBC1 commissioned a new series called Harry Enfield And Chums. This series was produced with a pool of writers, rather than the cast alone. The format of the opening credits were the same, although Enfield was now joined by co-stars Whitehouse and Burke to take a collective bow to the audience. There were two Christmas specials produced for this series.

In 2000, a new series for Sky was produced. It was unsuccessful (it only ran for twelve episodes) and the humour was generally considered poor and more offensive compared to Enfield's previous shows.

In May 2006, the BBC released a statement that they were hoping to re-unite Enfield and Whitehouse for a new series.[1].

A DVD release of the Harry Enfield sketch show appears increasingly unlikely, since an argument over copyright material and rights to the characters.

Characters

Regular characters included:

Smashie and Nicey

out-of-date Fab FM DJs Dave Nice and Mike Smash, a thinly veiled parody of some older Radio 1 DJs of the time. It is believed that the characters were based primarily on Mike Read, Simon Bates and Tony Blackburn, though other then-current DJs such as Alan Freeman were also believed to have influenced the writers. Each skit would feature the pair's love of "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, seemingly the only record they ever played. The pair would also try to outdo each other with deliberate mentions of charidee (charity) work for which the pair would ostensibly claim to be keeping hush-hush.

Wayne and Waynetta Slob

(derived from one of Burke's stand-up skits) a pair of benefit dependent proto-Chavs with a dubious sense of hygiene who argue over the name of their unborn child - "You can't call it Elvis 'cause it's a GIRL" - or pizza. Enfield based them on a couple with a similar lifestyle that lived in a flat in the floor below him in his younger days.

Tim Nice-But-Dim

An upper class twit who is usually being ripped off by one of his 'jolly nice' prep-school chums. He is an exaggerated version of "posh" people that Enfield knew.

Lee and Lance

Two idiot fish / fruit and veg stall holders opining about current affairs much in the same mode as "Pete and Dud". Lance is tone deaf but can sing Italian opera perfectly. Lee thinks he is cleverer than Lance, and he is, but not by much.

Tory Boy

A repulsive fifteen-year-old based on a cross between a snobbish, unpopular boy who went to school with Enfield, and a younger version of William Hague. Enfield also claimed to have mixed more recent Conservative politicians as Michael Howard and Michael Portillo together in the character, on the allegation that they were "Tory Boys who have never grown up."

The Old Gits

An obnoxious pair of old men who take great delight in persecuting younger people- although they do branch out their cruelty on other groups of people, so as not to discriminate.

The Lovely Wobbly Randy Old Ladies

A deliberate contrast, on Enfield's part, to show the opposite of The Old Gits : Two lecherous old ladies who do not care who approach them so long as the newcomer is male, and youthful. Their catchphrase is "Ooh! Young man!"

The Double-take Brothers

Two brothers with an irritating propensity for double takes.

Annoying Kid Brother

He spends his entire time irritating his family by talking constantly. Later grew up to become Kevin the Teenager.

Mr You-Don't-Wanna-Do-It-Like-That

An infuriating know-it-all father who advised various people with both household tasks and diverse jobs, such as a football pundit. His catchprase, on encountering someone, or entering a room is "Only me!"

The Self-Righteous Brothers

A pair of middle-aged opinionated men, Frank and George Doberman, who spend their time sitting in a pub, discussing celebrities they admire (always referred to by just their surnames), and then becoming angry when contemplating said celebrities doing something extremely selfish and unlikely ("Oi! Armstrong! NO!!!"). Enfield once appeared as Frank Doberman in a 1996 British Hula Hoop commercial that explained that if a consumer found a square Hula Hoop in a packet, he or she would win a prize, and Frank stubbornly and aggressively maintained that "Hula Hoops are round, they'll stay round, and they'll be around for ever". The Self-Righteous Brothers are named after musical duo The Righteous Brothers.

The Palace of Righteous Justice

A superhero team who are forced to encounter everyday problems such as opening a bank account.

Stavros

A revival of Enfield's old character, an amiable Greek kebab-shop owner, whose mannerisms are based on a person of Enfield's acquaintance with the same career.

The Scousers

played by Harry Enfield, Joe McGann (later by Mark Moraghan) and Gary Bleasdale, Ga' Ba' and Te' are stereotypical Liverpudlians, who alternately fall out and make peace. They often say such things as "Dey do dough, don't dey" (They do though, don't they), and "Alright! Alright! Calm down"- which is what one of them says when two of the others start arguing.

Fat Bloke

A fat, jolly-looking man (played by David Barber) who formed a running gag during the original show -- for no apparent reason he would walk into the middle of a sketch, hand something to a character (usually appropriate to the situation), be told "Thank you Fat Bloke!", and walk off. In the new series he would sing a song at the end of the closing credits, introduced by Enfield: "The show's not over until the Fat Bloke sings!" He made his first appearance in a script for The Scousers.

Julio Geordio

A Columbian footballer who has recently joined Newcastle United. Interview after interview pass with Julio gaining more and more a Geordie accent.

Michael Paine

A self-confessed "nosey neighbour", played by Whitehouse who was aimed by Enfield to show Michael Caine's tendency to sound the same in many of the parts he plays. The character would talk about extremely dreary things his neighbours where doing such as "do you know, he didn't call that woman back until... approximately two hours later. Would Damon Hill have taken that long to call his mother? I'll be honest with you. I don't know. Not a lot of people know I don't know that, but I don't."

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner

An early 20th century television presenter who, with his manservant Greyson, would attempt to uphold the British Empire's values by advising, amongst other things, that women refrain from participating in complex conversations (as this would lead to insanity) or that babies be given gin (to ensure a good night's sleep).