Nightingales (British TV series)

Nightingales was an unusual British sitcom produced by Channel 4 in the early 1990s

It revolved around the jobs of three bored nightwatchmen working in a deserted office block somewhere in London. The programme detailed surreal, Pinteresque events which subverted the usual comedy archetypes in ways which were to the few that watched it, clever and hilariously funny or were to others, including the Channel 4 executives who cancelled it, completely baffling.

The security guards themselves were standard sitcom characters. Robert Lindsay played Carter the intellectual whose aspirations were invariably frustrated, David Threlfall was 'the stupid one' and James Ellis played the impossibly optimistic veteran watchman. The setting was also a recognisable sitcom one, that of a number of misfits forced together (qv. Father Ted, Dads Army, Porridge etc).

Beyond this however, the programme moved into areas more befitting the nightmares of Spike Milligan or Hieronymous Bosch. Guest characters included Eric the Wanking Teenage Werewolf, an additional security guard who was a gorrila and Mary the Christmas Allegory who gave birth to consumer electronics. A running gag involved the question 'Is there anybody there?' followed by the half-sung response 'There ain't nobody here but us chickens!' accompanied by much arm waggling in the manner of said poultry.

Two series ran between 1990 and 1993. Nightingales was written by Paul Makin who went on to write the more conventional comedies Chef! and Goodnight Sweetheart. As of 2004 no video or DVDs of the series have been released by Channel 4 or the programmes producers Alomo. A US remake was piloted but was never commissioned. As a sitcom about 'nothing' however it could be argued to have been an antecedent of programmes such as Seinfeld or even The Royle Family.