51-487: The League of Gentlemen is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England , originally based on Alston, Cumbria , and follows the lives of bizarre characters , most of whom are played by three of the show's four writers – Mark Gatiss , Steve Pemberton , and Reece Shearsmith – who, along with Jeremy Dyson , formed
102-576: A Golden Globe . She received Academy Award nominations for her performances in Damage and Tom & Viv . Her film credits also include Kansas City (1996), The Apostle (1997) and Wah-Wah (2005). She voiced Mrs Tweedy, the main antagonist , in the stop-motion animated film, Chicken Run (2000). In 2002, she performed a triple role in the thriller Spider . Richardson also appeared as Queen Rosalind of Denmark in The Prince and Me and as
153-538: A Thousand Colours at the Royal Court Theatre . Richardson has said that she prefers new works rather than the classics because of the history which goes with them. In 1985, Richardson made her film debut as Ruth Ellis , the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, in the biographical drama Dance with a Stranger . Around the same time, Richardson played a comedic Queen Elizabeth I , aka Queenie , in
204-534: A high percentage of the town's residents to experience incessant bleeding and death, usually within 24 hours. Eventually the epidemic devastates the town, with the Ministry of Health running riot in a desperate attempt to staunch the plague. The cause of the nosebleeds can be traced to a substance known only as the "Special Stuff", a highly addictive and mysterious foodstuff served by demonic butcher Hilary Briss , which becomes deadly when cut with sandwich paste. However,
255-642: A special one-off sketch was broadcast on the BBC for Comic Aid , a charity benefit for the tsunami disaster . In this, two of the most popular characters, Tubbs and Papa Lazarou , kidnapped Miranda Richardson . A feature-length film, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse , was released on 3 June 2005. Later in the same year, the League toured the UK with their new pantomime-themed show, The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You! , which ran from October to mid-December. In September 2006,
306-623: A story in a different direction. Examples of comedy horror films include Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), An American Werewolf in London (1981), the Evil Dead franchise (1981–present), Gremlins (1984), Shaun of the Dead (2004), and The Cabin in the Woods (2011). Horror and comedy have been associated with each other since the early days of horror novels. Author Bruce G. Hallenbeck cites
357-602: Is an English actress who has worked in film, television and theatre. After graduating from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School , Richardson began her career in 1979 and made her West End debut in the 1981 play Moving , before being nominated for the 1987 Olivier Award for Best Actress for A Lie of the Mind . Richardson has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Damage and
408-579: Is taken further in The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse , when the characters meet the actors (especially when Herr Lipp meets his creator, Steve Pemberton). In the live shows, when Pam Doove was auditioning for a part in the Christmas Nativity Play, directed by Ollie Plimsolls, Pam had to audition in front of Ollie's Legz Akimbo colleague Dave (Pemberton), who said that Ollie couldn't make it "for obvious reasons" (Shearsmith plays both Pam and Ollie in
459-503: Is the "Local Shop". The Local Shop is located some distance from the town itself on a lonely hilltop moor. In the first television series of The League of Gentlemen a construction company called PQ Construction threatens the isolation of Royston Vasey by building a "New Road" near the Local Shop. The project is first delayed when a monster (later revealed to be parts of a goat, a pig and a chimp crudely stitched together by Edward Tattsyrup)
510-415: Is unearthed on the construction site and comes to an end in the final episode when the owner of PQ Construction, David Tattsyrup, is revealed to be the son of Edward and Tubbs who convince him to "live locally". In the second series Royston Vasey receives visits from both a travelling circus and a group of German exchange students. The town becomes gradually overrun by a deadly nosebleed epidemic which causes
561-729: The Scary Movie series or A Haunted House also function as parodies of popular horror films. Well-known director Peter Jackson began his film career with the comedy horror classics Bad Taste , Meet the Feebles and Braindead . Stree2 , Roohi , Bhoot Police and bhool Bhulaiyaa are some popular horror comedy films in Bollywood . Examples of horror comedy on television date back to sitcoms The Munsters and The Addams Family and more recently include gruesome slapsticks Ash vs Evil Dead and Stan Against Evil , mockumentary
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#1733085242730612-744: The What We Do in the Shadows (franchise) , Wellington Paranormal , comedies Todd and the Book of Pure Evil , Shining Vale and Santa Clarita Diet , and cartoons Beetlejuice , Courage the Cowardly Dog , School for Vampires , and Scooby-Doo . More recent examples include The Owl House , Wednesday , Don't Hug Me I'm Scared , Gravity Falls , Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss . Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958)
663-594: The Academy Award for Best Actress for Tom & Viv . A seven-time BAFTA Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Damage . She has also been nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards , winning twice for Enchanted April and the TV film Fatherland . Her other films include Empire of the Sun , The Crying Game , Sleepy Hollow , The Hours , and Spider . Richardson
714-598: The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School , where she studied alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Jenny Seagrove , having started out with juvenile performances in Cinderella and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime at the Southport Dramatic Club. Richardson joined the Manchester Library Theatre in 1979 as an assistant stage manager, followed by a number of appearances in repertory theatre . Her London stage debut
765-806: The ballet mistress Madame Giry in the film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera (2004). In 2005, she appeared in the role of Rita Skeeter , the toxic Daily Prophet journalist in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . She also did the voice for Corky in The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky (2005), an Australian animated series for children. In 2006, she appeared in Gideon's Daughter . She played Mrs Claus in
816-406: The 1820 short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " by Washington Irving as "the first great comedy horror story". The story made readers "laugh one moment and scream the next" and its premise was based on mischief typically found during the holiday Halloween . Shortly after the publication of Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein , comedic parodies appeared. Edgar Allan Poe put humor and horror on
867-511: The 8th funniest comedy sketch of all time. In June 2020 the show was withdrawn from distribution on Netflix due to the character Papa Lazarou being considered blackface , following similar action taken against Little Britain by the BBC during the George Floyd protests . The series was kept on the BBC iPlayer streaming service but a content warning was added before each episode. The series
918-645: The British film Made in Dagenham . In 2014, Richardson was cast as Queen Ulla in Maleficent , where she was to play the titular character's aunt, but her role was cut from the film during post-production. In 2015, she played Sybil Birling in Helen Edmundson's BBC One adaptation of J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls . Richardson reprised her role as the voice of Mrs Tweedy in the 2023 film, Chicken Run: Dawn of
969-679: The British television comedy Blackadder II . Following Dance with a Stranger , Richardson turned down numerous parts in which her character was unstable or disreputable, including the Glenn Close role in Fatal Attraction . In this period, she appeared in Empire of the Sun (1987). In an episode of the TV series The Storyteller ("The Three Ravens", 1988), she played a witch. Meanwhile, she returned in guest roles in one episode each in Blackadder
1020-554: The League of Gentlemen comedy troupe in 1995. The series originally aired for three series from 1999 until 2002, and was followed by a film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and a stage production The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You! , both in 2005. The BBC announced in August 2017 that three new episodes would be produced to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the group's first appearance on BBC Radio 4 . The aforementioned episodes aired on BBC2 on 18–20 December 2017. The series
1071-1440: The Third (1987) and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989). She returned to play Queenie in the Christmas special Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) and, later, a special edition for the millennium Blackadder: Back and Forth . Other television roles include Pamela Flitton in A Dance to the Music of Time (1997), Miss Gilchrist in St. Ives (1998), Bettina the interior decorator in Absolutely Fabulous , Queen Elspeth , Snow White's stepmother, in Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001), and Queen Mary in The Lost Prince (2003). Richardson has appeared in supporting roles in film, including Vanessa Bell in The Hours , Lady Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow and Patsy Carpenter in The Evening Star . She also won acclaim for her performances in The Crying Game and Enchanted April , for which she won
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#17330852427301122-514: The Town was set in the fictional town of Spent. They won a Sony Award for this six-episode run. In 1999 the show moved to television and quickly acquired a cult following ; three series were produced, the first airing in 1999, the second in 2000 and the third in 2002. A Christmas special was broadcast in December 2000, after the airing of the second series. For television, Spent was renamed Royston Vasey –
1173-465: The West Yorkshire town of Todmorden was used for some later scenes. The League of Gentlemen have played in total nearly a hundred characters, many created in the early stage shows, others during the span of the television series and some especially for the team's film. Most of the characters live in Royston Vasey. As well as the normal episodes, The Making of the League of Gentlemen documentary
1224-478: The cinematic graveyard and feel secure in the knowledge that the monsters can't get you". In the era of silent film , the source material for early comedy horror films came from stage performances instead of literature. One example, The Ghost Breaker (1914), was based on a 1909 play, though the film's horror elements were more interesting to the audience than the comedy elements. In the United States following
1275-682: The different characters mostly play out their own stories in several serialised sketches, rarely crossing into each other's storylines. Only rarely do actors "meet themselves". Exceptions include Papa Lazarou facing the Reverend Bernice in the Christmas Special (both Reece Shearsmith), Les McQueen buying a magazine from Pop's son (both Mark Gatiss), and Alvin Steele buying food from Iris at a supermarket checkout in Series 2 (again, both Mark Gatiss). The idea
1326-423: The film Fred Claus (2007). Richardson appeared in the BBC sitcom, The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle . In 2008, Richardson was cast in a leading role in the original AMC pilot, Rubicon . She plays Katherine Rhumor , a New York socialite who finds herself drawn into the central intrigue of a think tank after the death of her husband. Additionally, she played Labour politician Barbara Castle in
1377-476: The former Winterton Hospital asylum near Sedgefield in County Durham . The majority of the inhabitants of the village – male and female – are played by Reece Shearsmith , Steve Pemberton , and Mark Gatiss , and the script was written by these three, along with Jeremy Dyson . Dyson, not an actor like the others, appears only in cameo roles. As there are usually only three actors on screen at any one time,
1428-543: The franchise but does have a few small/ cameo roles throughout the series. The stage show began in late 1994, and it was not long before the team took as their name the title of a 1960 Jack Hawkins film, The League of Gentlemen . In 1997, they were awarded the Perrier award for comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and their radio series On the Town with the League of Gentlemen , debuted on BBC Radio 4 . On
1479-477: The given name of comedian Roy Chubby Brown , who appears in the series, notably as the Mayor of Royston Vasey in series 2. Its influence can be seen on later series, particularly Little Britain (the first series of which was directed by Steve Bendelack and script-edited by Gatiss). Filming took place mainly on location in the north Derbyshire town of Hadfield and consequently had no live audience. A laugh track
1530-486: The official website, Shearsmith's blog entry for 23 May 2007 stated that the troupe had recently met up in London's West End : "We discussed our next project – it seems we have hit upon something. Early days – but exciting nevertheless." Shearsmith and Pemberton later collaborated to create another dark comedy series, Psychoville (2009); Gatiss appeared in one episode. In May 2008, Shearsmith confirmed that although he and Pemberton would be making Psychoville without
1581-493: The other members of the League, the League would reunite in the future. The three also performed together in the fourth series of Horrible Histories , in which they play American film producers who hear film pitches from historical figures. Shearsmith and Pemberton also wrote and starred in the black comedy anthology series Inside No. 9 , which premiered on BBC Two in 2014. In 2022, Gatiss appeared in one episode. A one-off radio show, The League of Gentlemen's Ghost Chase ,
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1632-510: The programme would be returning for an anniversary special. The BBC announced in August 2017 that three special new episodes were to be produced, to be aired in December 2017. One source of inspiration is the town of Alston in Cumbria. Gatiss has said in interview that the local shop was inspired by a shop in the village of Rottingdean in East Sussex , and that he was influenced growing up around
1683-885: The real town of Settle, North Yorkshire (close by to Panties / Giggleswick). The town's most featured landmarks include the Local Shop, an angelic war memorial , H. Briss & Son Butchers, the St Mary of Bethlehem hospital, the Windermere B&B, and the local Job Centre . The series was filmed mainly in Hadfield, Derbyshire ; other locations include Bacup Lancashire, Glossop , Gamesley , and Hope Valley in Derbyshire ; Marsden , Todmorden and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire ; and Mottram in Greater Manchester . Filming of
1734-406: The same continuum, and many nineteenth century authors used black humor in their horror stories. Author Robert Bloch called them "opposite sides of the same coin". In comedy horror film, gallows humor is a common element. While comedy horror films provide scares for audiences, they also provide something that dramatic horror films do not: "the permission to laugh at your fears, to whistle past
1785-471: The second and third series, describes Royston Vasey's history in a brochure, from its beginnings, as mentioned in an appendix to the Domesday Book as "an hutte with a pigge outside" to the construction of the town hall in the late 1930s, as designed by Albert Speer . The endpapers of the book show real maps of northern England turned upside down and with fictional place names, Royston Vasey corresponding to
1836-438: The surviving local residents mistakenly accuse Edward and Tubbs of spreading the disease and burn the Local Shop to the ground. In the third and final series, several of the residents of Royston Vasey are involved in a traffic collision which leaves Lance Longthorne and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen dead while Geoff Tipps is facially disfigured. The travelling circus also returns. In the film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse ,
1887-453: The television series took place in the Derbyshire village of Hadfield , located in a Pennines valley. The "Local Shop" is a purpose-built building on nearby Marsden Moor . The opening sequences show a poster for a missing finger. The League considered a number of filming locations before settling on Hadfield. Another town to feature prominently in the series was Bacup in Rossendale, and
1938-465: The television series). Royston Vasey is a fictional English town featured in the BBC television comedy series The League of Gentlemen . The exterior shots for the series were filmed in Hadfield, Derbyshire , and, according to the writers of the series, the town is based on Alston in Cumbria. The preceding radio series On the Town with the League of Gentlemen was set in the equally fictional and almost identical town of Spent. Royston Vasey draws on
1989-413: The town is on the verge of destruction when the League of Gentlemen – Jeremy Dyson , Mark Gatiss , Steve Pemberton , and Reece Shearsmith – agree to stop writing for Royston Vasey. This causes meteorites to rain from the sky until the entire town is razed to the ground. The destruction of Royston Vasey can only be prevented when all four of the writers are killed, but it transpires that the entire ordeal
2040-427: The trauma of World War I , film audiences sought to see horror on screen but tempered with humor. The "pioneering" comedy horror film was One Exciting Night (1922), written, directed and produced by D. W. Griffith , who noticed the stage success of the genre and foresaw a cinematic translation. The film included comedic blackface performances and footage of a hurricane for a climactic storm. As an early experiment,
2091-414: The unofficial website reported that The League of Gentlemen were to 'reunite' at the beginning of 2007, most likely to plan for the fourth series. Shearsmith and Pemberton appeared on The Russell Brand Show on 22 December 2006. When asked "Will there be any more of The League of Gentlemen ?", Shearsmith simply replied "Yes" but was quick to change the subject and not reveal anything about a new series. On
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2142-496: The upbringing of all the League of Gentlemen's members – Mark Gatiss , Steve Pemberton , Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson – all of whom were raised in the north of England. Royston Vasey is the real name of British stand-up comedian Roy Chubby Brown . Brown played the part of the town's mayor in a cameo appearance . The town as it appears in the TV show has a sign which ominously declares "Welcome to Royston Vasey. You'll never leave!" The first building many visitors come across
2193-402: The various genres were not well-balanced with horror and comedy, and later films improved the balance and took more sophisticated approaches. Charles Bramesco of Vulture.com identifies Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein as the first commercially successful comedy horror film. Its success legitimized the genre and established it as commercially viable. Some comedy horror movies, such as
2244-462: Was added to the first and second series, by inviting a studio audience to watch a playback of the completed episodes as well as the filming of certain interior scenes, such as the Dentons'. The laughter track was dropped from the Christmas Special and series 3 when shown in the United Kingdom. The group took the show on tour for the first time in 2001, using a mixture of old and new material. In early 2005
2295-541: Was born in Southport , Lancashire . She recalls "a cinema about 50 yards from my house. So Saturday mornings were spent with The ABC Minors: the Saturday cinema club with the theme song set to the tune of Blaze Away by Abe Holzmann, a red ball bouncing over the lyrics so you could sing along. As I got older, I would go to the cinema by myself to watch matinees of westerns and historical Technicolor dramas." Richardson enrolled at
2346-464: Was broadcast on 27 October 2002. The film was made in 2005. The plot is that Royston Vasey is coming to an end and that the locals appear in the real world to try to save it. In the beginning Jeremy Dyson is killed by Tubbs, Edward and Papa Lazarou. In 2003, its creators were listed in The Observer as among the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2004 The Radio Times listed Papa Lazarou as
2397-583: Was broadcast on 28 October 2010 for Halloween. Unlike other shows, this was not a scripted dark comedy but a documentary of the members spending a night at the Ancient Ram Inn , reputedly the most haunted hotel in the country. Speaking to BBC Radio 6 in October 2016, Mark Gatiss spoke about the desire of the creators to revive the programme in some form with Brexit forming a suitable background to revive it. In April 2017, both Gatiss and Shearsmith confirmed that
2448-667: Was cited as an inspiration for the later Canadian television series Death Comes to Town , a reunion project for the Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall . Comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy ) is a literary , television , and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction . Comedy horror has been described as having three types: " black comedy , parody and spoof." Comedy horror can also parody or subtly spoof horror clichés as its main source of humour or use those elements to take
2499-574: Was conceived by Dyson while unconscious in a hospital. In the Anniversary Specials, the town of Royston Vasey is facing a threat more terrible than anything it has faced before: boundary changes that will erase the town from the map forever. The fight to save the community from administrative annihilation comes from unexpected and surprising directions, all of them local, as the crisis reaches its earth-shattering climax. The League of Gentlemen book, A Local Book for Local People , released between
2550-505: Was filmed mainly in Hadfield, Derbyshire ; other locations include Bacup , Lancashire; Glossop , Gamesley , and Hope Valley in Derbyshire ; Marsden , Todmorden , and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire ; and Mottram in Greater Manchester . Three of the four members of the League of Gentlemen (Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith) met at Bretton Hall College of Education . They met their final member – Jeremy Dyson – later in their comedy career. He does not act as such in
2601-752: Was in Moving at the Queen's Theatre in 1981. She found recognition in the West End for a series of stage performances, ultimately receiving an Olivier Award nomination for her performance in A Lie of the Mind , and, in 1996, she appeared in the single-actor theatrical adaptation of Orlando at the Edinburgh Festival . She returned to the London stage in May 2009 to play the lead role in Wallace Shawn 's new play, Grasses of
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