Iconic comedy show to make 30th Anniversary comeback with classic catchphrases and characters – and a poignant absence

THREE decades since hitting our screens, comedy classic The Fast Show is gearing up for a 30th anniversary comeback.

The legendary sketch show will be going on a 14-night tour, where creators Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson will revive their most famous characters and blurt out iconic catchphrases, including, “Suit you, sir!”.

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They will be joined by cast members Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson and Arabella Weir.

If the live tour is a hit, there could be more on the way, as Paul and Charlie reveal they have plans to ensure The Fast Show lives on.

But they have to be, er, fast — as Paul, 65, jokes: “We need to do it quick before we’re all dead.”

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Charlie, 65, adds: “We’ve had some ideas about using the characters in another format, like the Carry On films, or even a panto, so this tour is just to test the waters.

“But it’s been 20 years since we last did anything on stage and thankfully we all still get along, probably because we’ve allowed each other to do other things outside of The Fast Show.

“Sleep with other people and the marriage stays strong.”

The quick-paced BBC comedy, which ran from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014, featured more than 80 characters who made more than one appearance. The majority of them also featured on two huge live tours.

‘It will be great fun’

Posh Ted and estate worker Ralph, football pundit Ron Manager, sex-obsessed car dealer Swiss Toni, Johnny Nice Painter, country bumpkin Jesse, Professor Denzil Dexter and the “does my bum look big in this” Insecure Woman are just a selection of the show’s creations that have gone down in comedy folklore and still adored by fans.

The 1996 festive special was repeated on Christmas Day last year on BBC Two and was deemed to have stood the test of time.

But it was a recent benefit gig in aid of Felix Dexter, an ex-Fast Show cast member, which saw Charlie, Paul and Simon come together again, and they revived characters coughing country expert Bob Fleming, Jed “Arse” Thomas and hiccupping Murtagh Blethyn in a folk singalong.

Charlie says: “I posted a thing on X (Twitter) saying the old team are back together and there was a massive response as people assumed The Fast Show was back and we’re going to do a DVD and live tour.

“So I had to say, ‘No, it’s just for a one-off charity event’.

“But we thought, OK, people are interested, and Paul and I have been talking about doing something live for a long while but never had the time where we’re available to do it.

“That was a spur to say, ‘Let’s do this’.”

Paul adds: “It will be great fun, we just need to get it wrapped up before we all peg it.”

The Fast Show not only gave a platform to showcase the best in British comedy, including the late Caroline Aherne, but also A-listers such as movie star Johnny Depp, Robbie Williams — and a young Amy Winehouse.

Hollywood star Johnny appeared in a 2000 Suit You sketch as a customer of overfamiliar tailors Ken and Kenneth, played by Paul and Mark.

Charlie explains: “We heard Johnny was staying with a DJ in Ibiza and the DJ kept playing The Fast Show to him and he fell in love with it.

“He actually approached us. He was shooting two movies at the same time and had to come to London to get some fingernails fitted for one of his spooky characters.

“He was flying into Heathrow on his way into central London and told us he could fit us in between landing in Heathrow and arriving at the make-up place to do the nails, so he couldn’t stay long

“We couldn’t do it live in front of the audience, which was a shame, but actually I don’t think he wanted to do that.

“But he didn’t leave and stayed to watch the rest of the show by the side of the audience.”

Robbie featured in a special 2001 Comic Relief skit alongside Ted and Ralph — an older worker and a posh aristocrat secretly in love with him.

And Paul remembers being impressed by the singer’s professionalism — and his fancy motor. He says: “Robbie was really good on his lines.

“I remember he had a state-of-the- art Range Rover delivered that day, but he he hadn’t taken a test. 

"He said, ‘Come for a drive’, so we ended up being taken for a spin around the Hampton Court car park, where we were filming, by his driver.”

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A 14-year-old Amy Winehouse featured in a 1997 Competitive Dad sketch alongside Simon and on-screen son Toby.

Charlie says: “Toby was starring in the school version of Midsummer Night’s Dream and we needed a girl to play Titania and we got Amy Winehouse, who was at stage school.

“She was really good and did it as a dissatisfied kid who didn’t want to be in the school play.”

Paul jokes: “We discovered Amy Winehouse. I remember saying to her, ‘You need to get into music, girl. Not this bloody acting rubbish’.”

However, there was another big-name star who slipped through their fingers.

Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher was lined up for a Jazz Club sketch alongside John’s Louis “Niiice” Balfour.

Charlie explains: “Noel was a big fan and said he wanted to come on and do something on Jazz Club

“We were going to have him playing the flute. He was up for it and so close to arriving but he pulled out last minute.

“Musicians are very flaky. That’s why we never expected Johnny Depp to turn up.”

The Fast Show last appeared on TV in 2020 with a celebratory two-part special on Gold, and it is unlikely to ever come back in its previous form.

The BBC, like most channels, has cut budgets for comedy, preferring to invest in dramas instead.

This has resulted in a glut of cheaper-to-make comedy panel shows, rather than sketch shows, with those creators now favouring TikTok and YouTube.

Paul and Charlie are both sad at the demise of the telly sketch show, a mainstay of British comedy for generations, from The Two Ronnies to Little Britain.

And they believe the lack of investment would end up tarnishing the quality of The Fast Show if it were ever to return to the small screen.

Plus, they admit it would be tough to better their classics. Charlie says: “People always say to us, ‘Are you going to do more Fast Show?’.

“I don’t think we’ll do any more TV stuff, we can’t do anything better than what already exists.

“We’re all quite old. If you try and do new stuff, people will just say, ‘Oh, this new stuff isn’t as good as the old stuff’.

“And if you just do the old characters, they’d be like, Can’t they just do something new?’.”

Which is why they believe the tour, kicking off in Stoke on March 18, works best for all concerned.

Paul says that fans will be treated to the “greatest hits” and that the only new material will come via conversations with Charlie, who will take on a Graham Norton role by quizzing the gang about their time in the show and how their characters came about.

The pair are looking forward to it, especially as they both believe that in these tough times, comedy has never been more important.
Charlie says: “Comedy is a social glue in so many ways.

“We could have done many more worthy things in our lives, but making people laugh is good and people need it.”

Paul adds: “They say laughter is the best medicine, so perhaps we’re at the cutting edge of it.”

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• An Evening With The Fast Show' tours the UK throughout March. Tickets go on sale at 10am tomorrow (Thursday 24 January) from TheFastShow.Live)