Naked Video
| Naked Video | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sketch show |
| Created by | Colin Gilbert |
| Directed by | Brian Jobson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Colin Gilbert |
| Running time | 25mins |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Scotland |
| Original release | 12 May 1986 – 18 November 1991 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | |
Naked Video was a BBC Scotland comedy series, broadcast between 1986 and 1991 on BBC2, the series was created by Colin Gilbert who also created A Kick Up the Eighties and Naked Radio.
Naked Radio
Naked Radio was a radio sketch show which broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and started its ten-year run on 22 January 1981. The show covered all aspects of Scottish society and contained a lot of topical satire material rather than parody.[1] The series starred Gregor Fisher, Andy Gray, Elaine C. Smith, Tony Roper, Jonathan Watson, Kate Donnelly, Louise Beattie, and Ron Bain. The series was produced by Colin Gilbert and the script editor was Philip Differ.
Naked Radio proved a popular part of the local schedule, and in 1985 the cast mounted the show on stage at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Gilbert realised it had potential for television and Naked Video was born. It proved popular at a time when alternative comedy was at its peak. The Naked Radio series finished in 1991, when it was axed along with Naked Video.
The show also spawned a radio spinoff; Only An Excuse, which later also made the transition to television.
Writers
Writers for Naked Video included Harry Enfield, Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Nigel Planer, Helen Lederer, Ian Pattison, John Sparkes, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders and Rik Mayall.
Regular characters
Naked Video featured:
- Drunk Sloane (played by Helen Lederer), an attractive but stupid woman who props up the wine bar and delivers monologues to camera.
- Bernard and Miriam (played by Gregor Fisher and Helen Lederer), a repressed middle-aged couple.
- Bitter Divorcee Lizzie (played by Elaine C Smith), an attractive 30-something woman who (like Drunk Sloane) delivers monologues about her divorce, only from her bedroom instead of a wine bar.
- Highlander Angus (played by Gregor Fisher), a Gaelic TV presenter for the OHBC (Outer Hebrides Broadcasting Corporation).
- The Baldy Man (played by Gregor Fisher), a vain halfwit with but a few strands of hair across his head. The character was spun off into a separate series, produced and directed by Colin Gilbert who was also working with Fisher on Rab C. Nesbitt.
- Siadwell (played by John Sparkes), a geeky Welsh poet. (He had appeared previously in the Radio 4 series Bodgers Banks and Sparkes.)
- Rab C Nesbitt (played by Gregor Fisher), an alcoholic Glaswegian stereotype who wears a string vest, a pinstripe suit and a grubby headband. He was arguably the most popular character, and also received his own series (produced and directed by Colin Gilbert and written by Ian Pattison) which became a successful sitcom.
Episode guide
There were 30 episodes made over its 6-year run. Each was 25 minutes long, all shown on BBC2
- Series One 12 May-16 June 1986
- Series Two 16 April-21 May 1987
- Series Three 19 January-23 February 1989
- Series Four 29 September-3 November 1989
- Series Five 14 October-18 November 1991
DVD
To date the first three series of Naked Video have been released on DVD by 2 Entertain.
- Series 1 released on 17 July 2006.
- Series 2 released on 9 October 2006.
- Series 3 released on 29 January 2007.
As yet series 4 and 5 have not been released.
Reunion
In 2000, the cast were reunited for a theatre show and radio broadcast.
Radio documentary
In 2005, Gerard Kelly presented a documentary in the Radio Roots season on Radio Scotland about the show. It looked at how it "sprouted a generation of TV writing and performing talent".
References
- ↑ "BBC - Comedy Guide - Naked Video". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 10 December 2004. Retrieved 28 November 2014.