Scripts and That contains the scripts to every television episode of
The League of Gentlemen.
Jeremy Dyson
Mark Gatiss
Reece Shearsmith
Steve Pemberton
Season One
6 × 30 Minutes / BBC Two / Colour
11/01/99 Episode One: Welcome to Royston Vasey
18/01/99 Episode Two: The Road to Royston Vasey
25/01/99 Episode Three: Nightmare in Royston Vasey
01/02/99 Episodes Four: The Beast of Royston Vasey
08/02/99 Episode Five: Love Comes to Royston Vasey
15/02/99 Episode Six: Escape From Royston Vasey
Season Two
6 × 30 Minutes / BBC Two / Colour
14/01/00 Episode One: Destination: Royston Vasey
21/01/00 Episode Two: Lust For Royston Vasey
28/01/00 Episode Three: A Plague on Royston Vasey
04/02/00 Episode Four: Death in Royston Vasey
11/02/00 Episode Five: Anarchy in Royston Vasey
18/02/00 Episode Six: Royston Vasey and the Monster From Hell
Special
60 Minutes / BBC Two / Colour
27/12/00 Christmas Special
Season Three
6 × 30 Minutes / BBC Two + BBC Choice / Colour
All dates for BBC Two screenings
26/09/02 Episode 1: The Lesbian and the Monkey
03/10/02 Episode 2: The One-Armed Man is King
10/10/02 Episode 3: Turn Again Geoff Tipp's
17/10/02 Episode 4: The Medusa Touch
24/10/02 Episode 5: Beauty and the Beast (or, Come into My Parlour)
31/10/02 Episode 6: How the Elephant Got It's Trunk
All episodes of
The League of Gentlemen have been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK (
Amazon.co.uk /
HMV.com), and on Region 1 DVD in the United States (
Amazon.com).
The League of Gentlemen: Scripts and That
Publisher BBC Books Format Hardback Publication Date 2003 ISBN 0-563-48775-5 Original Price £25 Country UK
TV Zone
Issue 170 — Review (10/10)
- The League of Gentlemen television series is probably the most bizarre, twisted and black comedy ever to emerge from the UK.
Set in the fictional town of Royston Vasey, the series includes a vast array of characters ranging from the odd to the seriously deranged — all of whom are played by Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. Popular characters included Edward and Tubbs Tattsyrup, an in-bred couple whose 'local shop for local people' was an extremely dangerous place to visit; the unfortunate vet Dr Chinnery, whose patients were better off without his help; and Hillary Briss, the butcher whose 'special stuff' wasn't the sort of meat you'd generally have for your Sunday roast...
The highlight for many people, however, was the Christmas Special in 2000 which mixed the League of Gentlemen's own brand of dark comedy with the sort of creepy tale produced by the BBC for the festive season back in the 1970s. For anyone that doesn't remember what happens, it involves three seperate stories that touch on Royston Vasey's own brand of voodoo, vampirism and a curse that was placed on the grandfather of Dr Chinnery. The linking story featured the town's vicar, Bernice (named after Bernice Summerfield — the character introduced in the Doctor Who novel Love and War), and also saw a return for Papa Lazarou.
More recently some of the characters have been seen on the big screen in The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse.
- The League of Gentlemen are Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton.
Of the four writers, Jeremy Dyson is the one that generally doesn't appear on screen. Recently he has co-written Funland for BBC Three, in which Mark Gatiss made an appearance as Ashley Chapfel, and in 2001 co-wrote the episode Two Can Play at That Game with Gatiss for Season Two of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).
Mark Gatiss has written four Doctor Who novels: Nightshade, St Anthony's Fire, The Roundheads and Last of the Gadarene. More recently he has written two episodes for the Doctor Who television series, including the popular The Unquiet Dead. His script to that episode was included in Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts, published by BBC Books in October 2005. As well as co-writing the final episode of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) in 2001 with Jeremy Dyson, he also appeared in the first episode of Season One, Drop Dead, as Inspector Large.
Reece Shearsmith's other telefantasy connections include appearing in the Gatiss and Dyson episode of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) as Helium Harry, and he also appeared in the Doctor Who spin-off drama Auton.
Steve Pemberton has gone on to appear in numerous other series in straight acting roles, including appearances in BBC Two's big-budget adaptation of Gormenghast in which he played Professor Mule, and Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) in which he played Sergeant Liddel in the very first episode alongside Mark Gatiss.
