The Imaginatively Titled Punt & Dennis Show
British stand-up and sketch show by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
The Imaginatively Titled Punt & Dennis Show was a British comedy series combining stand-up and sketches, created and performed by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. During its second series, it was simply called Punt and Dennis. The first series consisted of six episodes, airing from 7 July to 11 August 1994. The second series also had six episodes, broadcast on Fridays between 28 July and 1 September 1995: the first two aired at 20:30, the next three at 20:00. The final episode aired on Thursday 7 September at 22:45, with no episode shown on 11 August 1995.
Punt and Dennis had previously worked together as a double act on The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Canned Carrott. Guest performers included impressionists Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona. The sketches introduced original characters like "The Gullibles," who were easily tricked into scams, and revived earlier characters such as the milk-obsessed "Mr Strange" from The Mary Whitehouse Experience. Spoofs of TV shows like Baywatch and The X-Files also appeared. The second series featured tribute bands in each episode: Björn Again (episode 1), The Bootleg Beatles (episode 2), The Counterfeit Stones (episode 3), The LA Doors (episode 4), The Royal Family (a Queen tribute band, episode 5), and T.Rextasy (a T. Rex tribute band, episode 6).
The show mixed stand-up, television parodies, and character-based sketches. Among the characters were Mr Strange (Hugh Dennis), a man obsessed with milk and disgusting experiments, signing off with "milky-milky"; Norris (Hugh Dennis, series 2), a BBC weatherman who, as part of a home-office rehabilitation scheme for criminals, advised viewers to use weather conditions for burglary; Kurt Wenker (Hugh Dennis), a stereotypical buff, tanned German who intimidated British male tourists and joked about stealing their girlfriends; World of Wine and World of Whisky, presented by Tarquin (Punt) and alcoholic connoisseur Michael (Dennis), where Michael slurred through viewer questions; Update With Tony Shannon and Ian Pye, news anchors (Dennis and Punt) who introduced each other and headlines but never read any news; The Rt. Hon. Hector Sleazely MP (Hugh Dennis), a scandal-ridden politician whose statements were filled with homonyms and ended with him resigning from the statement; Do you Fancy a Bit of a Brew?, a lazy, dishonest tradesman (Dennis) who only made tea and did shoddy work; A
- field
- Television comedy
- nationality
- British
- known_for
- Stand-up and sketch show featuring characters such as Mr Strange and Norris the weatherman
Lore & Background
The two had already appeared as a double act in The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Canned Carrott. Impressionists Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona were among the guests on the show. There were several character inventions in the sketches, such as 'The Gullibles', who were always falling for scams, as well as a number of Punt and Dennis's characters from The Mary Whitehouse Experience, such as the milk-obsessed 'Mr Strange'. There were also spoofs from TV programmes such as Baywatch and The X-Files.
Reader's Guide
The second series featured performances by tribute bands; these included Björn Again in episode 1; The Bootleg Beatles in episode 2; The Counterfeit Stones in episode 3; The LA Doors in episode 4; The Royal Family (a Queen tribute band) in episode 5; and T.Rextasy (a T. Rex tribute band) in episode 6. The show featured a mix of stand-up, spoofs of known television series, and character-based sketches. Characters included Mr Strange, Norris the weatherman, Kurt Wenker, World of Wine and World of Whisky presenters, Update With Tony Shannon and Ian Pye, The Rt. Hon. Hector Sleazely MP, Do you Fancy a Bit of a Brew?, Any Way you Want It, The Jockeys, Martin the hit-man, and Embarrassing Dad.
Did You Know?
- The first series of 6 episodes was broadcast between 7 July and 11 August 1994.
- The second series featured tribute bands including Björn Again, The Bootleg Beatles, and The Counterfeit Stones.
- Characters such as Mr Strange and Embarrassing Dad originated from The Mary Whitehouse Experience.
- The last episode of the second series aired on Thursday 7 September 1995 at 22:45.
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