The League of Gentlemen (comedy)

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Template:This The League of Gentlemen is a troupe of English comedy performers, and the name of their stage, radio, and latterly television series. The show, which is a cross between a situation comedy and sketch show, details the bizarre goings-on in a fictional northern English village, which in the radio series was called Spent, and on television Royston Vasey (the real name of comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown.)

The stage show began in late 1994, and soon the team adopted their name from the Jack Hawkins movie, The League of Gentlemen and took the Perrier award for comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1997. The same year the radio series On the Town with The League of Gentlemen, debuted on BBC Radio 4, and won a Sony Award for the first series. In 1999 the show transferred to television and quickly acquired a cult following. There have been one six-episode series on radio and three on television, the first being in 1999, the second in 2000 and the third in 2002. A Christmas Special was also shown in December 2000, soon after the airing of the second series. Along with The Fast Show, the series is credited with the revival of the sketch show format in BBC Comedy and its influence can be seen on the later series Little Britain.

Filming takes place mainly on location in the north Derbyshire town of Hadfield and consequently has no live audience. A laugh track was added to Series 1 and 2, but this was dropped from the Christmas Special and Series 3 when shown in the UK. The group also took the show to Drury Lane in 2001, comprised of old and new material. In early 2005, a special one-off sketch was broadcast on the BBC for Comic Aid, a charity benefit for the tsunami disaster. In it, 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. The programme is made in 16:9 widescreen, which means that some of the visual gags might be hard to spot in letterboxed 4:3 format.

The BBC has expressed interest in a fourth series, but the League are unsure (i.e. it is unclear as to whether the show would continue in the style of Series 3 or return to the sketch format of the first two series). They have said that they would wait to see what critical reaction the film and their second tour will receive before progressing.

The three actors in the League (Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith) toured the UK with their second live show "The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You", a pantomime-themed show which ran from October to mid-December 2005.

The League of Gentleman provided voices for the Vogons in the film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Some of the characters can be clearly heard in the background of many scenes.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Characters 2.1 Edward and Tubbs Tattsyrup 2.2 Barbara Dixon 2.3 The Dentons 2.3.1 Benjamin Denton 2.4 Hilary Briss 2.5 Mr Chinnery 2.6 Pauline, Mickey and Ross 2.7 Geoff, Mike, and Brian 2.8 Les McQueen 2.9 Rev. Bernice Woodall 2.10 Mrs Levinson and Iris Krell 2.11 Charlie and Stella Hull 2.12 Charity Shop Workers 2.13 Henry Portrait and Ally Welles 2.14 Papa Lazarou 2.15 Herr Lipp 2.16 Legz Akimbo 2.17 Additional characters 3 Reference 4 External links

Overview

The League of Gentlemen is a sketch show, but over the run of a series the sketches involving a certain set of characters form an overall story. In addition, because all the action and nearly all the characters live in the same place, there is often overlap, with the events and characters of one story playing a part in another. There is usually a main plot to which the others are often tenuously connected, some simply using the main plot conveniently in brief dialogue or a background scene.

In the radio series, the plot was that of outsider Benjamin Denton visiting his aunt and uncle in Spent in order to be interviewed for a job at the local power plant. Not surprisingly, he missed the interview and is forced to stay longer than expected.

In Series 1, the main plot is that of a new road being built straight through Royston Vasey, and the possibility of numerous strangers intruding upon the town. The road development eventually ends when Tubbs and Edward discover the constructions manager to be their long lost son, David, and convince him to end the building, convincing him to live "locally". Series 2 saw a deadly epidemic of nosebleeds grip the town's inhabitants, killing several in the process. This plot is resolved after some confusion over the cause of the nosebleeds, involving Hilary Briss's "special stuff", Benjamin Denton's escape from his relatives, and the murders in the Local Shop.

There was also a Christmas Special after Series 2, which took a slightly different format of three self-contained stories, with three of the characters seeking the help of the vicar, Bernice, on Christmas Eve. Series 3 was different again focusing on a different character each week but with the overlaps creating a more complex layering of the plot, more akin to a one-off episode of a situation comedy (albeit one where all the episodes join up at the end) than a traditional sketch show. The end of each episode features a motor accident, where a white van crashes into a garden wall. Some residents escape unharmed, whilst others are not so lucky. A red plastic bag is seen in every episode to suggest that all the stories take place at the same time. All the characters' endings are resolved at the end of the final episode.

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 the trio with Jeremy Dyson, though Dyson, who is not an actor like the others, does appear in cameo parts throughout the series. Because there are usually only three actors onscreen at any one time, the different characters mostly play out their own stories in several serialised sketches, rarely crossing into each other's storylines and only having rare occasions where the actors "meet themselves". Exceptions include Papa Lazarou facing the Reverend Bernice in the Christmas Special (both Reece Shearsmith), Alvin Steele buying from Iris at a supermarket checkout in Series 2 (both Mark Gatiss), and Herr Lipp meeting his creator, Steve Pemberton in The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (both, obviously, Steve Pemberton).

It was directed by Steve Bendelack. The theme tune was composed by The Divine Comedy's Joby Talbot. The series has also garnered considerable critical acclaim, acquiring a BAFTA award, a Royal Television Society award and the Golden Rose of Montreux. In 2003, its creators were listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2004 The Radio Times listed Papa Lazarou as the 8th funniest comedy sketch of all time (despite the fact that Papa Lazarou is a character rather than a sketch).

The show has a lot of dark humour, with much of the scenes inspired by horror films (the policeman visiting Tubbs and Edward is straight out of The Wicker Man (1973)), documentaries (Dr Carlton came from a programme called "Change of Sex" which featured a "monstrously unsympathetic" doctor) and personal experience (Legz Akimbo came from the writers' experiences in amateur theatre and Pauline Campbell-Jones came from Steve Pemberton's own Restart officer). Even the village sign is somewhat ominous, reading, in a similar style to many hundreds of such signs throughout the UK, "Welcome to Royston Vasey. You'll never leave." In real life, Royston Vasey is the given name of comedian Roy Chubby Brown; Brown makes several cameo appearances as the town's (characteristically) foulmouthed mayor. The "You'll never leave" comes from a faux-pas (albeit unintentional) from Gloucester Council, who wanted a change of image for the area after the West murders there, and they came up with "Come to Gloucester, You'll never leave."

The programme has particularly high production values, with numerous detailed sets and complex character makeup, and particular attention is lavished on lighting and cinematography. The series is filmed on high-definition video tape, and post-processed to give it a high-quality film grain effect. A number of outdoor scenes (particularly the varied outdoor shots of the village shop and the intricate opening pan over the village) rival a major motion picture in terms of cinematography.

Characters

Edward and Tubbs Tattsyrup

Edward and Tubbs, played by Shearsmith and Pemberton respectively, are a married couple (apparently brother and sister) and proprietors of Royston Vasey's local shop, conveniently located on the top of a hill some distance away from the town. Both have distinctly piggy noses (the actors have their noses held up with tape). Despite being complete outsiders to the rest of the action in the show, they have ironically become arguably the most popular and identifiable characters as well.

Edward has a phobia about outsiders and is likely to emerge from the back of the shop saying "Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here!" and challenge people with the question, "Are you local?" and dismiss those who reply "no" with, "This is a local shop, for local people; there's nothing for you here" — one of the show's best-known catch phrases.

Tubbs, though also scared of newcomers, dreams of visiting the "bright lights" of towns and cities (usually London, said as "Lundun", and also places such as Swansea and Chorley), whose existence Edward has tried to keep from her. She tends to ask "Are you local?" with both hope and fear mixed in her voice, but is afraid that visitors may take her "precious things" from the shelves of the shop (in particular, snow storms/snow globes).

Edward and Tubbs have a son David who develops a bestial nature after his reunion with his parents at the end of Series 1 (he was, prior to that, a road manager responsible for building a road threatening to link Royston Vasey to the outside world throughout Series 1) and is kept locked up in the attic. During Series 2 they attempt to kidnap a wife for David, in the end the unwitting victim is Barbara (see below).

The couple are responsible for a large number of murders in the area, some of which probably occurred when trying to find both a friend and a wife for David.

At the start of Series 3, they are seen to have survived the fire brought about by the inhabitants of Royston Vasey, whom they suspect of starting the nosebleed epidemic, although David was killed and Barbara escaped. They decide to follow "New Road" and contemplate beginning a new life with a new shop. Unfortunately, Tubbs, using one of the snow globes as a map, has been guiding them along a railway line, and they are both promptly killed by a speeding train. They do also appear in the live show as angels, although this is set in a "bubble" outside of the main show, much like the film, where they also have important roles.

In the final shot of Series 3 we see a brief glimpse of their grandchildren in Barbara's arms. Though it is only hinted at it is believed from the writers comments that these children are actually Tubbs and Edward reincarnated.

Barbara Dixon

The transsexual Barbara (voiced by Pemberton) is proprietor of the local taxi firm, Bab's Cabs, and likes to regale passengers with graphic descriptions of her upcoming operation. She has a deep voice and a necklace with her name on it which nestles in amongst her chest hair. We never see her face. At the end of Series 1 the operation is botched by substitute surgeon Mr. Chinnery (see below), with the result that in Series 2 Barbara can't tell what sex she is any more. To further confuse matters, Barbara is seen heavily pregnant in Series 3 (and gives birth to twins, both of whom resemble Tubbs and Edward). Barbara was briefly married to Tubbs and Edward's son, David. Their marriage was short-lived after angry townsfolk set fire to the Local Shop on their wedding night, killing David in the blaze.

The Dentons

Harvey Denton (Pemberton) and his wife Val (Gatiss) are a bizarre couple whose gaudy house is run in an insanely ordered manner; for example, they have two rolls of toilet paper, labelled "One" and "Two", and colour-coded towels for every purpose, from hands and spills to pubic hair. They have identical twin daughters, Chloe and Radcliffe. With their long white dresses, a habit of turning up unexpectedly and speaking in unison, they are obvious references to the two girls in The Shining. Harvey's dream in life is to have a self-lowering toilet seat. Val's wish is to have a son.

Into this formula, their nephew Benjamin (Shearsmith) is interjected. Harvey and Val tell him to make himself at home, but obviously, with their collection of absurd rules, this is seemingly impossible. Harvey and Val also become obsessed with male masturbation, forever accusing Benjamin of masturbating, using an array of comical euphemisms.

Harvey in particular is deeply fascinated by toads and has had the basement converted into a special chamber for keeping his huge collection. He is not so fond of frogs, refusing to allow the use of "The "F" word" in his home.

He also owns the toad known to the Mapapa tribe of the shakiti hills as the devil's toad. "If one were to squeeze its little yellow belly, ones heart's desire would be granted." With him and his wife, Val, that turned out to be true. He wished for a self-lowering toilet seat, while Val asked for her nephew, Benjamin, to return. Both wishes came true. Benjamin also made the mistake of killing two of Harvey's favourite toads, Sonny and Cher, by frying one and stepping on the other.

As Series 1 progresses, it becomes clear that the pair, and in particular Val, do not wish for Benjamin to leave. In the first series, they merely used diversionary tactics. However, in Series 2 their plans become more sinister, locking Benjamin in his room, contacting his family and telling them he wishes to stay with the Dentons and constructing a large chamber in the basement where they intend to keep him as a pet. Harvey even goes so far as to publish a pamphlet entitled "My Plan to Keep Benjamin Locked Up as Some Kind of Pet, by Harvey Denton", which even Val is repulsed by. Benjamin discovers this plan and turns the table on Harvey and Val, trapping them in the chamber and forcing them to confess before Chloe and Radcliffe chase him off with a shotgun. However, rather than free their parents, they lock them in.

Though never expressly killed off, this is the last we see of Harvey and Val. They were not featured in Series 3 or the film, although one of their previous routines does appear in the live show and in the Christmas Special, Val is seen as head of "Solutions Inc.", though this may not be real, given that it took place in Charlie's dream. A relative identical to Harvey is briefly seen on the streets of Royston Vasey in the Victorian era, shaking a collection tin in a suggestive manner. Their absence is unusual for such important and frequently used characters.

Benjamin Denton

The first character to be introduced, Benjamin is the only permanent non-local character. To illustrate his normality, Shearsmith wears no makeup of any kind in his portrayal of Benjamin. He is also an important character in some of the major storylines. Originally he came to stay with The Dentons for an overnight stop whilst meeting a friend for a hiking trip. However, his friend is murdered by Tubbs and Edward. Tubbs now permanently wears the friend's walking boots.

More importantly, at the end of Series 1, he attempts to escape from Royston Vasey, and is last seen entering Tubbs and Edward's shop. After some time missing, he returns at the start of Series 2, dressed bizarrely and utterly confused. He runs screaming through the town, before returning to the Denton's home after Val wished upon a magic toad for him to return, collapsing on the floor and uttering the word "local" before passing out.

Though he cannot remember where he has been, he has a snow storm taken from the Local Shop. It is implied that Tubbs and Edward had tried to keep Benjamin as a friend for David. After escaping the Denton's home, Benjamin is surprised to find that Royston Vasey has descended into anarchy as a result of the epidemic. At this point, he finds the snow storm in his pocket and remembers his experiences in the Local Shop and leads an angry mob there. However, the rioters wrongly interpret this to mean that Tubbs and Edward are responsible for the epidemic, and only when they begin to burn down the local shop in the final scenes of Series 2 does Benjamin realise his mistake. He does not appear in Series 3, presumably having finally escaped Royston Vasey at the end of Series 2.

Hilary Briss

Briss, played by Gatiss, is a butcher and proprietor of Hilary Briss and Son, Royston Vasey local butchers. His wares include a secret "special stuff", a highly addictive and mysterious substance, which, it is implied, is not only illegal but hideously immoral. Many authority figures are "in" on Briss' activities, including Police Inspector Cox, Magistrate Maurice Evans (Pemberton) and Councillor Samuel Chignell (Shearsmith), all of whom become hopelessly addicted.

Though Briss only sells his "special stuff" to a select group of gentlemen (often in cosy fireside gatherings at Briss' home), in Series 2 addiction to the "special stuff" led to a hemorrhagic epidemic, one of the symptoms of which was chronic nose bleeding. This resulted in the death of many local residents, including the Mayor. The "special stuff" had reached a wider market through Evans's wife Eunice, who served it at her sandwich stall. She had gained access to the "special stuff" presumably through Maurice. The pure dose of "special stuff" which Briss served was one thing, but Eunice cut the substance and mixed it with her own paste, making it poisonous.

Before he could be caught, Briss escaped to a tropical island (where he continued selling his "special stuff") leaving behind his wife, who it turns out is a brown cow. Eunice was arrested along with Inspector Cox, while Sam and Maurice are last seen with nosebleeds, burning evidence of the "special stuff". Maurice appears to survive as he is talked about by Eunice in Series 3, but we do not know if Sam also survived. Briss did not appear in Series 3; all we know of him is a newspaper showing a story of a nosebleed epidemic in the Caribbean, suggesting his antics continued there in much the same way as before. However, in the film, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, he returns clad in handcuffs and being chased by the police across the moors. Whereas in the first two series, Briss is a fairly one-dimensional character, in the film, he is fleshed out into the anti-hero of the piece before being killed by Dr Pea, the film's parody of occultist John Dee.

Though it is never revealed what "special stuff" consists of, many have assumed that it is human meat. However, the writers have denied that this is the case, stating that they can think of "nothing more mundane than cannibalism", and indicating that it is something much worse. However, the series 1 DVD includes a fragment of brainstorming materials in its bonus section, on which the idea of the butcher selling human appendices obtained from the local hospital is listed. Others suspect it is a highly addictive substance like cocaine, given various clues throughout Series 1 and 2. Even the writers were apparently not sure what the special stuff was at the beginning of the series. The only clue from the original live shows is that it rhymes with "drawstring".

Mr Chinnery

A cheerful and disarming man, Mr Matthew Chinnery (Gatiss) is the accident-prone local veterinarian (not "Dr Chinnery", as he is a veterinary surgeon). Most of the animals he treats end up dying, including a pregnant cow whose insides were mangled when he attempted to help the calf but put his hand up the wrong passage while a group of schoolchildren looked on, a sheepdog whom he mistakenly euthanised while the owner was out of the room fetching the actual patient, and a tortoise he blasted out of its shell while attempting to give it oxygen.

In the Christmas Special, Mr Chinnery told Bernice the story of how his great-grandfather, the foremost vet of his time, was cursed to have any animal he touched "meet a dreadful end" and that his descendants would carry the curse after him. Bernice reassured him that there was no such thing as curses. He does not appear at all in Series 3 (most likely because he was "cured" in the Christmas special), but does make an appearance in the film, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, treating a giraffe and having a role in the film's climax. In the live show, he stands in for a magician and gives a new twist to the trick of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Many of Chinnery's disasters are parodies of scenes from the BBC's All Creatures Great and Small. Mark Gatiss's performance is reminiscent of Peter Davison, who played Tristan Farnon on that program. (Gatiss is also a famous fan of Doctor Who, in which Davison played the title character for three years. The name Chinnery almost certainly comes from actor Dennis Chinnery who played three separate characters in Doctor Who. Coincidentally, Christopher Eccleston, the ninth Doctor, appeared in the League of Gentlemen as the owner of a cat theatre, set up in direct competition to Kenny Harris's Dog Cinema — Kenny Harris also played by Mark Gatiss.)

Pauline, Mickey and Ross

Pauline Campbell-Jones (Pemberton) is a Restart officer, leading mandatory (and exceedingly condescending) Restart courses which the chronically unemployed are compelled to attend. Pauline cannot conceal her contempt for the dole scum who attend her course at Royston Vasey's Jobcentre, and her eventual humiliation at joining their sorry ranks is too much for her to bear. Pauline has an obsession with pens. Her catch phrase is "Hokey-cokey, pig in a pokey". Pauline was once accused of being a "psychotic 50-year-old lesbian", which aside from claiming she was only 48, she didn't deny. She has a framed photograph of herself and another woman naked, who was named on the commentary of the series 2 DVD as a former lover of Pauline's named Terri Makepeace. In the commentary of the series 1 DVD when asked whether she is in a relationship, Pauline says, rather sadly, "There was someone once", and the commentary also names that person as Terri Makepeace.

Mickey and Ross are two of the people taking the Restart course. Mickey M Michaels (Gatiss), a simpleton who wants to be a fireman grows increasingly close to Pauline throughout the series. Ross Gaines (Shearsmith) is considerably more intelligent than Pauline and always tries to embarrass her when asked to perform tasks to the rest of the class. However, Pauline usually resorts to violence to secure the upper hand. Ross seems very officious and doesn't appear to have any close friends or family — when Pauline once flicked through his address book it was empty apart from "Work" and "Mother".

At the end of Series 1, Ross reveals that he is in fact an undercover agent who has been inspecting Pauline and, naturally, fires her forcing her to sit the Restart course which, in Series 2, is now being led by Cathy Carter-Smith (Shearsmith), who is just as bad, if not worse, than Pauline. After Mickey stands up for her, she leaves the class and briefly works with him at the Burger Me fast food restaurant, but is fired when she spoils Ross's veggie burger in revenge. In an act of desperation Pauline, with the help of Mickey, takes Ross hostage in the Jobcentre and demands her job back. However, they are not noticed, partly due to the epidemic and partly due to the fact that no one realises Ross is missing. Ross eventually tricks Mickey and escapes, returning later to have Pauline arrested. As an interesting side note, moments before she is arrested, Pauline is about to take a bite from a sandwich which she had just bought from Eunice Evans's stall. When she sees Ross with a police officer, she drops the sandwich in surprise. Presumably, had she eaten the sandwich she would have been poisoned.

In Series 3, Pauline is serving time at HM Clitclink Prison alongside Eunice Evans, nicknamed "The Royston Poisoner" and being bullied by her. She is given early release when she strikes a deal with Ross to discover how Mickey's family has been cheating the employment system. However, she feels guilty for her involvement and she and Mickey sleep together and become engaged, cementing their love for each other. Mickey was dressed as a woman at the time and he asks Pauline if that was the reason she had sex with him, but she tells him it wasn't. Pauline then has sex with Ross to make sure he doesn't tell Mickey about their deal (although it is also implied she has actually been attracted to him all this time- these two liaisons suggest Pauline may actually be bisexual), but he decides to tell him anyway. Pauline runs to get to Mickey before Ross does, but is saved from the speeding Legz Akimbo van (driven by Geoff) by Lance, who sacrifices his life to save hers. She and Mickey get married, and even Ross applauds the happy couple.

In the live show, there is a "Who Shot Pauline?" saga, featuring Ross, Mickey and Cathy Carter-Smith as suspects.

Geoff, Mike, and Brian

Geoff Tipps (Shearsmith), Mike Harris (Pemberton), and Brian Morgan (Gatiss) all work at the local plastics injection-moulding company. Mike is the most normal of the trio (like Benjamin Denton, Mike is portrayed by Pemberton with no added makeup), whilst Brian is slightly less intelligent, though still a good friend. Geoff is rather more tactless and distasteful, always aiming to perfect his comic timing with a series of ill-formed jokes. The three getting together always results in Geoff exploding in a fit of rage, often brandishing a gun and exclaiming "Well you know I've got this gun!". In Series 2, en route to an away day training session they become lost in the woods and turn to barbarism in a parody of Deliverance. The reason Mike and Brian remain friends with Geoff despite his outbursts remains a mystery until Mike's wedding, when it's revealed that Mike once slept with Geoff's wife, whilst Brian is now co-habiting with her.

In Series 3 Geoff travels to London to become an unsuccessful stand-up comedian after being sacked by Mike — only to be accused of terrorism and having to return to Royston Vasey, as police are searching for him in London. On the way back he swerves his stolen van into a garden wall and is horribly disfigured. He is last seen a great deal happier (albeit with his face heavily bandaged) in hospital surrounded by his friends, including Mike and his wife Cheryl. The fact that his face has been disfigured concludes his story in series three: the search for him was based on a facial description, so he is no longer in danger of being caught by the police.

Brian is mentioned early in Series 3, where Geoff claims there is a rumour going around that he was "bummed by binmen" — though this is probably not true. He appears in person later, having quit his job to search for his missing wife Katie, but eventually both him and his wife are imprisoned inside circus animals along with Reenie, Charlie and Bernice by Papa Lazarou. Neither Mike nor Brian appear in The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, though Geoff is an important character in the film, overcoming his anger and cowardice to emerge as the hero - despite shooting Mark Gatiss at the end of the film when he takes the safety catch off of Herr Lipp's gun.

Les McQueen

Les McQueen (Gatiss) is former rhythm guitar player for 70s glam rock band Creme Brulée (and still has plently of copies of their two albums: Just Desserts and Another Helping), now working in the hospital laundry and longing for the old days when he would walk into a Royston Vasey urinal and heads would turn. He constantly bothers other aspiring musicians who he meets, boring them with tales of a now outdated and unfashionable music era. When they politely (or in some cases unpolitely) ask him to leave them alone, he does so, stating sadly (as if he is trying to convince himself of it, rather than convince whoever he is talking to) "It's a shit business, I'm glad I'm out of it".

One of the more tragic characters, McQueen evoked genuine sympathy from the audience. However, despite this, he is never given anything close to mercy by the writers, with things getting progressively worse for him. In his final appearance in Series 2 he is conned out of his redundancy package (which he was going to use to open a bar abroad) by the lead singer of Creme Brulée, in the hopes of reuniting the band. He makes a brief cameo appearance in Series 3 as the MC for the Little Miss Elegance Beauty Pageant.

In the live version of the show, he is introduced as just having had a major resurgence in his career, with a big record contract and a promising solo career. When he walks on stage he dances to the music before approaching the microphone and being electrocuted and killed.

Rev. Bernice Woodall

The local vicar, Bernice (Shearsmith) does not believe in God or the teachings of the Bible, and constantly berates parishioners for their sins. It seems she takes a perverse pleasure in humiliating people in the confessional booth. In a recent BBC7 League of Gentlemen night Reece Shearsmith revealed that the original incarnation of Bernice was based on This Morning's agony aunt, Denise Robertson.

Her original role in the radio series was as the local DJ. In the live show, she acted as an agony aunt on her own show called "It's Bernice", supposedly attempting to comfort, but really just insulting, an obese woman.

In the Christmas Special it emerges that Bernice witnessed her mother being kidnapped when she was a child, perhaps explaining her cynical outlook on the world. She plays in important role in the Christmas Special, hearing the problems of some of the locals, all the while battling with her past. At the end of the episode, her fears are realised when the kidnapper returns for her, revealing himself as Papa Lazarou. He kidnaps her declaring "You're my wife now".

A picture of her is seen on a missing persons flyer posted on the church noticeboard at the start of the Series 3, and at the end she is briefly spotted in Papa Lazarou's big tent — trapped inside an elephant with Brian, Charlie and various other people. She also makes an appearance in the movie as the person who organises the attempts to save Royston Vasey.

Mrs Levinson and Iris Krell

Upper-middle class Judee Levinson (Shearsmith) and her grotesque cleaning lady Iris Krell (Gatiss) who both have troubled private lives, indulge in a regular microcosm of the class struggle. Each taunts the other: Mrs Levinson with tales of her luxury lifestyle, Iris with lurid stories of her sex life in a constant game of one-upmanship (at last count, at the end of Series 2, their score was 3-3). The stories usually turn to personal insults about upsetting events in the others personal lives with increasingly catastrophic revelations.

These stories usually involve their husbands, who are never seen. Judee's husband, Eddie, is said to be "King of the Carpet Warehouses", but in the final episode of Series 2, it is revealed that he became bankrupt and died of a heart attack at 42. Iris's husband, Ron, is alive and well, but Judee believes him to be nothing more than a sex-hungry, prehistoric animal.

At the end of Series 2, Iris finally snaps back at Judee after all her insults, revealing that they are mother and daughter. The story goes that Iris gave birth to Judee in her teens, then both got separated. Many years later, Judee hired Iris as a cleaner, but upon discovery of her being her mother, nothing ever changed between them. This is taken a step further in the live show, where it is suggested not only that both are cleaners who take it in turns to pretend to be their unseen employer, but that they are father and son and have only been pretending to be women all along.

In Series 3, Judee has started up a beauty salon with Charlie Hull called "Spit and Polish". The customers believe her to be giving the massages, when it is in fact Charlie. During this time, Judee develops a crush on Charlie. When people start demanding "extras", Charlie struggles with homosexuality, especially with his son-in-law, Tony. When he confesses to giving "extras", Judee fires him and Stella leaves him because of his homosexuality to jet off to sunnier climates. Iris, meanwhile, appears to have a brief cameo in Pop's strip club, where her body is seen dancing and Pop thanks a woman called Iris for her services. She is also heard on one of the massage tapes in the beauty salon, asking Judee if she wants a cup of tea.

Charlie and Stella Hull

Charlie (Pemberton) and Stella (Shearsmith) are a husband and wife with a tempestuous relationship. They have grown to hate each other and quarrel endlessly, using unwilling third parties as mediators. These include their daughter's boyfriend, Tony (Gatiss), a waiter and a baby. Their daughter, Julie, is never seen. In the second live show, it is revealed that Julie died 10 years ago - she drowned in the bath when Stella went to check the lottery numbers instead of looking after her ("It was a Rollover..." Stella cried).

Generally, as the argument reaches its peak, the third party will voice their displeasure at the situation and leave. At this point, Charlie and Stella usually return to polite conversation. Throughout the sketches in Series 1 and 2, we discover that Stella has a gambling addiction, and that she has slept with other men, including Tony.

In the Christmas Special, the story is taken a step further, with both Charlie and Stella speaking to each other directly for the first time. Charlie visits the Reverend Bernice about a dream he keeps having where he is going to enter a line-dancing competition on Boxing Day. Frustrated with his obsession over his new hobby, Stella seeks help from her friend, Donna (Liza Tarbuck), through the form of a secret organisation called "Solutions, Inc." (which is run by Val Denton and includes other local females such as Pauline, Vinnie & Reenie, Judee & Iris and Pam Doove, all of whom wear white masks). She gives them three items belonging to Charlie, which they use to form a voodoo doll of him, saying that they will let her know the price when the deed is done. During the line-dancing competition, Charlie does very well until he falls (Val throws the doll to the ground) and cannot stop dancing (Pauline burns the doll's feet) and is forced to douse himself with beer (the women use water) to stop himself. He receives an extremely low score, effectively ruining his hobby and his confidence.

Later, on a snowy day, Stella is relaxing on a bench with Lee (Gatiss), who is supposed to be Donna's boyfriend. However, when he gets up, blood gushes from his throat and he falls over dead. One of the "Solutions" members then appears and reveals herself to be Donna. She used the only one of the three items that had been unused (Charlie's razor) to slit Lee's doll's throat, saying that this is the price and attracting the police to arrest Stella, having framed her for Lee's murder. Unfortunately, Bernice cynically believes his story to be nothing more than a "cheese-dream" and kicks him out of her church, crying and wandering off into the night.

In Series 3, Charlie forms a partnership with Judee Levinson at the "Spit and Polish" beauty salon, where he is soon asked to give "extras" to customers (i.e. helping them masturbate). When he reveals himself to have done Tony's "extras", Tony is disgusted and beats him up, before Judee fires him and Stella announces she has won on the pools and is leaving him behind to go on holiday. Depressed and rejected, he wanders to the Windermere B & B, but it is closed for a private function. He gets caught up in the accident involving Pauline, Lance, Geoff and the Legz Akimbo van before being kidnapped by Keith Drop (aka Papa Lazarou) and imprisoned inside an elephant (although in his final appearance he is shown to be happy, as Brian was now keeping him company).

Charity Shop Workers

Vinnie Wythenshaw and Reenie Calver are two old ladies (Shearsmith and Pemberton) obsessed with the quality of the bags they give out. They are disorganised and skittish and have a particular dislike for the unseen Merill who works at the shop on Thursdays and for the "Spastic" charity shop. Reenie has a hearing disorder meaning that she misinterprets practically everything Vinnie or a customer says. They berate customers for being rude, even though their rudeness is often acceptable given the difficulty they have in processing even the simplest task.

In Series 3, Vinnie is killed when she falls off her motorised wheelchair onto a large spike, in the process of chasing a red plastic bag that flew out of the Charity Shop window. This bag plays an important role in connecting all the storylines in Series 3 (being seen in every episode, the bag re-enforces the idea that all of the events in the series happen at the same time) and having great significance in the motor accident at the end of each episode. Her replacement turns out to be Keith Drop, whom Reenie befriends after losing her best friend. However, Keith reveals his true identity to be Papa Lazarou. Reenie and Brian follow him back to his house, attempting to find out what has happened to Brian's wife, but both are then kidnapped and imprisoned, Reenie inside a crocodile, Brian in an elephant.

Query — Who leaves Vinnie's clothes outside the Charity Shop after her accident in Series 3? A guess from the L.O.G leading fans is that it's Papa Lazarou, as he knows of the death and possibly caused the red bag to escape in the first place.

Papa Lazarou has also been taking the possessions of his "wives" to sell at the charity shop, and this is why Brian begins to suspect that "Keith" (aka Papa Lazarou) knows something about his wife's disappearance - he finds, for sale in the shop, a brooch that she was wearing on the day she went missing.

Henry Portrait and Ally Welles

Two scruffy teenagers played by Pemberton and Shearsmith, who consider themselves to be film experts, but will only watch a film if it has a sufficient number of "killings". Named after, respectively, "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and Orson Welles.

Papa Lazarou

Main article Papa Lazarou

Papa Lazarou (Shearsmith), blackfaced proprietor of a travelling circus and freak show, The Pandemonium Carnival, with a frighteningly acquisitive nature. In the first episode of Series 2, Lazarou is introduced when he brings his circus to Royston Vasey. The episode also introduces his bizarre pastimes such as selling pegs and collecting wives. In one particularly memorable scene, he breaks into a woman's house, unrelentingly asking for "Dave" ("Hello Dave" and "Is Dave there?" have since become his catchphrases). He frightens her into giving him her wedding ring, before declaring "you're my wife now". This scene in particular was cited as one of the most macabre and genuinely frightening scenes from the series.

In Series 3, he became even more sinister when he took on the disguise of Keith Drop at the Charity Shop, and demonstrated his more elaborate techniques of keeping his wives (and anyone who dared to rescue them) in his circus animals.

Papa Lazarou quickly became a fan favourite, despite only appearing in two episodes out of the whole three series of LOG. He also featured in the Christmas special and the League of Gentleman's Apocalypse

Herr Lipp

Herr Wolf Lipp (Pemberton) is a German who leads tour groups in Royston Vasey. A homosexual, he becomes obsessed with Justin Smart, a boy with whom he is staying. Justin's mother comes down with a nosebleed during the epidemic, leaving Herr Lipp more time to spend with him. He has not quite mastered the English language, so he often makes mistakes which come out as double entendres. He has been to Vasey before, as well as many other cities in Britain, where he has presumably come into contact with many schoolboys like Justin. In the penultimate episode of Series 2, he struggles to express his feelings for Justin before ending up throwing some drug-laced coffee in his face, causing him to collapse. When Herr Lipp says goodbye to Mrs Smart (who survives the epidemic, having only been a "carrier"), it is revealed that he and his wife, Lotte (Gatiss), buried Justin alive, with only a snorkel to breathe through. He leaves saying "See you next year, Justin! Tschüß!" before stroking the snorkel.

In the Christmas Special, a man named Matthew Parker reveals how in 1975, he was part of an exchange programme and stayed with the Lipps, where Herr Lipp ran a boys choir and Lotte assisted on the organ. He gradually comes to believe that Herr Lipp is a vampire, but in the end it is revealed that Lotte is the one who is a vampire, as well as the choirboys, who were turned into vampires because Wolf could never give her any children. Matthew flees the church, but the choirboys appear to eat away at Herr Lipp before he can escape. He does not appear in Series 3.

In The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, he discovers that he is a character in the programme and disguises himself as his creator, Steve Pemberton, blending in at home and treating his wife and children far better than the real Pemberton appears to. He becomes upset at his status as a one-joke character, feeling it better for him to die than to carry on this way, thus attempting to kill Mark Gatiss during the film's climax. He fails, but appears to have changed, as he is last seen looking after some children seeking their parents after the apocalypse.

In the live show, he is allowed some audience participation by playing "Blind Man's Poof" with an unfortunate young man.

Legz Akimbo

Legz Akimbo (Oliver Plimsoles, Dave Parkes, Phil Proctor) is a particularly earnest travelling theatre company. Ollie (Shearsmith), the leader of the troupe, who writes, directs and produces all the work. He is still trying to cope with his discovery of his wife's lesbianism. Phil (Gatiss) is gay and both Dave (Pemberton) and Ollie are jealous of his ability to get film and television roles, but both Phil and Dave hate Ollie. They drive in their van, nicknamed "Bessie" (a possible homage to the car driven in Doctor Who, of which Gatiss is a longtime fan) and their slogan is "Legz Akimbo - Put Yourself in a Child!"

In Series 1, during a production of "Everybody Out!" (a play about homosexuality) at the local school in Royston Vasey, it is revealed that Phil is leaving the group at the end of the month as he has been "plucked for stardom" — a fact that Dave and Ollie put down to his homosexuality. However, by the end of the episode, Dave reveals that he has also decided to leave the group, leaving Ollie exasperated. In Series 2, they are both back inexplicably, performing in a new play about homeless people called "No Room 4 Johnny". They are seen trying to calm the homeless at the town hall during the nosebleed epidemic, but instead it triggers an angry mob to confront Mayor Vaughan and, eventually, Tubbs and Edward.

In Series 3, they are again together working on their latest play, "Vegetable Soup" (about the disabled) in the "Salmon of Knowledge" comedy club in London run by Geoff's old friend, Don Lynch (Gatiss). However, Ollie insists on trying out "extended improv" — meaning that Dave must order a cake from a bakery whilst pretending he is "deafblind", while Phil sits in a wheelchair. Phil pretends to lie on the pavement and when a man spots him, he complains to Ollie, whose rude behaviour ends up in him being beaten up. Later, Ollie, now himself in a wheelchair from his injuries, witnesses Geoff stealing the Legz Akimbo van and heading back to Royston Vasey.

They play an important connecting role in the second live tour, organising a "Commu-nativity" for the inhabitants of Royston Vasey.

Also, Ollie's supposed email address was printed in the tour programme. One fan, after sending an email and discovering the address didn't exist, decided to set up the account in his own name, thereafter acting as Ollie on the dedicated forums and MSN Messenger. This mystery lasted for a short while until his identity was revealed as being a fan, with the "real" Ollie (Shearsmith) having no affiliation with it, although it was referenced in a blog on the official website.

Additional characters

• Ernest Foot (Pemberton), a widower, so-called because he tries to be politically correct and puts his foot in it. In Series 3, his brother Peter (Shearsmith) is seen to rehearse his funeral every weekend, to the point of which his family have had enough, and Ernest plans to marry Sheila (Gatiss), Peter's wife.
• Dr Carlton (Pemberton), who refuses to treat his patients and insists that they buy his time by playing party games at his house. One of his customers is Mrs Beasley (Gatiss), who also visits the Charity Shop in Series 2.
• Olive Kilshaw (Shearsmith), who works for the Attachments Dating Agency. She has a boyfriend that she didn't meet at the agency, and tries to help Iain Cashmore (Pemberton), a man lacking self-confidence, to find a date.
• Pamela Doove (Shearsmith), a woman trying to be an actress but fails due to her inability to pronounce a single, easy line. She auditions for an orange juice commercial directed by Jed Hunter (Pemberton) in Series 2 and, after inexplicably winning the part, she performs as a Nazi in Keith Drop's local production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" in Series 3. Jed also witnesses Geoff's appalling stand up comedy in London in Series 3. Pamela is seen in the Christmas Special as part of "Solutions, Inc." and asks for a bottle of orange juice in addition to the three items Stella needs to collect, which is dismissed by Val.
• DJ Mike King (Shearsmith), the disc jockey at the local hospital. He plays a card game called "Go Johnny Go Go Go Go" with two doctors in Series 2 and helps friend Lance get a new arm attached in Series 3. He is also seen as the DJ for the line-dancing competition in the Christmas Special attended by the Hulls.
• Owen Fallowfield (Gatiss), a mortician who loves his job, but is fired when certain activities are seen to have been inappropriate.
• Glen and Barry Baggs (Gatiss and Pemberton), debt collectors who aren't very good at their job, particularly the obese Barry, who is very childish. Their boss is Mr Lisgoe (Shearsmith), who deals with them very violently.
• Pop (Pemberton), the world's worst father and its seediest landlord, and his cringing sons Richie and Al. In Series 1 he disowns Richie after some Maverick bars were stolen from Richie's newspaper booth he was supposed to be watching, and in Series 2 he ruins Al's chances of a relationship with a nurse called Patricia.
• Christopher Frost (Shearsmith), store detective.
• Terry Lollard (Shearsmith) and Anne Hand (Pemberton), two religious door-to-door people who also sell loft conversions. Anne remains mostly silent and appears to have the mental age of a young child, despite the fact that she is a grown woman.
• Ken Sweeney, blind photographer.
• Lance Longthorne (Gatiss), a joke shop owner with a very perverse sense of humour. He only has one arm. In Series 3 he gets a bigger role with his own story about being controlled by his new arm. It was him that saved Pauline from Geoff and subsequently dies a hero.
• Little Don (played by Don Estelle), who runs a zoo on a town roundabout. He has a pig, a goat and a chimp. All three are stolen and killed by Edward.
• Kenny Harris (Gatiss), owner of the Dog Cinema. He is assisted by Shelley Shirley (Shearsmith) and Oshi Kurosawa (Pemberton). His rival is Dougal Siepp (Christopher Eccleston), who is more into cat films.
• Dean Tavalouris (Shearsmith), a hopeless street magician who uses his camera to film tricks in the street (a couple of pensioners lose interest, while two youths reveal his secret and stub a cigarette out in his hand). He uses his camera to cover the aftermath of the big accident at the end of Series 3.
• Alvin and Sunny Steele, who run Windemere Guest House. Sunny holds regular bondage parties, at which Alvin (Gatiss), a very plain man interested in gardening, is often left feeling awkward. In Series 3, Sunny is suffocated in a sex guru's sex machine and Alvin has an affair with Judith Buckle, who works at a garden centre.
• Professor Erno Breastpinch'd (Gatiss), a man carrying out a survey on the streets of Royston Vasey, but his only question is if a woman wants her breasts pinched.
• Mayor Larry Vaughan (Roy Chubby Brown, Series 2 only).
• Murray Mint (Gatiss), Vaughan's right hand man. He is fired when he hires Legz Akimbo to try and calm the homeless during the epidemic.
• Mick McNamara, the Stump Hole Caverns guide (Gatiss), who believes that he is responsible for the death of a small boy who once took part in his tour.
• Farmer Jed Tinsel (Pemberton), the frighteningly paranoid and jealous farmer. Several of his animals have been killed by Mr. Chinnery. He imprisons Andrew Ward (Gatiss), who worked at the local cash and carry, because he had an affair with Tinsel's wife. Ward tries to get help from the Denton twins, but they simply ignore him.
• Cathy Carter-Smith (Shearsmith), Pauline's rival restart officer.
• Mr Ingleby (Shearsmith) is a shopkeeper who insists on doing all the work in his shop himself, despite him being very small (his height varies over the episodes). He only appears in the radio series; an escapologist called "Ingleby" is seen in Series 2 as part of Papa Lazarou's Pandemonium Carnival.

Reference

• A Local Book for Local People published by 4th Estate, ISBN 1-84115-346-X

External links

• The official League of Gentlemen site — www.ThisIsALocalShop.com
• Official BBC site
• A spoof website for The League of Gentlemen.
• Unofficial site
• Fan site
• Another fan site
• McLean, Gareth. Odd men out. The Guardian. Saturday February 10, 2001. Retrieved May 20, 2005.