John Fortune

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.

Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.

Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.

Comedienne Dawn French tackles dark, tongue-in-cheek thrillers as her various characters embark on a different mystery every episode. In one way or another, she is involved with murder — either committing the crime or even getting bumped off herself!

Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom set in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, during 1959 and 1960, and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum amongst others. It aired on the BBC from 1980 to 1988. The series revolved around the lives of the camp's management and entertainers, most of them struggling actors or has-beens. The inspiration was the experience of writers Perry and Croft: after being demobilised from the army, Perry was a Redcoat at Butlin's, Pwllheli during the holiday season. The series gained large audiences and won a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In 2004, it came 40th in Britain's Best Sitcom and in a 2008 poll on Channel 4, 'Hi-de-Hi!" was voted the 35th most popular comedy catchphrase.

Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner, and to date has 16 series.

Campion is a television show made by the BBC, adapting the Albert Campion mystery novels written by Margery Allingham. Two series were made, in 1989 and 1990, starring Peter Davison as Campion, Brian Glover as his manservant Magersfontein Lugg and Andrew Burt as his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates. A total of eight novels were adapted, four in each series, each of which was originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes. Peter Davison sang the title music for the first series himself; in the second series, it was replaced with an instrumental version.

Children's series about a magic coin that can grant wishes.

Comedy about an inept American placed in charge of sales at his company's London branch. He has no experience with British culture, knows nothing about sales, and has only one employee, Dave. Each episode begins with a scene of Margaret appearing in dire circumstances.

Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky, who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced. The twelve episodes, broadcast between 1993 and 1995, were directed by Bob Spiers and produced by Andre Ptaszynski for independent production company Pola Jones. The show is semi-autobiographical; it was inspired by the then recent separation of Moffat and his first wife. Some of the episodes in the first series followed a non-linear parallel structure, contrasting the rise of the relationship with the fall. Other episodes were ensemble farces, predominantly including the couple's friends Robert and Tracy. Paul Mark Elliott also appeared as Trevor, Becky's lover.

A series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years.

Parallel storylines follow English perfume saleswoman Alice Chenery and American comedy writer Gil Raymond, who are seemingly perfect soulmates but never meet, as they deal with their chaotic lives and relationships.

Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life is a BBC-TV satire programme produced by Ned Sherrin, which aired during the winter of 1964–1965, in an attempt to continue and improve on the successful formula of his That Was The Week That Was, which had been taken off by the BBC because of the coming General Election. It too featured David Frost as compère, with two others, William Rushton and the poet P. J. Kavanagh joining him in the role. In addition to Saturdays, there were also editions on Fridays and Sundays. It saw the first appearances on television of John Bird, Eleanor Bron, Roy Hudd, Patrick Campbell and John Fortune. Michael Crawford also featured as 'Byron'. Whereas TWTWTW had had a dark nightclub atmosphere, the new programme used predominantly white sets. The programme lacked the impact of TW3 and lasted only one season before being replaced by the Robert Robinson-fronted BBC-3.

Anthology series of black comedies, which sets out to deliver excellent stories with a darkly comic twist.

Comedy Showcase is a series of one-off comedy specials featuring some of Britain's fledgling comedy talent. Its format is reminiscent of the much earlier Comedy Playhouse. The format was replaced in 2012 by 4Funnies.

A ten-part serial based on Jeffrey Archer's 1984 novel of the same name, which follows the careers and personal lives of a quartet of fictional Parliament members from 1964 to 1991, with each vying to become Prime Minister.

Hardwicke House is a 1987 British sitcom produced by Central Independent Television for ITV. Seven spisodes were made, but the series was so poorly received that only the first two were transmitted. In the large comprehensive school Hardwicke House, the staff of which are as dysfunctional as the pupils. One teacher is a multiple murderer while the deputy headmaster lusts after male pupils. One teacher, Moose Magnusson, is on an extended exchange placement because his own school in Iceland refuses to have him back.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

A couple's break-up has dramatic effects on their thirteen-year-old son.

A series of one-off satirical comedies written by, and starring, John Bird, with John Fortune.

Dig This Rhubarb first aired on BBC1 on 6 October 1963. The live-to-air Sunday night series was originally titled The Company of Six but was quickly – and radically – renamed. Alternating with Monitor, the show commented in an amusing way on items that were not necessarily in the news but with which people were preoccupied. Four or five topics were covered in each programme, including subjects such as attitude to royalty, capital punishment and the iniquities of the younger generation. The series initially featured Clive Swift, Robin Ray, Tony Beckley, Terence Brady, John Gower and Anne Jameson.

A six-part drama series set in an advertising agency. It focuses on Sarah Copeland, a rising copywriter who is pitching for a prestigious account. This series is one of a number documenting the unique social and economic conditions in south-east England during the 1980s economic boom.

In the Looking Glass is a surreal television series, broadcast on BBC2 in 1978. It starred John Wells, John Fortune, Carl Davis, and Madeline Smith, was directed by Andrew Gosling and produced by Ian Keill. The same team had previously created 1974's The End of the Pier Show. Wells, Fortune and Davis appear to have been the main writers for both series. In the Looking Glass was notable for its design, overlaying live action and drawn or animated backgrounds, for instance, a hole drilled to the centre of the earth, or the Monopoly board on which a character risks being crushed by rolling dice. The production team went on to develop this approach further in the "live action comic strip" series Jane, for which McCallum won two BAFTA Best Graphics awards.

Rory Bremner takes a satirical look at the 2008 'credit crunch'. He spoofs politicians and other public figures to tell the story of the US and UK financial markets.

No synopsis available yet.

Dramatisation of the abortive real-life attempt by Simon Mann to organise a coup to take over Equatorial Guinea in 2004. The case achieved notoriety because one of the financial backers of the project was Sir Mark Thatcher, son of British ex-PM 'Margaret Thatcher'.

A parody of the long running radio show "The Archers", an everyday story of country-folk based in the fictional village of Umbridge.

Rory Bremner looks back on the first year of Tony Blair's premiership through a series of sketches.