Harry Enfield & Chums (originally titled Harry Enfield's Television Programme) is a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield, Paul Whitehouse and Kathy Burke. It first broadcast on BBC2 in 1990 in the 9 pm slot on Thursdays, which became the traditional time for alternative comedy on television.
Enfield was already an established name owing to his "Loadsamoney" character (which featured in a few entertainment programmes in the late 1980s), but the series gave greater presence to his frequent collaborators Whitehouse and Burke – so much so that, in 1994, the show was retitled Harry Enfield & Chums. In 2001, a clip show series titled Harry Enfield Presents aired, which featured compilations of sketches from the series featuring new linking material recorded by Enfield in character.
Contents
History
Harry Enfield's Television Programme was written by Enfield, Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Geoffrey Perkins, and broadcast on BBC2. The original series titles began with Enfield in a black suit walking towards the camera and blowing two raspberries to the music of a brass band, standing still while the camera showed the upper half of his right side, then flipped to the left side, then simultaneously rotated and zoomed in before ending with a full body shot of him taking a quick drag from a cigarette hidden behind his back. The show ran for two series with this title in late 1990 and spring 1992. A Christmas special titled Harry Enfield's Festive Television Programme was broadcast on Christmas Eve 1992.
A special, Smashie & Nicey: End of an Era, aired at Easter 1994, which retired the characters of Smashie and Nicey.
After the original series, there were a couple of radio appearances. During the period between series, Enfield concentrated on straight acting parts, and Whitehouse worked on other projects.
Through repeats, the characters proved popular, and in 1994, the BBC commissioned a new series called Harry Enfield & Chums, this time broadcast on BBC1. This series was produced with a pool of writers, rather than the cast alone. The format of the opening credits was the same, although Enfield was now joined by co-stars Whitehouse and Burke to take a collective bow to the audience. Two Christmas specials of Harry Enfield & Chums were produced for 1997 and 1998. These were titled Harry Enfield & Christmas Chums and Harry Enfield's Yule Log Chums, respectively.
For Christmas 1999, and in advance of the forthcoming Kevin & Perry Go Large film, a clip show episode called Harry Enfield Presents Kevin's Guide to Being a Teenager was broadcast. The clip show format was revisited in 2001 with a series of six further Harry Enfield Presents episodes based around individual characters or premises. The episodes in the series were:
Tim Nice-but-Dim's Guide to Being a Bloody Nice Bloke
Wayne and Waynetta's Guide to Wedded Bliss
Episodes
In addition to the main series, the following Christmas and one-off specials were broadcast:
Harry Enfield's Festive Television Programme was broadcast 24 December 1992.
Smashie & Nicey: End of an Era was broadcast 4 April 1994.
Harry Enfield & Christmas Chums was broadcast 24 December 1997.
Harry Enfield's Yule Log Chums was broadcast 28 December 1998.
Harry Enfield Presents Kevin's Guide to Being a Teenager was broadcast 27 December 1999.
Recurring characters and sketches
Harry Enfield's Television Programme Series 1
The following characters and recurring sketches appear for the first time in series 1 of Harry Enfield's Television Programme. In series 1, they are often introduced with title cards announcing the name of the character or sketch.
Two uninteresting middle-aged men, Jeff and Geoff Bore (Harry Enfield and Simon Godley), who frequently engage in dull and witless banter, revolving around bland topics such as their cars and local theatre, typically punctuated by obnoxious laughter at their own jokes.
A vulgar parody of Doctor Dolittle (Enfield), in which he communicates with animals through verbal abuse and profanity.
Two brothers (Enfield and Rupert Holliday-Evans) with an irritating propensity for exaggerated double takes whenever something obvious or mundane occurs, such as having to queue at a post office, yet fail to react when something genuinely shocking and unexpected happens, such as being attacked by a shark or hit by a car.
A fat, jolly-looking man (David Barber) who made his first appearance in a "Lee and Lance" sketch. He later formed a running gag where, for no apparent reason, he would walk into the middle of a sketch, hand something to a character (usually appropriate to the situation), be told "Thank you, Fat Bloke!", and walk off. In the first series of Harry Enfield & Chums, he would be introduced at the end of the closing credits by Enfield who would announce: "The show's not over until the Fat Bloke sings!" whereupon he would sing a song (ranging from "Lord of the Dance" to "Smack My Bitch Up") in operatic style.
A pair of Labour and Conservative MPs (Enfield) who live together and are unable to perform any menial household tasks without descending into petty and childish political arguments which usually have nothing to do with the task at hand. The final sketch featured a guest appearance by David Steel, a prominent Liberal Democrat MP at the time, against whom Freddie and Jack unite during a birthday party. Certain elements of Enfield's character were carried over into the later character Tory Boy. This sketch has become more dated than most due to Freddie's frequent references to the EEC.
Harry Enfield's Television Programme Series 2
The following characters and recurring sketches appear for the first time in series 2 of Harry Enfield's Television Programme.
A chronically absent-minded pub landlord (Enfield) who is easily confused and has an incredibly short memory, frequently mixing up his anecdotes, customers' orders, and forgetting things that happened just moments before.
A sketch presented in the style of edutainment programming, in which an unseen narrator attempts to teach three excitable and childlike aliens (dressed in human attire) various English words and phrases but grows frustrated as they arbitrarily repeat certain words and are constantly distracted by irrelevancies.
Three boisterous, drunken, public-schooled rugby enthusiasts (Enfield, Clunes, and Gillett) who loudly break out into nonsensical and vulgar drinking songs at every opportunity, and generally torment those around them.
Harry Enfield & Chums Series 1
The following characters and recurring sketches appear for the first time in series 1 of Harry Enfield & Chums.
A blond softly spoken TV doctor. He is often seen on a morning show couch, reading letters from "menopausal women" about their fantasies of him. He seems to take an unusually large number of showers per day. In one sketch he reveals he has been "struck off" as a doctor.
A continuation of the "Little Brother" sketches in Harry Enfield's Television Programme, in which Kevin (Enfield) undergoes a major personality change immediately upon turning thirteen, becoming lethargic, stroppy, and overly sensitive. Though he is no longer hyperactive, he continues to annoy his parents through his constant complaining and refusal to do anything they tell him. He is often joined by his best friend Perry (Burke), who is faultlessly polite to Kevin's parents but rude to his own; Kevin mirrors this attitude by being similarly polite in the presence of Perry's parents, in contrast to his usual horrible behaviour.
Kevin proved to be a popular character, receiving a VHS special Harry Enfield Presents: Kevin's Guide to Being a Teenager, as well as a feature film, Kevin and Perry Go Large, in 2000.
A deliberate contrast, on Enfield's part, to show the opposite of "The Old Gits": Two lecherous old ladies who do not care who approaches them so long as the newcomer is male and good looking. Their catchphrase is "Ooh! Young man!", which they repeat in an attempt to pass themselves off as "nice little old ladies", while comparing young men they encounter to male celebrities of their young adulthood ("You're the spitting image of a young Lester Piggott"). They also intentionally misinterpret comments made to them as being sexual and flirtatiously tell the victim off for saying it. As the series progresses, they begin creating elaborate plans to get men, which often involve abduction.
Michael Paine is a self-confessed "nosy neighbour". Played by Whitehouse in the style of Michael Caine as parodied by Peter Sellers in his famous appearance on Parkinson in the early 1970s. The parody is in part based on Caine's character from The Italian Job, a film released in 1969 and much loved by British audiences ("I told you, you're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!") and his diction when presenting his lines in many of his films. It relies on Caine's ability to impart trivial information in the same way, starting with "Did you know..." and ending with ".. and not a lot of people know that.". Whitehouse continues in this tradition, talking about extremely mundane things his neighbours were doing such as "do you know, he didn't call that woman back until... approximately two hours later. Would Damon Hill have taken that long to call his mother? I'll be honest with you. I don't know. Not a lot of people know I don't know that, but I don't." All of his anecdotes involve other people on the street, and his information is gained from eavesdropping and spying on them.
Harry Enfield & Chums Series 2
The following characters and recurring sketches appear for the first time in series 2 of Harry Enfield & Chums.
A married couple (played by Enfield and Julia St John) who quite clearly have grown to despise each other, stuck in a seemingly endless argument which consists of them constantly flinging insults at each other (often to the embarrassment or irritation of others), yet will not separate or get a divorce for the sake of their son David.
Based on the TV series Lovejoy. A shady-looking man who in each sketch faces a problem or disappointment and attempts to bribe someone who has no control of the situation, including paying a station guard to confirm his missed train had not arrived yet, and a nurse to confirm his newborn daughter is a boy. His catchphrases were "Oh, I getcha!" and "You drive a hard bargain, don't you?", always followed by Bob offering more money to his harassed victim.
Two gay Dutch policemen who speak directly to the camera in a parody of police documentaries. They are more interested in smoking marijuana, flirting and making gay innuendo than doing any police work. A parody of liberal attitudes in the Netherlands.
Enfield plays a jockey whose horse effortlessly outruns another played by Ewen Bremner, much to Bremner's annoyance. Enfield also constantly makes inane conversation whilst running alongside him.
Whitehouse portrays a Colombian footballer who has recently joined Newcastle United and speaks in a mixture of Spanish and Geordie. He is always interviewed by the same pundit (Enfield as a parody of John Motson in his iconic sheepskin jacket). As the series progresses, Julio develops more of a Geordie accent as he describes events on and off the field, the latter often involving "liaisons" with pin-up girls of the time such as The Spice Girls and Dani Behr. When the pundit becomes aware that Julio is telling an inappropriate story, he tries in vain to get him back on track. Julio is probably inspired by the arrival of Faustino Asprilla at Newcastle United in 1995 when South American players joining English clubs was rare.
Other sketches
A one-off sketch where Harry parodies both ex-Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Rev Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams at a house party. William is loud-mouthed and becomes increasingly rude and insulting towards the host (Brigit Forsyth) when she is unable to provide him with his desired canapé of cheese-and-pineapple-on-a-stick. When he has finished his rant, the host awkwardly turns away approaches an unnamed guest who is very clearly supposed to be Adams. While this second guest is smiley and charismatic, his gestures indicate his anecdote has a violent double-meaning. Enfield has since explained that the sketch was loosely based on an abandoned idea called "The Gerry Adams Family", claiming that no one else wanted to do it in case it caused offence.
Home Media releases and availability
VHS
"Harry Enfield's Television Programme: The Very Best of Series One"
"Harry Enfield's Television Programme: Series Two - Part One"
"Harry Enfield's Television Programme: Series Two - Part Two"
"Harry Enfield & Chums" (Contains some of the best sketches from Series 1)
"Harry Enfield & Chums 1997" (Contains some of the best sketches from Series 2. This video was released in advance of the series airing on BBC One.)
"The New Harry Enfield and Chums Video - Oi No!" (Contains an extended version Harry Enfield and Christmas Chums 1997 Special with previously unseen sketches)
"More Harry Enfield and Chums" (Contains Harry Enfield's Yule Log Chums 1998 Christmas Special)
"Harry Enfield Presents Kevin's Guide to Being a Teenager (Christmas special from 1999, later included on Kevin & Perry Go Large DVD.)
Cancelled DVD Releases
Harry Enfield and Chums: The Complete Collection was due to be released as a two-disc DVD on 21 May 2007, but it was delayed until further notice. It was then to be released on 19 November 2012 but was delayed once again to 11 March 2013 before being cancelled.
Harry Enfield: The Collection was going to be a five-disc set containing both series of Harry Enfield's Television Programme, Harry Enfield's Festive Television Programme, both series of Harry Enfield & Chums, Harry Enfield & Christmas Chums and Harry Enfield's Yule Log Chums.
Streaming
Harry Enfield's Television Programme (series 1 and 2) is currently available on Netflix UK.
Legacy
In 2000, Enfield and Burke starred in a feature film based around the Kevin the Teenager character titled Kevin & Perry Go Large.
Enfield and Whitehouse reunited for sketch shows Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show in 2000 and Ruddy Hell! It's Harry & Paul in 2007, the latter of which ran for four series, with a completely new range of characters.