Mark Gatiss: We are hoping to bring back The League of Gentlemen
“We have become a local country for local people and I wonder if there is something Brexity in us that we can do”
Brexit has brought the return of madcap BBC comedy The League of Gentlemen a step closer.
Mark Gatiss, the Doctor Who and Sherlock writer who was a key member of the troupe that brought us the surreal sketches set in and around the fictional town of Royston Vasey, has said that Britain’s decision to leave the EU has made a return more likely.
Speaking on the Radcliffe and Maconie show on BBC6 Music this afternoon he referred to the famous sketch involving the local shop presided over by Edward and his wife Tubbs which is firmly committed to only serving local people.
“We’re hoping to [do it again]," he said. "We’ve talked seriously about doing something, we’re not quite sure what it is yet but we’d love to do something, it is 10 years...
“I think increasingly, talking about prescience, we have become a local country for local people and I wonder if there is something Brexity in us that we can do.”
The pitch-black comedy finished on BBC2 in 2002 and was followed by a film in 2005, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. It starred Reece Shearmsith and Steve Pemberton with Gatiss and they all co-wrote the comedy alongside Jeremy Dyson who did not appear on screen.
Other memorable characters included the local butcher Hilary Briss (played by Gatiss) who served a special meat that appeared to make people bleed out of their noses.
Another favourite was the sinister clown Papa Lazarou who called everyone "Dave" and enjoyed kidnapping women with the phrase: “You’re my wife now!”
