The 1990's

The maestro of the comedy sketch Paul Whitehouse continues his very personal tribute, looking at the 90s – the decade he fully landed on screen with The Fast Show, after earlier work with old pal Harry Enfield on the latter's shows, notably DJs Smashie & Nicey.

The decade of New Labour and Britpop was something of a retread musically and culturally, but comedy, by now being dubbed ‘the new rock & roll' (by some fairly lazy journalists, admittedly), was genuinely a huge force, and still really evolving. In the sketch world, stalwarts of the 80s alternative scene French & Saunders really hit their stride as a TV duo, now totally mainstream and pulling in huge audiences, while newcomers like Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer were busily reinventing what on earth a sketch show could be, taking their cult stage show on screen, with a little help from their mates, including Paul and his college chum Charlie Higson.

And amidst the other great newcomers like Victoria Wood, The Real McCoy, Smack The Pony, Big Train and Goodness Gracious Me, The Fast Show would provide the biggest cast of names and characters, it's quickfire hit-rate proving a lasting favourite of UK viewers.