IV.

Alternative Comedy

The turning point of the 1970s came towards its end when the alternative comedy boom rocking the live circuit found its way on to television in Not the Nine O’Clock News (1979), a highly significant, irreverent sketch show. It carried on the honourable tradition of political satire that had begun with That Was the Week That Was.

Traditional sitcoms—in the shape of Yes Minister (1980), Only Fools and Horses (1981), and One Foot in the Grave (1990)—carried on almost regardless, but Not the Nine O’Clock News spawned a new, parallel generation of so-called alternative comedians, who spread into all genres of television comedy over the next 15 years. They colonized all the main genres: sitcoms—The Young Ones (1982), Blackadder (1983), Mr Bean (1990), and Bottom (1991); sketch shows—Alas Smith and Jones (1984), French and Saunders (1987), and The Harry Enfield Television Programme (1992); and variety—The Lenny Henry Show (1984) and Vic Reeves Big Night Out (1990). They even prompted a reinterpretation of the quiz show with such radical programmes as Have I Got News For You (1990) and Shooting Stars (1995). These programmes swiftly moved from being viewed as alternative to establishment features, however.

The emergent comedy scene also helped boost women in comedy—hitherto something of a rarity. Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ruby Wax, and Jo Brand all rose to prominence in the 1980s. After receiving acclaim in the sketch-show, French and Saunders (1987), Saunders went on to write and star in one of the biggest sitcom hits of the 1990s, Absolutely Fabulous (1992). This, perhaps for the first time, showed women behaving badly. French, her double-act partner, enjoyed huge success with The Vicar of Dibley (1994), penned by Richard Curtis (also responsible for Blackadder and films such as Four Weddings and A Funeral, 1994; Notting Hill, 1999; and Love Actually, 2003).

In turn, these examples have inspired a new generation of vibrant all-women shows, notably Smack the Pony (1999), a fast-paced sketch-show performed by a trio of highly versatile women (Sally Phillips, Fiona Allen, and Doon Mackichan).