June 25 2015
John Thomson (Cold Feet, The Fast Show) brings his outrageous alter ego, legendary club comedian Bernard Righton, to riotous life as compere of Gold's new six-part series, Legends of Stand-Up & Bernard Righton, celebrating the world's greatest comedians from across the globe.
Using archive footage from our favourite comics and their greatest routines - from Victoria Wood and Frankie Howerd, Morecambe & Wise and Joan Rivers to Tommy Cooper, Jim Carrey and Woody Allen - this series showcases six perfect nights of comedy. Each show is a romp through timeless comedy archive linked together by Bernard on stage, adding his own original material, short sketches and running gags throughout: the perfect night of stand-up comedy.
Featuring several comedians every episode - from comedy greats in their pomp to international box office stars in their early days - there are plenty of infamous routines to relive again or forgotten gems to discover for the first time.
Iain Coyle, Commissioning Editor, comments,
This is the perfect format, the very best of classic stand-up, hosted by one of my favourite ever comedy creations. I've genuinely been crying laughing in the meetings for this show, I might have to be restrained when I watch it on the telly.
John Thomson is an actor, writer, impressionist and comedian, and has been at the forefront of British television for over 20 years. He is best known for his roles in The Fast Show and Cold Feet. Other TV credits include Blackpool, Waterloo Road and his numerous film appearances include 24 Hour Party People and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
When originally creating the character, Thomson juxtaposed the bleeding heart liberal politics of the left with the unacceptable politically incorrect humour of the 1970s, and the result was Britain's first PC working mens' club comedian, Bernard Righton.
Written by John Thomson, John Quinn, Nigel Alred, Willy Norton and Mike Williams, Legends of Stand-Up & Bernard Righton is produced by North One Television. The series is directed and produced by Mike Williams and the Executive Producer is John Quinn.
North One Television has produced several series and specials for the UKTV channels - including Storage Hunters UK, Ross Noble: Freewheeling, The Two Ronnies' Spectacle, Bring Me Morecambe & Wise - and the new six-part archive biography series The Interviews. The company's other recent output includes Richard Ayoade: Gadget Man and Travel Man: 48 Hours In... as well as Damned Designs: Don't Demolish My Home, all for Channel 4, long running tech series The Gadget Show for Channel 5 and global production and distribution of the Isle of Man TT Races.
For further information please contact:
Julie Pickford, Group Publicity Manager or email: pressoffice@uktv.co.uk.
Notes to editors
About Gold (Sky 110, Virgin 126, TalkTalk 408, Top-Up TV 20)
Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nation's favourite comedy channel. Much-loved comedy series such as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and Outnumbered sit alongside successful commissions including Porridge: Inside Out, The Comic Strip Presents: Five Go To Rehab (starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders), You, Me and Them, Bring Me Morecambe and Wise, Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down Five to Go and the ultimate Python documentary Monty Python: The Meaning of Live. The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy.
Gold.uktv.co.uk / @goldtvchannel
About UKTV
UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that reaches over 42 million viewers every month.
UKTV's eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, Watch, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food - include the most popular non-PSB channel in the UK and account for 9% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £278m, and EBITDA of £67.4m. It invested a record £125m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.
UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.
Now celebrating its 22nd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies.