It seems incredible that it’s 26 years since the first episode aired in 1994, full of sketches, some of which were only ten seconds long, and others which would last for three minutes. It was an instant hit. The comedy sketch show has died a death in recent years, but watching this look back over the Fast Show’s success, it’s difficult to fathom why. It was genuinely laugh out loud funny, mainly because the characters, largely created by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson, were so relatable and memorable.
It is often the case that retrospectives are cringe-makingly awful, full of trite self congratulation and unable to shed any new light. This was different, largely because of the innovative format. They brought all the old characters to life (minus those played by the sadly deceased Caroline ‘Scorchio’ Aherne) and they became the gobs on sticks who analysed their own characters. It worked brilliantly. Which was nice.
