Big Train
| Big Train | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Graham Linehan Arthur Mathews |
| Starring |
Simon Pegg Mark Heap Kevin Eldon Amelia Bullmore (series 1) Julia Davis (series 1) Rebecca Front (series 2) Tracy-Ann Oberman (series 2) Catherine Tate (series 2) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Talkback |
| Distributor | Fremantle Media |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Picture format |
4:3 (576i) (series 1) 16:9 (576i) (series 2) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 9 November 1998 – 11 February 2002 |
Big Train is a surreal British television comedy sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, writers of the successful sitcom Father Ted. The first series was broadcast on BBC Two in 1998, while the second, in which Linehan was not involved, aired in 2002.
Following in the tradition of Monty Python, the comedy of Big Train is based on the subversion of ordinary situations by the surreal or macabre. For example, one scene features a bad-mannered man casually stabbed to death by his embarrassed wife at a dinner party. In a recurring sketch from the first series, an animated staring contest is accompanied by commentary from BBC football commentator Barry Davies and comedy actor and impressionist Phil Cornwell. The Stare-out Championship was based on a self-published comic book by Paul Hatcher and was animated by Chris Shepherd.
Despite running for two series, Big Train attracted only a limited audience. Even so, the first series was voted "Best 'Broken Comedy' Show" at the prestigious British Comedy Awards in 1999. Both series were released on DVD on 25 October 2004.
Its stars included the actor Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap, and Simon Pegg in both series one and two, with Julia Davis and Amelia Bullmore in the first series (Nick Frost also appeared in two episodes), and Rebecca Front, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Catherine Tate in the second series. All its lead actors have starred in a variety of other comedy shows including I'm Alan Partridge, Look Around You, Spaced, Smack the Pony, Brass Eye and Green Wing. Catherine Tate went on to get her own show on the BBC, The Catherine Tate Show. The first series was directed by Graham Linehan and other series contributors included David Mitchell.
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