Newman and Baddiel in Pieces
| Newman and Baddiel in Pieces | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sketch comedy |
| Directed by | Barbara Jones |
| Theme music composer |
Simon Brint Steve Brown |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Harry Thompson |
| Production company(s) | BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC2 |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 20 September – 20 December 1993 |
Newman and Baddiel in Pieces is a sketch comedy television show written by and starring comedians Robert Newman and David Baddiel, produced by Harry Thompson, and broadcast on BBC2 from 20 September to 20 December 1993.
A Spin-off from The Mary Whitehouse Experience, the show combined monologues and observational routines from each of the two comedians (often with very dark themes) and character comedy. Its title sequence was an animated version of Munch's painting The Scream (to the tune of "Another Flavour" by The Sundays), with Newman and Baddiel revealed as the artist's friends in the background, standing near a waterfront theatre in which they were appearing. Audience applause between sketches was frequently accompanied by an animated theatre full of applauding The Scream characters.
The series was repeated under the title Newman and Baddiel: Rest in Pieces, with new title animation showing the duo lying in state in an open grave. The new titles were due to the Munch estate still owning copyright on the image of The Scream, as used on the original version.
Newman and Baddiel both made observational comedy monologues to camera, in sets representing their respective flats. Their monologues were usually done independently from one another, although occasionally they would share scenes. The monologues were intermingled with numerous sketches and recurring characters. These included:
Albert was an elderly "character actor" (played by Denys Graham) who would occasionally interrupt either of the performers to ask if he could play a role in the next sketch in order to earn money to pay for a dialysis machine for his daughter Sally, whose picture he would look at from within a locket. But against Albert's wishes, he was always cast in the role of a stunt double, which seemed particularly inappropriate given his frail, elderly physique and his reliance on a walking stick. In the final episode, Albert discovered that this supposed 'dialysis machine' was not actually a dialysis machine at all, but a vibrator.
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