Harry Hill | |
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Title card (1997–2000)
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Also known as | 'The All-New Harry Hill Show' |
Created by | Harry Hill |
Starring |
Harry Hill Barrie Gosney Al Murray Burt Kwouk |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 3 (Channel 4) 1 (ITV) |
No. of episodes | 27 (Channel 4) 6 (ITV) |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Avalon Television |
Running time | 25 minutes (Channel 4) 30 minutes (ITV) |
Release | |
Original network |
Channel 4 (1997–2000) ITV (2003) |
Picture format | 16:9 |
Original release | 30 May 1997 | – 16 March 2003
Chronology | |
Related shows |
Harry Hill's TV Burp Fruit Fancies |
Harry Hill, later titled The All-New Harry Hill Show and also referred to as The Harry Hill Show, was a British stand-up comedy sketch show, starring comedian Harry Hill, that ran for four series from 1997 to 2003, on both Channel 4 and ITV.
The original Channel 4 series of Harry Hill was commissioned on the back of the success of Fruit Fancies, a series of six short comedy films written and performed by Hill, which were broadcast on BBC Two, and a sell-out theatre tour in 1996 which was given excellent reviews by critics and fans alike. The Channel 4 series was commissioned in January 1997. The programme's title, as shown in the title sequence, was simply Harry Hill, but was often referred to, in some programme listings, as The Harry Hill Show.
As well as writing and producing the majority of the show's material himself, the Channel 4 version of the series also featured regular performances from Al Murray, who played Harry's older brother, Alan, Burt Kwouk, who appeared as himself, Steve Bowditch, who played Harry's chief scientist, Finnsbury Park, and Matt Bradstock, who played Harry's three year old adopted son, Alan Hill Jr. Each episode was introduced by Barrie Gosney.
Each episode would also include regular features, such as Burt Kwouk performing "Hey Little Hen", the Badger parade, Harry reading the news disguised as Zainab Badawi, and occasionally, a tale from Nana Hill, Harry's eighty two year old nan. The Channel 4 version ran for three years, between 30 May 1997 and 24 April 2000, and spawned three series. The Channel 4 series was produced by Avalon Television. To tie in with the series, Channel 4 released a book, Harry Hill's Fun Book, for Christmas 1998.
Following the success of Harry's latest television series, TV Burp, which was broadcast on ITV, ITV decided to recommission the series for themselves, purchasing the rights from Channel 4. For the revival, the show was retitled The All-New Harry Hill Show, and a series of six episodes were broadcast between 9 February and 16 March 2003.