The Fast Show is a BBC comedy sketch program ran in the mid 1990s. It was very loosely structured and relied heavily on character comedy, long-running gags, and endless catchphrases which would be repeated across the nation the morning after each show was aired.
Many catch phrases from the program have entered use in British English, and many of the comedians have now become household names: Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson and Arabella Weir. The show featured many famous characters, including:
- Jesse (and his strange diets)
- Bob Fleming, host of Country Matters, has an extremely bad cough, friends with sneezing Clive Tucker, hiccupping Murtagh Blethyn and, of course, Jed Thomas, the man who can't stop saying "ARSE!"
- Rowley Birkin QC, drunk old upper class man telling stories by the fire
- Competitive Dad
- Rude South African department store cosmetics sales woman
- Ted & Ralf, country squire Lord Ralph Mayhew attempts to strike up an intimate relationship with his estate worker Ted
- Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior
- Friendly but naked newlyweds
- Chanel 9, foreign television channel based on a combination of languages
- Mr. Brilliant
- Colin Hunt, unfunny office practical joker
- Arthur Atkinson, parody of 1940s music hall entertainers, introduced by Tommy Cockles, himself a parody of presenters of TV history
- Jeff the Deaf Stuntman
- Louis Balfour, presenter of Jazz Club
- Ken and Kenneth, the "Suit you!" tailors (bombard potential customers with suggestions about their private life)
- Mr. 'You ain't seen me, roight?'
- The irritating rambler
- The 13th Duke of Wybourne, posh, rumpled dinner jacketed, cigar smoker, finds himself in unsuitable places
- Carl Hooper, Australian presenter of That's Amazing
- Billy Bleach, pub know-it- all who gets it all wrong
- Archie the pub bore
- Checkout Girl, comments on every purchase
- John Actor, plays Monkfish, the tough uncompromising cop
- Johnny Nice Painter, goes insane at the sight of the colour black
- Geoffrey Norman MP, Tory politician, denies everything
- The Offroaders, filmed by their friend Baz while they try impressive extreme sports, but fail to hide the fact that they're crap
- Insecure Woman, Does my bum look big in this?
- Janine Carr, teenage mum with a unique world outlook
- Patric Nice, has amazing luck, but remains very calm. Wins lottery twice in a row, and sees R.E.M perform an inpromptu concert at the ceremony where his son is awarded the nobel price for chemistry
- Ron Manager, nonsense talking football pundit
- Roy and Renée, endless chattering from Renée
- Swiss Toni, car salesman, compares everything to making love to a beautiful woman
- Unlucky Alf, lonely old pensioner for whom nothing ever goes right