Big Train at 20: the spectacularly surreal sketch show with a cast of future stars The cult comedy from Father Ted’s creators was completely unique – and is well worth re-visiting

On the savannah plains, as a David Attenborough-style host narrates, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince stalks a herd of brightly-coloured jockeys.

On the other side of the galaxy, meanwhile, Ming The Merciless is doing the housework – while clad in full-on villainous garb.

These days, few conversations around classic BBC comedy are likely to mention off-the-wall late ’90s creation Big Train. But it is probably one of the most original and inspired series of its era.

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Turning 20 today, the oft-forgotten sketch show from Father Ted creators Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews was deliciously silly and surreal.

And it featured a strong crop of before-they-were-famous comedy performers.

Everyday extremes, and cinematic spoofs

Starring Simon Pegg, Kevin Eldon and Mark Heap, alongside the talented likes of Julia Davis, Rebecca Front and Catherine Tate, Big Train was a marriage of outlandish ideas and exquisitely judged performances.

Pegg and Heap also starred in Spaced together around the same time

Unlike many sketch shows that rely on recurring characters, repeated catchphrases and the same gag re-packaged in different ways, Big Train’s unique approach was to focus on one-off, highly surprising segments which came and went in a blaze of bemusement.

Hence the aforementioned Ming the Merciless scene, where we see the emperor of the universe shuffling around his house doing the vacuuming, breaking off occasionally to order that people be “thrown into the pit of fire”.

Placing the extreme into everyday contexts was a frequent theme. As was the show’s gleeful spoofing of cinema.

So we get a send-up of romantic French arthouse flicks, where a woman falls in love with a pair of traffic lights (only for her former partner to find fulfilment with a garden hose), and The Birds re-imagined with working class men instead of avian menaces.

Then there’s Big Train’s take on Gladiator, where Pegg’s gruff-voiced Maximus recruits Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer to his cause, only to see their planned uprising foiled by the musician’s unwieldy collection of prog rock keyboards.

Another glorious mash-up saw a Western showdown between the Bee Gees and Chaka Khan (“nooooooooooooooooooooo!”), complete with Eldon’s bafflingly long handgun, and Pegg devolving into subdued falsetto while reloading.

A satirical edge

In true Monty Python style, many of Big Train’s vignettes were funny simply because the absurdity of the situation made you laugh.

There was the playboy who can seduce his friend’s wife, but can’t open a bedroom door; the unfortunate chap who initiates silence everywhere he goes (including a packed sports stadium), and the “fat-handed tw**” who keeps getting insulted, even when he saves a baby from certain death.

Other highlights revolved around simple conceits such as a man telling a tourist he doesn’t speak English – while speaking fluent English.

But like Python, sometimes the comedy sent up attitudes or individuals in strange but clever ways, with a subversive or satirical twist.

In one notorious sequence, the smoking in public spaces debate is re-imagined via the medium of an office full of masturbating workers (“I do not want to be sent to a little room like a leper!”). In another, Streets Of London singer Ralph McTell faces a full-on meltdown from a crowd when he attempts to perform a new song.

Elsewhere, music producer George Martin is seen driving a fellow hostage mad with his endless tales of The Beatles and their exploits, after they are snatched by kidnappers.

What helped all of this work were the gamely serious approaches of the performers, and the way in which they adjusted themselves adeptly to the tasks at hand; from Tate’s pitch-perfect Parisian airs in the French movie segment, to Eldon’s earnest impersonations and everymen.

That, and the fact that Linehan and Mathews’ endlessly creative scenarios meant you had absolutely no idea what to expect next.

Still funny and refreshing

Big Train ran for just two series; the first in 1998, the latter following – in appropriately unconventional fashion – four years later in 2002.

Linehan, who was not involved in the second run, went on to create The IT Crowd among other shows, while Mathews has pursued his own writing projects, including Toast of London.

Among their assorted successes and hits, Big Train generally gets less recognition than it should. Twenty years on, it feels as fresh, funny and surreal as ever.

Where are they now? The cast of Big Train Simon Pegg: Went on to Hollywood fame with Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. Now a star of the Mission Impossible and Star Trek franchises. Catherine Tate: The award-winning actress is best known for her own self-titled sketch show, but has also appeared in films such as Starter For 10, and the American version of The Office. Rebecca Front: Satire fans will know her from her role as Nicola Murray in The Thick Of It, while Doctor Who and hefty costume epic War and Peace have also hosted her talents. Julia Davis: Renowned for creating the pitch-black comedy series Nighty Night (among other notable writing projects), Davis has also appeared in Black Mirror and Inside No 9, and acclaimed Oscar-nominated movie Phantom Thread. Her new show Sally4Ever is out now. Amelia Bullmore: She’s had parts in Ashes to Ashes, Sherlock and The Crown – and played girlfriend Sonja in I’m Alan Partridge. She is also a successful writer for stage and screen. Tracy-Ann Oberman: Having made a big impression on the world of soap with her role as Chrissie Watts in Eastenders, Oberman has since turned up in comedies like Toast of London and Friday Night Dinner. Kevin Eldon: The prolific performer has had an eclectic CV; voicing Penfold in the new Danger Mouse, cameoing in Game of Thrones twice, and landing his very own sketch show too. He even appeared as a hitman in Eastenders. Mark Heap: Has enjoyed prominent roles in TV comedies from Upstart Crow to Spaced to Green Wing, and also made it to the big screen with the wonderful Stardust.

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