Big Train

BBC Two (ended 2002)

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Show Summary

Status: Ended
Premiered: Nov 09, 1998

Before and after Father Ted, Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews had been sketch show writers; contribruting to the likes of Spitting Image, The Day Today and the Friday and Saturday Night Armistice. Big Train picked up on the surrealism found in their earlier work. From the World Stare-Out Championship to herds of wild jockeys being hunted by The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, from showjumping firefighters to the most erratic 100m runner ever seen, the show broke new ground, was much imitated and, arguably, launched the careers of Simon Pegg, Catherine Tate, Mark Heap and Amelia Bullmore.moreless

7.6

Avg Rating: Good

88 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
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"Superb"
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"Superb"
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"Fair"
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"Mediocre"
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Episode Guide

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S 2 : Ep 6	Episode 12	Aired 2/11/02
S 2 : Ep 5	Episode 11	Aired 2/4/02
S 2 : Ep 4	Episode 10	Aired 1/28/02
S 2 : Ep 3	Episode 9	Aired 1/21/02
S 2 : Ep 2	Episode 8	Aired 1/14/02

Cast & Crew

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Julia Davis

Various roles (series 1)

7.5
Mark Heap

Various roles

9.3
Amelia Bullmore

Various roles (series 1)

8.6

Big Train News

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19

May 29, 2007 DVD Releases

By Ian Micklewright, May 25, 2007

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Fan Reviews (3)

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Highly undervalued surreal sketch show from the BBC.

9.0

"Superb"

By RicardoRed, Sep 05, 2006

First aired in '98, this show was one of the most inventive and surreal sketch shows created. Many shows have obviously gone the surreal route for laughs, but this is one of the few that succeeds delivering some truly original and hilarious sketchs. It's a shame then it seemed to get little credit at the time. Certainly it's worthy of the hype many lesser comedys have had bestowed upon them since - Little Britain an obvious reference. In many ways the show is a fantastic example of where the sum of its parts rather than star actor or writer, create something very unique. While the show was written by Father Ted writer Graham Lingham, you get the distinct feeling that a lot of what you watch is equally the result of the actors' own ideas and humour on set. Certainly the casts' enthusiasum for the sketches and their characters bring this totally to life - many of which have since been regular contrbutors to British TV comedy such as Peter Eldon, Jill Davis as well as Simon Pegg. It was always probably a show that would have been short lived (it only aired two series), but that's to its credit; it's because it fits so many great ideas in one show, let alone one series, you can't imagine they could have kept keeping it at the high standard they set each episode. It's a real gem that deserves being discoverd by a wider, or maybe more aware, audience than it originaly did. In fact, between that and the Fast Show, it's hard to think of any sketch show in the last ten years (on UK televison at he very least) that gets close.moreless
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A stupid name but the funiest thing on television for 25 years.

9.0

"Superb"

By rerrer, Jan 05, 2006

This sketch show in in my opinion the best sketch show since the great Monty Python's Flying Circus, And much of the comedy is in the same vein. Paticular homage should be payed to season two episode 4 this was the first episode i saw. I was up late surfing through chanels when I saw that on next on "uk tv" was a show called Big train i instantly thaught 'what a stupid name' but thanks to bordem i watched anyway and have been hoked ever since.moreless
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Incredibly surreal and incredibly original...

9.0

"Superb"

By cyberturnip, Jun 24, 2005

Created by the makers of Father Ted; this show really was incredibly original. It completely ignored the conventions of sketch shows, and instead had incredibly long sketches with no punch lines as such (the situation itself was usually the joke). It was so incredibly surreal as well. Unfortunately the quality (whilst still very good) did take quite a dip for series 2 (after the loss of a writer and several cast members). I can whole-heartedly reccomend this, it's both incredibly original and surreal, but more importantly, incredibly funny. It was also the launch pad for many successful comedians, such as Simon Pegg, Mark Heap, Kevin Eldon, Lucy Davis and Catherine Tate.
But be warned, this is probably the most surreal show ever made, if you don't like that sort of humour, then avoid.moreless
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