The League of Gentlemen

The League of Gentlemen is a British comedy television series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The show is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in Northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives of bizarre characters, most of whom are played by three of the show's four writers—Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and Reece Shearsmith—who, along with Jeremy Dyson, formed the League of Gentlemen comedy troupe in 1995. The series originally aired for three series from 1999 until 2002 followed by a film in 2005. A three-part revival mini-series was broadcast in December 2017 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the group's first appearance on BBC Radio 4. The series was filmed mainly in Hadfield, Derbyshire; other locations include Glossop, Gamesley, and Hope Valley in Derbyshire; Marsden and Todmorden in West Yorkshire; and Mottram in Greater Manchester.The series ended in 2002, and was followed by a film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and a stage production The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You! in 2005. Shearsmith and Pemberton later collaborated to create another dark comedy series, Psychoville (2009); Mark Gatiss appeared in one episode. The three also performed together in the fourth series of Horrible Histories, in which they play American film producers who hear movie pitches from historical figures. Shearsmith and Pemberton also wrote and starred in the black comedy anthology series Inside No. 9, which premiered on BBC Two in 2014. The BBC announced in August 2017 that three new episodes would be produced to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary. They aired on BBC2 on 18, 19 and 20 December 2017.