NIGHTINGALES

:''Not to be confused with the 1989 American series about student nurses''
'''Nightingales''' is a British Situation comedy set around the antics of three security guards working the night shift.
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An unusual British sitcom produced by Alomo Productions for Channel 4 in the early 1990s. As a sitcom about extracting comedy from 'nothing' it could arguably be considered a relative of such programmes as ''Seinfeld'' and ''The Royle Family''. The series can also be considered as an early example of the current strain of 'Dark Comedy' in situation comedy.
It revolved around the jobs of three bored nightwatchmen working in a deserted office block, the location of which is never revealed, although exterior shots are of a building located on Paradise Circus in Birmingham City Centre home to offices and Snobs nightclub. In the background the spire of St Martins church and the Rotunda can be clearly seen, in wider shots the old town hall is also visible. Despite an ostensibly uneventful premise, the programme's episodes detailed surreal, Pinteresque happenings which subverted the usual comedy archetypes in ways which were to the few that watched it, clever and hilariously funny or were to others, including the Channel 4 executives who cancelled it, completely baffling.

Contents

Characters

Number of seasons/series

External links

Characters

★ 'Carter' :-played by Robert Lindsay was the intellectual whose aspirations were invariably frustrated.

★ 'Ding Dong' Bell :-played by David Threlfall as the buffon character

★ 'Sarge' :- played by James Ellis as the impossibly optimistic veteran watchman

★ 'Smith' :- A fourth character who was dead throughout the first series, the other characters kept his body in the building so that they could claim his salary.
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Beyond this, however, the programme moved into areas more befitting the nightmares of Spike Milligan or David Lynch. Guest characters included Eric the Werewolf (Ian Sears); an additional security guard who was a gorilla; and Mary the Christmas Allegory, who gave birth to consumer electronics. A running gag involved the question "Is there anybody there?" followed by the half-sung response "There's nobody here but us chickens!" accompanied by much arm waggling in the manner of said poultry. This line is from the 1947 song "Ain't nobody Here but us Chickens" written by Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney and recorded by many artistes including Louis Jordan, BB King and Asleep at the Wheel.

Number of seasons/series

Two series ran, in 1990 and 1993. The long delay was prompted by Channel 4 executive Seamus Cassidy who was not happy with the proposed scripts for the second season and it was three years before the follow-up series was given the go-ahead. The theme tune was a version of the song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" sung by Lindsay. ''Nightingales'' was written by Paul Makin, who went on to write the more conventional comedies like ''Goodnight Sweetheart''. A US remake (titled "In Security") was piloted but never commissioned. The complete run of thirteen episodes was released on DVD in March 2006.

External links

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★ Nightingales Fan Site

★ BBC Comedy Guide

★ Episode guide