The Penny Dreadfuls

The Penny Dreadfuls are a British sketch-comedy troupe consisting of comedians Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck. The sketch team perform regularly on the London comedy circuit.

History

Ker, Reed and Tuck first met as students at the University of Edinburgh through the student comedy troupe The Improverts in 2001. They performed together for the next four years before forming, along with founding member Jamie Anderson, the Penny Dreadfuls. In 2006, they made their debut appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with their Victorian-themed sketch show Aeneas Faversham and an improv show entitled Shamwagon, also featuring Edinburgh comics Peter Cameron and Idil Sukan.

Their first appearance on television soon followed with a sketch in BBC Three's Comedy Shuffle before returning to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007 with another sketch show, Aeneas Faversham Returns.^[1] From here they made the transfer onto radio with their own show, The Brothers Faversham, broadcast in January 2008 on BBC 7 and guest starred Miles Jupp and Ingrid Oliver. Each episode of the four-part series followed the life and demise of one of the Faversham brothers; Horatius, Theseus, Leonidas and Augustus. A second series, More Brothers Faversham, was broadcast in October 2008 and later transferred onto BBC Radio 4 over Christmas and New Year. Their 2008 Edinburgh Fringe show, entitled Aeneas Faversham Forever, was a departure from their live sketch roots to a full narrative in the vein of their radio shows. The story followed a mild mannered children's author as he tried to foil a mysterious plot surrounding the newly constructed Tower Bridge. Following on from this shift to writing narrative comedy, in 2009 they wrote a comic retelling of the story of Guy Fawkes for the afternoon play slot on Radio 4. They returned to the sketch format for their 2010 Edinburgh Fringe show.

Notable appearances

• In June 2008 they appeared in The Supersizers Go... Victorian alongside Sue Perkins and Giles Coren.
• In 2009 they appeared in the UK tour of hit improv show, Totally Looped,^[2] alongside Phill Jupitus, Marcus Brigstocke, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Hattie Hayridge.
• In 2009 they provided additional voices for Joan of Arc, and How She Became a Saint, a radio play written by Patrick Barlow for BBC Radio 4, starring Dawn French, Jim Broadbent and Kevin Eldon.
• In 2009 they presented a broadcast for BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play slot, Guy Fawkes. This covered the life of Guy Fawkes, his failed attempt to blow up Parliament and his subsequent interrogation in the Tower of London. Guest starring Kevin Eldon as Guy Fawkes, and also featuring Miles Jupp and Andrew Pugsley.^[3] It was re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 5 November 2011.^[4]
• In 2011 they presented a broadcast for BBC Radio 4's Saturday Play slot, Revolution. This takes place during the French Revolution and covered an imagined meeting in prison between Maximilien Robespierre and the imprisoned Marie-Therese, the 16-year-old daughter of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Guest starring Richard E. Grant as Robespierre and Sally Hawkins as Marie-Therese, and also featuring Margaret Cabourn-Smith.^[5]
• In 2012 they presented a broadcast for BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Drama slot, Hereward the Wake. This Boxing Day special covered the life of Hereward the Wake. Why has this Englishman responsible for leading the fight against the occupation of William The Conqueror, been so readily forgotten? The story didn't end when they ran out of embroidery cotton on the Bayeux Tapestry. Guest starring Marek Larwood, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Justin Edwards as The Narrator.^[6]
• In 2014 they presented another radio play for BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Drama slot, "Macbeth Rebothered" which combined the known historical aspects of the real Scottish king Macbeth and aspects of the play by William Shakespeare. Greg McHugh played the eponymous character and Susan Calman narrated whilst Margaret Cabourn-Smith returned to play the female characters.
• In 2015 another radio play for BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Drama, Odyssey, was presented. This reimagining of Homer's Odyssey starred Robert Webb as Odysseus and Lolly Adefope as well as Margaret Cabourn-Smith.

Awards

External links

• Official Penny Dreadfuls website
• Myspace page for The Penny Dreadfuls

References