Simon Dunn

Scriptwriter and Comedian

Saturday Stayback

I don’t know what to make of this. Years before TFI Friday, Chris Tarrant followed up the short-lived late night version of Tiswas that was OTT, with this, Saturday Stayback. It takes place in a pub in the Midlands, so that opening sketch is totally incongruous from the beginning. You find yourself watching those half drunk men trying to figure out what’s going on.

Then it goes from Tarrant and Carolgees to Tony Slattery, then back to Frank Carson and Thin Lizzy. It’s all over the place. The writing team consists of Angus Deayton, Howard Imber, Geoff Nicholson, Anthony Nicholson, Moray Hunter, John Docherty (is that Jack?), Peter Harris, Harry Enfield, Brian Elsley, Vicky Pile (later the producer of Smack The Pony and Green Wing), James Bibby, Andrew Renwick and David Marshall (hmmmm), Neville Gurnhill, and Michael Knowles.

It ran for six episodes at the start of 1983.

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