Fist of Fun


Fist of Fun was a British comedy show, initially a BBC Radio 1 series in 1993 and then a BBC2 television series in 1995. It was written by and starred Lee and Herring.
Each episode of Fist of Fun consisted of disparate sketches, stand-up comedy segments, dialogues, and situations.
It was broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday nights, and was successful, but not a major ratings-winner. The second series was aired on Friday nights, and although its ratings were relatively good, the show suffered from network interference and poor promotion. The show was not given a third series, but Lee and Herring went on to create This Morning with Richard Not Judy, for BBC2.
Many other comedians who appeared in the series went on to fame themselves, including the actor Kevin Eldon, Peter Baynham, Ronni Ancona, Alistair McGowan, Al Murray, John Thomson, Rebecca Front, Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins, Ben Moor and Sally Phillips.

Major characters

The series was never released by the BBC on either VHS or DVD but in May 2011 Stewart Lee announced that the rights to the show had been purchased by independent distributor Go Faster Stripe with an eye to release. The first series was released in early December 2011 and the second series in November 2012 albeit with slight edits made for editorial reasons at the request of the BBC. This included material regarding Princess Diana and Morris Mitchener, whose parents attempted to sue the West Yorkshire playhouse after a production of Peter Pan scared the infant Mitchener. Ironically the material excised from the otherwise complete episodes is included as part of the unedited studio sessions presented elsewhere on the DVD set.