Pemberton: 'I'm sure something will crop up...'

Steve Pemberton has given his clearest indication yet that the League of Gentlemen may return.

He acknowledged that the end of this year marks the 20th anniversary of the troupe's first stage gigs, which would be a perfect time for a reunion.

And speaking at the British Film Institute, he revealed that he met fellow members Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and writer Jeremy Dyson to discuss a possible project.

Asked about a possible reunion he said: 'We do get asked this very often and we always like to be non-committal. But let me put it this way, we're going to have a nice lunch next week and we're all going to discuss what we're up to.

'The 20th anniversary of League Of Gentlemen isn't too far away so we'll have a chat. We're all still great friends and we want to work together who I'm sure something will crop up.'

The interview took place last month, as he introduced The Cook, the Thief, his Wife & Her Lover as one of the movies that inspires him – but footage of the London event has only just been posted online.

Pemberton added that reuniting for a star-studded benefit gig in December last year revived the notion of a League reunion.

'It always amazes us that the fans are still out there,' he said: 'We didn't put any kind of spin on it; we just did three or four of our old sketches. It went down really well and I think it reignited our love of doing it.

'We'll see. We'll get together and we'll have a chat but we're all very fond of the League Of Gentlemen and we think it still holds up.'

Pemberton and Shearsmith made similar noises about wanting to work with their League colleagues again when they spoke at the Edinburgh TV festival in August – but were non-committal as to whether that would mean a return to Royston Vasey.

The League of Gentlemen started performing live together in late 1994, winning the Perrier award in 1997, when they also made a Radio 4 series. The TV show ran for three years on BBC Two from 1999, followed by a movie in 2005.

But the team have remained in touch and in 2010, a one off radio show, The League of Gentlemen's Ghost Chase, was broadcast for Halloween – a documentary about the members spending a night at The Ancient Ram Inn, reputedly the most haunted hotel in Britain.

Pemberton and Shearsmith are currently working on a second series of Inside No 9, expected to air in spring 2015.

Here is the BFI interview:

Published: 7 Oct 2014