Three episodes for later this year

 The League Of Gentlemen are to make their comeback with three special TV episodes later this year.

BBC Two controller Patrick Holland made the long-expected announcement at the Edinburgh TV Festival today.

Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson will be reuniting for a return to Royston Vasey to mark the 20th anniversary of their debut on BBC radio. 

The troupe won the Perrier Award at the 1997 Edinburgh Fringe, and they will be presenting this year’s accolade, now called the lastminute.com Edinburgh Comedy Award, on Saturday.

The League Of Gentlemen originally ran for three series on BBC Two from 1999 to 2002 and won the Rose D'Or and the Bafta for best comedy series in 2000. A 2005 film excursion followed

The team have remained in touch since then, and in 2010, a one-off radio show, The League of Gentlemen's Ghost Chase, was broadcast for Halloween – a documentary in which they spent a night at The Ancient Ram Inn, reputedly the most haunted hotel in Britain. And they again reunited to perform some of their old sketches at a London charity gig in 2013.

Reports of the reunion have appeared almost monthly since the team revealed that they discussed plans over lunch in 2014, and they have frequently spoken about their comeback plans in interviews since then.

Pemberton and Sheersmith have become known for Inside No 9,  Gatiss has been working on Doctor Who and Sherlock while Dyson’s has been script editing Tracey Ullman’s Show for BBC One, among other roles. 

Holland commissioned the new specials with BBC comedy chief Shane Allen, and they will be produced by BBC Studios. Original executive producer  Jon Plowman and director  Steve Bendelack are back on board, and the the producer is Adam Tandy.

Published: 23 Aug 2017