Q (TV series)

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Q
Format	Comedy (sketch show)
Created by	Spike Milligan
Starring	Spike Milligan
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	38
Production
Running time	30 minutes (approximate)
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Original run	24 March 1969 – 1982
External links
TV.com summary

Spike Milligan's Q was a surreal television comedy sketch show which ran from 1969 to 1983 on BBC Two. The first and third series ran for seven episodes, with the remainder running for six episodes, each of which was 30 minutes long. Each series was numbered, starting with Q5 — possibly because the project to construct the Cunard liner QE2, launched in September 1967, was dubbed Q4 — and continuing in ascending order, through to Q9. The final series was renamed There's a Lot of It About, after, according to Milligan's autobiography, the BBC felt the public might find Q10 too confusing.

Though many found it to be more "hit and miss" than Milligan's earlier work, especially The Goon Show, it is considered by many to be one of the landmarks in British comedy, in particular Q5, which preceded Monty Python's Flying Circus. Q5 first aired on 24 March 1969 — a matter of months before Flying Circus — and is seen by many as a forerunner to it. The Pythons themselves remember that, having seen Q5, they had been forced to scurry around for a new hook for their series, as the format they had been intending to use had now already been done. It was from this that their "stream of consciousness" theme evolved.^{[citation needed]} Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."^{[citation needed]}

While Flying Circus had four series between 1969–1974, because of his tempestuous relationship with the BBC, Milligan had to wait until 1975 for his second series to be commissioned. The series continued sporadically after this. Q7 appeared in 1977, Kuwait (Q8) shortly after in 1978, Q9 in 1980 and There's a Lot of It About in 1982. Milligan resented the BBC for the cold attitude they took towards the series in comparison with series like Flying Circus, and always maintained that, given the opportunity, he would have produced more.

Q gave centre stage to Milligan's freeform surreal wit. The sketches came thick and fast, running into one another, making outrageous leaps from one subject or location to another and often stopping with no apparent conclusion. This was a response to the work of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in Not Only... But Also, where humorous sketches had been undermined by the inability to think up of a punchline which was funnier than the rest of the sketch (a style that was picked up by Python). Even the costumes were madcap and contradictory — each of them still bore its BBC Wardrobe Department tag, and Milligan seemed to have a fondness for large noses and hats. However, Milligan was criticised for his tendency to make racially charged jokes, especially regarding Jews and Pakistanis, and the series as a whole was decidedly politically incorrect, even by the standards of the 1970s — almost every episode featured an appearance by the scantily-clad, huge-breasted 'glamour stooge' Julia Breck.

Some of the material has been wiped.

[edit] Guests

Most of the episodes featured a relatively 'straight' musical interlude, sometimes performed by Milligan himself, or his collaborators Ed Welch or Alan Clare at the piano. There were also appearances by jazz groups, ragtime bands, singer-songwriters and the Mike Sammes Singers, who received custard pies in their faces at the end of one performance. Some of the musical clips were included in the BBC Four series Jazz Britannia.