League of Gentlemen

The television series titled The League of Gentlemen tells the story of nearly a hundred characters living in the fictional town of Royston Vasey, which was based on an actual town in the UK. It ran for three series, with an additional Christmas special.

The show features a macabre sense of humor with each series focusing on a main plotline, with several subplots. Often, a scene resembled a typical scene from a horror film, although the show was listed as a dark comedy. The show was originally sketch based; however as the series progressed it became more of a sitcom or comedic soap opera style.

The first series followed a plot centered on a new road being built in the town, causing gossip among its inhabitants about new people coming into town. This was the only series that followed the original sketch styling. Series two sought to solve the cause of an epidemic of nosebleeds among the townspeople. Series three highlighted a new character each week, but kept the stories intertwined into a main plot. The Christmas special focused on three characters and their visits to the town vicar, airing between series two and three.

The show was written by a quartet of actors and writers, most notably Mark Gatiss. The other three creators were Jeremy Dyson, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. The main characters were played by all but Dyson, while wearing various guises and makeup.

The League of Gentlemen was produced and distributed by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and was aired on Comedy Central in the US. All three series and the Christmas episode totaled 19 episodes, running between 30- 60 minutes each. The series originally aired on BBC Two in 1999. All 19 episodes were directed by Steve Bendelack.