Cambridge Footlights Revue (1982) Online

I was lucky enough to have owned a video recorder when the Revue was first aired on British TV in 1982. I frequently replayed the tape over the following years, up until the time it was eventually erased; ...probably to make room for something inferior.

My given name is Steven Fry, so I've always taken an extra interest in the young man who shares my name. (Albeit he spells his first name differently). I remember that he used to pop up regularly on University Challenge, representing Cambridge. There was no doubt Stephen Fry was clever …very clever. It's therefore no surprise either, to note that he dominates this Revue with his presence.

Three things stand out for me, mainly because of the way they tend to anticipate the future-lives of the actors concerned. 1. Emma Thompson's'Award winning diva' sketch, which was to become an uncanny rehearsal for her eventual Oscar acceptance speech some eleven years later in Hollywood. 2. Tony Slattery's song: 'I'm going to shoot somebody famous'. Perhaps giving an insight into the demons that plagued him later in his life. He was actually interviewed by Fry in 2007, as part of the latter's TV series on people suffering from Bi-polar depression. (The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive). A condition Slattery shares with Fry himself. 3. The interaction and comedic personalities of Fry and Laurie. The bedrocks of which were already well-formed. Laurie, with his bumbling, bug-eyed, puppy stare, and Fry, with his intense appreciation of the sounds and uses of words and his obvious love of knowledge itself.

Fry, Laurie and Thompson all found great fame later in their careers, while Slattery and Shearer never quite lived up to their potential. Penny Dwyer, having decided that showbiz was not for her, became a metallurgist instead. Unfortunately she died in 2003.

I'm hopeful that this show will one day become a classic. It's full of bright, early-80s sketches and decent songs, all performed by a talented, highly-intelligent cast who had the world at their feet.

I too taped the 1982 BBC1 show, and still have it. Unfortunately, I was silly enough at the time to stop the recording when Slattery sang. Halfway through I wished I hadn't done that, and so don't have most of his song. I did fortunately then resume the recording. To the best of my knowledge the show was never repeated by the BBC,which is a shame in my opinion.

To add to the other reviewers highlights : my favourite sketch is Stephen Fry sitting in a chair just reading from Bram Stoker's book of "Dracula" to the camera. He takes on the Dracula and Jonathan Harker roles when reading their lines. Absolutely brilliant and hilarious.It was quite obvious that Stephen Fry would be a big star, his talent really showed through, as did Hugh Laurie's.

For those that want to see the entire show it can be viewed on the "Bit of Fry and Laurie Season 2" disk as a special feature. I'd have to agree that the skit with Fry reading Dracula was hysterical. The song at the end is priceless. It amazes me how little Shearer and Dwyer perform in the entire show with Fry and Laurie practically carrying the entire thing. Thompson has a couple of scenes, with one being a solo venture, but the second scene, a Victorian spoof, is shouldered more by Fry than Thompson. It's hard to say whether the song sung by Tony Slattery was meant to be amusing or just very dark humor. Based on the fact that Tony wasn't diagnosed with a Bi-Polar disorder until much later in life, it's a dark foreshadow of his life to come. Even his role in Peter's Friends highlight's his bi-polar tendencies. My wonder is who wrote all of the songs in the presentation. We all know Hugh's ability with instruments, but was he responsible for any or all of the songs?