''Asylum'' is a British comedy series which was shown on Paramount Comedy Channel in 1997. Set in a

mental asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

, it was directed and written by

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...

and co-written by

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...

. It ran for one series of six episodes. Unlike traditional

sitcoms A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television shows, it was to some extent an opportunity for

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

routines by various comedians, mixed with an overall story involving much

black humour Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

. It is significant for involving a large number of British comedians, many of whom went on to work on some of the most successful comedy programmes of the 2000s. It marked the first collaboration of

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the ...

and Jessica Stevenson, who would go on to make cult sitcom ''

Spaced ''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the comedic, and sometimes surreal and action-packed, misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bi ...

'' and ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden London salesman who is caught alongside his loved ones in a zombie apocalypse. It also star ...

''. Many of the characters names were the same as those of the actors who portrayed them.

David Devant & His Spirit Wife David Devant & His Spirit Wife are an English indie/art rock band from Brighton, England. They are named after the English magician and early film exhibitor, David Devant (1868–1941). History The band were formed in Brighton in May 1992 by ...

were the "house band" for the series, performing segments in every episode, from their first album, ''Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous''. The lead-in track "Ginger" served as the programme's title music. The series has yet to be released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Cast and crew

;Written by the cast and: * Co-writer & director -

* Co-writer -

;Principal cast and characters *

Norman Lovett Norman Lovett (born 31 October 1946) is a British stand-up comedian and actor best known for his portrayal of Holly, the ship's computer in ''Red Dwarf''. Career Lovett became a stand-up comedian in his thirties, initially supporting punk b ...

as Dr Lovett *

as Simon *

Jessica Hynes Jessica Hynes (''née'' Stevenson) is a British actress, director and writer. Best known as a comedy actress, she has played Cheryl in ''The Royle Family'' (1998–2010), Siobhan Sharpe in ''Twenty Twelve'' (2011–2012) and ''W1A'' (2014–2 ...

as Martha & Nurse McFadden *

Julian Barratt Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe along ...

as Julian/Victor Munro *

Paul Morocco Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

as Paul * Adam Bloom as Adam * Mick O'Connor as Nobby Shanks ;Guest stars * Paul Tonkinson * John Moloney *

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' (2000–2004), and for his regula ...

* Howard Haigh *

Andy Parsons Andrew John Parsons (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian and writer. He regularly appeared on '' Mock the Week'' from Series 3 to Series 14. With comedy partner Henry Naylor, he wrote and presented nine series of '' Parsons and Naylor ...

Henry Naylor Henry James Naylor is a British comedy writer, director and performer. He is also a playwright. Early life Naylor read history and history of art at Downing College, Cambridge. Career Naylor was head writer for ''Spitting Image'', and has wr ...

References

External links

* British television sitcoms 1996 British television series debuts 1996 British television series endings 1990s British black comedy television series British English-language television shows Works set in psychiatric hospitals 1990s British sitcoms Television series created by Edgar Wright Television series created by Simon Pegg {{UK-comedy-tv-prog-stub