''Chelmsford 123'' is a British television
situation comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
produced for
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
by
Hat Trick Productions. Chelmsford ran for two series, of six and seven episodes respectively, in 1988 and 1990.
The series was set in the British town of
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Lond ...
in the year
AD 123 and concerned the power struggle between Roman governor Aulus Paulinus (
Jimmy Mulville) and the British chieftain, Badvoc (
Rory McGrath
Patrick Rory McGrath (born 17 March 1956) is a British comedian, television personality, and writer. He came to prominence in the comedy show ''Who Dares Wins'' and was a regular panellist on the game show ''They Think It's All Over'' for many ...
). Britain is a miserable place, cold and wet – just the place to exile Aulus for accidentally insulting the Emperor's horse but also give him something useful to do. Aulus, probably a play on
Aulus Platorius Nepos
Aulus Platorius Nepos was a Roman senator who held a number of appointments in the imperial service, including the governorship of Britain. He was suffect consul succeeding the ''consul posterior'' Publius Dasumius Rusticus as the colleague of ...
, the governor of
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...
between 122 and 125, was a rather delicate Roman and was usually outwitted by the scheming Badvoc, who hadn't had a haircut for twenty-five years. Many of the other regular "Hat Trick" actors, previously seen in shows such as ''
Who Dares Wins'', appeared.
Both series are available on