''Barry Welsh Is Coming'' is a Welsh

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

produced by

Absolutely Productions Absolutely Productions is a British media production company, working mostly in television, formed in 1988 by Morwenna Banks, Jack Docherty, Moray Hunter, Pete Baikie, John Sparkes, and Gordon Kennedy (actor), Gordon Kennedy, all of whom were t ...

for

HTV Wales ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales and Wes ...

. The programme was first broadcast at 10:40 pm on Friday 6 September 1996 and originally ran for six series with some episodes later broadcast on the

Paramount Comedy Channel Comedy Central is a British pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based ...

. It was produced by Pete Baikie, and almost all the main characters were played by

John Sparkes John Sparkes (born 6 January 1954) is a Welsh comedian and actor. He portrayed Barry Welsh, presenter of the HTV Wales series '' Barry Welsh Is Coming''. He has also had major roles in '' Naked Video'', '' Absolutely'', ''Fireman Sam'', '' Sha ...

, who also played the inept presenter Barry Welsh. For the final series, the show was renamed ''Barry Welsh Is Going'' and consisted of three compilation specials. The series was replaced by '' Jeff Global's Global Probe'', which ended after six episodes. The TV series also featured cast members from the Channel 4 series '' Absolutely'', while some character elements from ''Absolutely'' were incorporated into the programme. Denzil and Gwynedd, two of the original ''Absolutely'' characters, briefly returned in ''Barry Welsh Is Coming'' for shorter sketches, now accompanied by their 21-year-old son, Codfyl. The show returned in 2007 in the form of three themed specials broadcast throughout the year, presented by Sparkes in the guise of Fishguard news reporter Hugh Pugh. The new episodes were produced in-house by

ITV Wales ITV Cymru Wales is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region ITV Wales & West serving Wales and the West of England, which had previously used the branding "I ...

Characters

Hugh Pugh

The most popular segment of the programme, Hugh Pugh is a news reporter from

Fishguard Fishguard (, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,400 (rounded to the nearest 100) as of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Modern Fishguard consists of two parts, Lowe ...

with a strong aversion towards Barry Welsh.

A.R.S.

The Animal Rescue Squad (or A.R.S. – pronounced as "arse"), is a lampoon of ''

Animal Hospital ''Animal Hospital'' is a British television show starring Australian singer and TV presenter Rolf Harris that ran on BBC One from 29 August 1994 to 13 September 2004. Other presenters included Lynda Bryans, Steve Knight, Mairi McHaffie, Rhodri W ...

'' and other animal welfare shows. The series is set in and around

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, and features the short-tempered Dave Daley ( Kim Wall), Dave Sinclair (

), Dave Webster ( Gordon Kennedy) at A.R.S. Control (his mother's home), and an unnamed cameraman ( Pete Baikie) who is always bullied by Dave Daley when Daley is in a fit of rage. The A.R.S. tend to rescue mostly insects such as

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

and

wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

rather than larger animals, although dogs appeared in later sketches. The sketches are narrated by

Morwenna Banks Tamsin Morwenna Banks (born 20 September 1961) is a British actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show '' Absolutely'', and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film ''The Announc ...

Mr. Ffff

A dirty old man who explains about his sex life with elements of

toilet humour Toilet humour or potty humour is a type of off-colour humour dealing with: defecation (including diarrhea and constipation), in which case it is called scatological humour (compare scatology); urination; flatulence, in which case it is called f ...

from Frank Hovis. He frequently talks about

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

and

oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth). Cunnilingus is oral sex performed on the vu ...

. He is often billed as "the oldest man in Wales". There was also a short sketch with Siadwel, previously performed on ''

Naked Video ''Naked Video'' is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC2 from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' and ''Naked Radio'' (the latter being a radi ...

''.

Geraint Pillock

An edited 1970s news film featuring

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the west of Ireland and also particularly on the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used for ...

enthusiast Denzil Davies, whose film has been doctored to appear as if "Geraint Pillock of

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

" (as Barry Welsh names him) is trying bizarre feats in a coracle. The various challenges are attempted "mainly because it's a challenge, a challenge for me and a challenge for the coracle". The various challenges that Geraint attempts include crossing the

Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

, travelling at 740 miles per hour, conquering the glaciers of the North Pole, circling the M25 for a year, and going to Mars. In the 2007 special ''Barry Welsh Has An Election'', Geraint was elected as the Mayor of Fishguard.

Gwyn

An eccentric with a twitch (originally seen in ''Absolutely'') based on Frank Hovis, but without the toilet humour. Elements of Hovis' karaoke to Stoneybridge were recycled when Gwyn sang live to the studio audience.

Aneurin Anus

A mock gardening show with strong

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

sexual humour Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribald ...

. Aneurin is a stereotypical Welsh gardener who was originally censored because of the strong content of anal jokes relating to homosexuality, but he is included in the VHS release of ''Barry Welsh: The Second Coming''.

Kenny Twat

The former mayor of Fishguard. He was voted out in the 2007 Fishguard mayoral election (as seen in ''Barry Welsh Has An Election'') after 70 years in office.

One-off specials

There have been a number of special one-off episodes, all of them with a particular theme. *''Hugh Pugh Presents: The Fishguard Film Festival'' (27 March 2000) A special programme from the fictitious Fishguard Film Festival. This episode won a

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.St. David's Day Saint David's Day ( or ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. Traditional festivities include wearing daffodils and leeks, r ...

special in which Barry Welsh searches for the truth behind the patron saint of Wales. *''Barry Welsh Stays Up for St. David'' (28 February 2003) Barry is joined by Gwyn, Mr. Ffff, Pete Baikie, and Beca Evans (''Pub Quiz'') for a "live"

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots language, Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 ...

-style extravaganza as Wales counts down to midnight and the "Welshest day of the year", St. David's Day. *''The History of Wales according to Hugh Pugh'' (1 March 2004) The third St. David's Day special from the series, in which Hugh Pugh provides his own personal account of ten thousand years of Welsh history. This episode won the 2005 BAFTA Cymru award for Best Light Entertainment. *''Barry Welsh Has An Election'' (3 May 2007) As part of

's Welsh Assembly election coverage, Hugh Pugh presents coverage of the Fishguard mayoral election, in which Mayor of Fishguard Mr. Kenny Twat stood for election against rival candidates Barry Welsh and Geraint Pillock. *''Hugh Pugh Kicks Off'' (6 September 2007) The manic Fishguard reporter focuses on the build-up to the 2007

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

. *''Hugh Pugh's Christmas Cracker'' (19 December 2007) A special Christmas episode looking back at the highlights from ten years of spoof news bulletins and reports from Fishguard reporter, Hugh Pugh.

External links

Archive website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry Welsh Is Coming ITV sketch shows ITV comedy Welsh television shows 1990s Welsh television series 2000s Welsh television series 1996 British television series debuts 2004 British television series endings Television series by ITV Studios British English-language television shows Television shows produced by Harlech Television 1990s British television sketch shows 2000s British television sketch shows