The Armstrong & Miller Show – starts Friday 26 October at 9.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ One
Production notes
Re-united after seven years, Ben Miller and Alexander (Xander) Armstrong decided to work together again after appearing in 2005 in a one-off sketch for a charity show at the Groucho Club, as Xander explains: "It was the first time we had performed together for many years, and it was lovely, really good fun. Because we'd worked together so much and so intensively, we thought we'd done enough to last a lifetime. But we realised how much we missed it and how the chemistry just worked. Re-uniting suddenly seemed the sensible thing to do."
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Ben adds: "Our wives Belinda and Hannah were there to watch. They had never seen us do our act before, and they encouraged us to get back together."
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The duo began performing together in 1993 when they both left Cambridge and started working together at a Notting Hill comedy club. Xander laughs: "We didn't know each other at uni because Ben was a bit of a superstar – an amazing astrophysicist and left-field comedian who was going out with Rachel Weisz – so he seemed to live on another planet."
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After guest appearances on French & Saunders, Smith & Jones and Harry Enfield and Chums, they got their big break on Channel 4's Saturday Live. This led to their own show on Paramount TV and then Channel 4 which ran for four series.
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Jimmy Mulville of Hat Trick Productions – with whom Ben and Xander had made a number of programmes including The Worst Week of My Life and Have I Got News For You – had also been encouraging them for a while to do another series together.
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Xander explains: "Hat Trick started making noises to me about Ben and me getting back together a while ago, at around the time they were discussing the possibility of my becoming the permanent host on Have I Got News For You.
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"I remember having lunch with Jimmy Mulville and Denise O'Donoghue and I said that Ben and I had done so much over a four-year period and worked at such a pace that our ideas were all wrung out and I wasn't sure if we had anything fresh to say. But now a few years down the line the reservoirs are full again and the timing seemed right."
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Having decided to reunite, Ben and Xander then had a lot of fun conjuring up a crack team of writers to work with them, with Jeremy Dyson of The League Of Gentlemen fame as their script editor.
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Xander explains: "We have always been big fans of Jeremy. He has a fantastic outlook and a wonderful scientific and emotional handle on comedy. He's really good at putting his finger on what is funny and we leapt at the chance when he was suggested."
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Choosing the writers for the series was a long process: "Lots of people sent in ideas, and the ones who consistently hit the mark are the ones we decided to work with."
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The writers include Andy Hamilton (Outnumbered, Drop The Dead Donkey), Justin Sbresni and Mark Bussell (The Worst Week Of My Life), Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie (Star Stories), David Scott, Ali Crockett, Nico Tatarowicz (Swinging), David Cadji-Newby (Rush Hour), Laurence Howarth (Dead Ringers, Alistair McGowan's Big Impression), Simon Blackwell (The Thick Of It), Anil Gupta (Goodness Gracious Me) and Richard Pinto (The Kumars at No.42).
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Ben adds: "We chose writers from shows that we love and people that we had worked with during the intervening years. I had done Worst Week with Justin and Mark, and asked them to write something for us. They came up with the 'Pete and Rog' sketches. Bert and George wrote a lot of the best stuff from our Channel 4 series and we were very keen to have them back. Mitchell and Webb we hadn't heard from for a while – wonder what happened to them…?"
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They tried out some of their sketches in front of a live audience, as Ben explains: "It was one of the best things that we did. It got us used to performing in front of an audience again, and helped us try out lots of material before we went into the studio."
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Xander agrees: "It was very fruitful and incredibly helpful and got us back into the swing of performing. You can't beat having a live audience, and it also meant we had a chance to develop the characters and to see which ones worked and which didn't – and there were some surprises."
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The duo were determined to keep their comedy as edgy as ever, even though they have moved from Channel 4 to ´óÏó´«Ã½ One.
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Ben elaborates: "When we did the Channel 4 show, the subjects that we showed and the targets that we picked were sometimes a little bit obscure – the more obscure the setting the better, in fact. For example, we'd do a whole sketch about a Mike Leigh film in which the improvisation was very bad – some chap with a broken arm and the gags connected to that – but of course Mike Leigh films aren't something we all share. So this time round we wanted to work from mainstream reference points. And treat them in a barmy way."
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Xander agrees: "The move hasn't affected our style, but a lot of the stuff that was slightly more left-of-field we had to explain a bit more or ditch. We don't want to alienate the ´óÏó´«Ã½ One audience. The references had to be more universal which means we do spoofs on programmes like Who Do You Think You Are? and sports programmes rather than Mike Leigh movies.
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"We were determined not to spread ourselves too thinly, though. Our watchword is to do stuff that we find funny. And I think we've pulled it off – our humour is genuinely things that we love and that make us laugh and situations people will recognise only too well."
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Ben: "For example, we have a running joke set in a chemist. You know when you hand in your prescription and they go into the little room at the back and just seem to take forever? What are they doing? I mean, all they've got to do is open a drawer, get out some pills and give them to you. But 20 minutes later they're still not back and there are usually two or three people waiting patiently in front of you. So we have a sketch where a guy decides he can't stand it anymore and he goes out to the back to find another world, like Narnia."
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Xander takes up the story: "There's one sketch where he finds the chemists snowball fighting, rolling around and having a ball, and another where there's a high class restaurant and the chemist is having dinner with a very beautiful looking Russian woman."
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He adds: "What has been the saving grace of our friendship and our working relationship has been that we both have day jobs now, which is a good thing. When we did the original Armstrong and Miller we clung onto the series with a white knuckle grip – if that wasn't happening, what else did we have?
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"But since then we have forged our own respective careers, so we can really enjoy getting back together and do it as a labour of love. We have both had our areas of comedy neurosis in the past, but that hasn't come into play this time round, and I guess that has a lot to do with getting older. It has been so much more enjoyable, because the pressure is off."
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Ben adds: "We like to think of our brand of comedy as accessible absurdity or barmy smut. And we are very specific about what we want it to look like.
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"For example, we shot one particular scene in a Ken Loach style. The camera was so far away – which is his technique – that the actors couldn't see it. It's a very long lens and you get a much more naturalistic performance. In fact sometimes they were so naturalistic that we had to remind the extras that they were actually still being filmed.
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"And several times members of the public got involved in sketches.
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"I was with some youths in the street in Primrose Hill dressed in my fuddy duddy outfit. They drop some litter and I say: 'Oi, pick that up – there's a bin right here!' and then I turn to the camera and say: 'I'm wearing my wife's knickers!' When I told the boys to pick the rubbish up, a woman passer-by started clapping and saying: 'Yes, well done!'
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"I had to shatter her illusions by apologising and telling her that it was make-believe! And then we had to re-shoot the scene."
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Filming took place at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Centre and on locations around London, including Barnet and Wrotham Park, the beautiful stately home where Gosford Park was filmed.
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Xander laughs: "We shot our cavemen scenes not in the New Forest but on a bit of scrubland in a really busy part of London; it's amazing that we managed to dodge the aeroplane noises, really!"
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Amongst the plethora of characters they have invented for the show, Ben has his own personal favourite: "It's the forgetful prime minister. He's voiced a bit like John Humphrys and is very dignified. Usually the scene starts with him being in some high-level meeting where he's negotiating some life-or-death situation or saving the planet. Everyone is very impressed and happy with what he suggests and he walks out on a high with the applause ringing in his ears. Then once he's outside he goes: 'Oh s**t, I think I left my briefcase behind!' And Xander, who plays my aide, asks if I want to go back in and get it and I say: 'Um, I think it might be a bit embarrassing, actually. Left on a bit of a high – I think we'll just leave it.'
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"That's constantly happening to me in real life. I leave in a gale of laughter and a few passing jokes and then I realise I've left my jumper there and I have to go back in…"
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He adds: "I also like the Dentist, the Frank Dad, Pete and Rog and Tony and Dimitri. And, of course, the Chav Pilots."
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Xander says: "My favourite is a tiny part actually, but I do love him. He's a character called Max. It's all about the conspiracy surrounding half-price pots and how it's a bit of a scam because they're really full price. Ben plays a character called Steve who's talking about this with some friends in the pub and he tells them he can't talk about it any more as he's said way too much already. He then gets bundled into a car at night by some heavies and driven to some sinister place where Max is the big half-price supremo. I really went to town with that character, and had a white lens made for my eye. It's based on a guy I used to know who'd leave the last consonant on every word until about a minute after the rest of the word.
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"I also enjoyed the 'Kill Them' sketches and the Jim Howick character in 'How Many Hats?' The medieval fussy eating sketch was great fun for us all, as it gave us the chance to dress up in some very silly clothes."
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So there are several make-up and costume changes involved in the sketch show: "I have enjoyed all that more than I can say! We had extensive prosthetics for our 'origins of…' sketches in which we play cavemen. We had to be in at five in the morning to have all that put on, and I have to say that Ben makes a really good Neanderthal!"
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With so many characters in the series, is it immediately clear who is going to play which one?
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Xander laughs: "Absolutely not! It's a free-for-all usually!"
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Ben agrees: "We've both kind of got types, but I think we try and play against them as well, which is fun."
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Xander elaborates: "It's much more fun to confound the writer – I've taken a number of parts on that were actually written for Ben!"
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In the main the writers did know who they had in mind when they were writing: "There's a great divorced dad character. We often see him walking in the park with his son who will ask him why he and his mum had to divorce, and he says: 'Well, it was all your fault; your mum and I were perfectly happy until you came along. What tore us apart was the strain of trying to keep two careers going while looking after you – come on, race you to the swings!' That was a part meant for Ben but I got it."
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There are several running characters throughout the series, as Xander explains: "That was another of our rules; at Channel 4 we tried to have as many stand-alone sketches as possible. We had a few running sketches, such as Nude Practice and Strijka, but this time round, we wiped the slate clean pretty much, although there are some similarities. I think there's more fun to be had that way as you can develop ideas and the audience warms more and more to characters they are familiar with."
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They are joined in this new series by some very talented comedians: Lucy Montgomery (Tittybangbang, The Friday Night Project), Katherine Jakeways (Extras, Hyperdrive) and Karen Hayley (Bo' Selecta) all provide the glamour, with Jim Howick (Peep Show), David Armand (Rush Hour, Swinging), Renton Skinner (The Office, Mike Bassett: Manager) and Tyger Drew-Honey performing alongside them.
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Eleven-year-old Tyger was recently seen playing opposite Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner in Hat Trick's hit comedy series Outnumbered on ´óÏó´«Ã½ One.
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Ben comments: "Some people say that it's hard to do good comedy on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and ITV because the audience isn't necessarily a comedy-loving audience, but our touchstone has always been Have I Got News For You. So we're thrilled that our show is going out after it. I am always very proud when I see Xander presenting the show."
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Xander – who will make his tenth appearance as guest presenter just before Armstrong and Miller returns to ´óÏó´«Ã½ One – agrees: "Yes, it's funny every single week, consistently funny, and it's always new and interesting, edgy and very popular – just the audience we hope to appeal to!
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"It's a brilliant slot for us in that the Have I Got News For You audience are probably pretty familiar with both of us. I remember when I was little I used to love Friday night television, so I've got a great affection for it. And let's not forget that Have I Got News For You is watched by a lot of people, so let's hope we can persuade them to watch us too!"
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Although they have never gone away, sketch shows do seem to be enjoying a bit of a revival.
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Ben agrees: "Definitely. When we started in 1991, we performed at the only sketch club in London, TBA, at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill. Now 15% of young men between the ages of 18 and 30 are in a sketch comedy troupe!"
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Xander adds: "Sketch shows are like a big box of chocolates; if you're not so keen on one sketch, the next one might be absolutely to your taste. Ben and I have always made a big play for trying to act as well as possible, and I hope our enthusiasm comes across and that people will agree that it is a classy show, and that Armstrong and Miller looks like something we've put a lot of fun and love into."
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Ben concludes: "Xander and I have really enjoyed working together again. Hopefully at the end of the day each sketch is in some way about our relationship – a double act."
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