Nightingales

This show is a hidden classic. Most people you mentioned this show to have never heard of it. It was hidden away on Channel 4 in the U.K. for two series (1990-1993). The situations are original, from a replacement guard turning into a werewolf to murder and mayhem. All cast members are excellent, occasionally slipping into Shakespeare with ease. If you can get hold of copies or it is ever repeated watch it. I highly recommend it.

Loved the programme Nightingales. Takes me back a few years. Off the wall. Surreal. Fantastic. Late night jewel. Ideal for insomniacs.

Well know for the phrase "there is nobody here but us chickens".

Maybe other fans were Steven Moffat famed for writing Doctor Who amongst other things. In Doctor who wrote the episode "The empty child". An episode of Doctor who from the first series...with Christopher Eccleston.

An hysterical four year old child at the door asks "Are you my mommy?". The doctor replies "No mommies here. Nobody here but us chickens". "Well this chicken".

Nightingales is the single most innovative, surreal, high farce, low brow, amazing sitcom of my experience. This series, about the bizarre on-the-job occurrences in the lives of 3 night security guards, is highlighted by Makin's extremely funny dialogue and impeccable comic timing by three very fine actors. From pratfalls to parody, from allegories to metaphors, this is one show that makes its point without beating the viewer over the head with moralistic axioms, leaving the viewer free to choose whether in fact there is a point at all or just some really good laughs to be had. Only 13 episodes were made, a real shame since the writing was hitting unbelievable highs in the last two episodes, King Lear II and Someone to Watch Over Me. While Nightingales may not be considered mainstream fare, those viewers who've had quite enough of Seinfeld and Friends may want to investigate it for a true revival of the sense of the ridiculous.

This is true British comedy following in the footsteps of the Goons or Monty Python. You wouldn't think that a sitcom about 3 security guards and an empty building would yield much in the way of laughs but this comedy did using a combination of off-the-wall plots and fantastic characterisation by Lyndsey, Thewlis and Allison.

If you like Nightingales, check out The High Life and Joking Apart.

"Anyone here?" "There's nobody here but us chickens"

Probably the most underrated of channel 4's sit-coms. Superbly acted by the principles (especially David Threlfall). The reason it is not particularly well known is the stupid scheduling it received (after 11pm midweek), consequently not many people saw it. The surreal humour is not to everyones tastes so it's a case of love it or hate it. People who do love it really do love it. Somehow it manages to capture the slightly demented state of mind that night-workers tend to develop, the in-jokey humour and the flights of fantasy in their enclosed little world. Particularly recommended are the two werewolf episodes and the one with a gorilla called Trevor Oblong.

I wonder what Samuel Beckett is doing now?