Spin Offs

[Jumblegraws]

Count Duckula from Danger Mouse

[Norton Canes]

George and Anthea from Men Behaving Badly
The Dibley Chronicles from The Vicar of Dibley
Two Skinny Lattes and a Granola Brownie from Two Pints of lager and a Packet of Crisps

[olliebean]

Fairly Secret Army was essentially a spin-off from The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin in all but Geoffrey Palmer's character's name, which was changed because Channel 4 didn't have the rights to the original character.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I would have said this but I thought we were limited to British ones.

Ah right. The OP mentioned Happy Days, so I assumed that American spin-offs were fair game.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Well, Absolutely gave us the brilliant Mr Don & Mr George, and didn't McGlashan get a pilot that was very well received but went no further? 

Speaking of John Sparkes, Barry Welsh had some cross-pollination with Absolutely, as did Siadwell with some other shows.

Swiss Toni from The Fast Show.

Smashie and Nicey (sort of).

Rab C Nesbitt, of course.

Still Game.


Quite a lot of Scottish, there.

Limmy tried to get a Falconhoof sitcom off the ground, but the BBC knocked him back. That could've worked, but the further adventures of Dee Dee would've been my preferred spin-off from Limmy's Show. Or does Dee Dee only work as an isolated character who exists within his own stoned, sleep-deprived fantasies? Seeing him interact with people from 'the real world' might've robbed the character of some of his daft, poignant charm, but I daresay that Limmy is capable of writing an oddball sitcom about a harmless waster roaming around Glasgow.

Anyway, it's never gonna happen, I'm just typing out loud.

[Jockice]

Phoenix Nights/Max and Paddy.

An absolutely spectacular drop-off in quality there. And the first realisation for many that not everything Kay did turned to gold.

[DrGreggles]

An absolutely spectacular drop-off in quality there. And the first realisation for many that not everything Kay did turned to gold.

The drop in quality between 'Phoenix Nights' s1 and 'Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights' (written by Peter Kay, starring Peter Kay, directed by Peter Kay) s2 was pretty big too.
Not sure if someone started to have a bit of an inflated ego between the two series...

[Jockice]

The drop in quality between 'Phoenix Nights' s1 and 'Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights' (written by Peter Kay, starring Peter Kay, directed by Peter Kay) s2 was pretty big too.
Not sure if someone started to have a bit of an inflated ego between the two series...

Very fair point!

[kngen]

Was musing about spin off shows the other day after reading about the number of shows spun off from Happy Days.

The fact that you can draw a direct line from Happy Days to Spinal Tap still makes my head swim a bit.

[Maurice Yeatman]

And Porridge from Seven Of One, but that might be debatable, since Seven Of One was intended as a series of pilots

You'd have to include Open All Hours as well in that case.

[Alternative Carpark]

Porkpie was a spin-off from Desmond's.

If prequels count, then First of the Summer Wine.

[marquis_de_sad]

In the Loop is basically a spin-off from The Thick of It, with some overlapping characters (Malcolm, Jamie, Angela Heaney), some actors playing completely different roles (e.g. Tom Hollander, James Smith), and some playing slightly different versions of their Thick of It character (Chris Addison's Olly is now Toby).

Then Veep is essentially a spin off from In the Loop with Anna Chlumsky and Zach Woods basically playing the same characters but slightly changed.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Nurse from Down the Line/Bellamy's People.

Swiss Toni from The Fast Show.

Swiss was spun off twice as he was originally in a The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer sketch:

https://youtu.be/F6bEm5WSqgQ

[DrGreggles]

Nurse from Down the Line/Bellamy's People.

Swiss was spun off twice as he was originally in a The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer sketch:

https://youtu.be/F6bEm5WSqgQ

I believe Bob wrote for him on The Fast Show too.
He used to get a writing credit anyway.

[Phil_A]

Yus, My Dear, spin-off featuring Arthur Mullard's character from Romany Jones, the latter of which ended suddenly due to the death of James Beck.

[magval]

Nurse from Down the Line/Bellamy's People.

Swiss was spun off twice as he was originally in a The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer sketch:

https://youtu.be/F6bEm5WSqgQ

Didn't Swiss Toni appear even earlier on a Jonathan Ross show from behind a door or something? Sort of like Alan's Big Pocket.

In my mind's eye, it's like the grid on Celebrity Squares, and Vic and Bob were involved in it too. Comedians would appear from behind doors and ask questions to contestants, something like that. Think I saw it on Comedy Connections.

Please tell me I didn't imagine this brilliant thing? Looking at Ross' IMDB it's most likely Saturday Zoo or The Last Resort, but I'm familiar with neither.

[olliebean]

Another one from The Fast Show - Ted & Ralph (although that was just a one-off).

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Didn't Swiss Toni appear even earlier on a Jonathan Ross show from behind a door or something? Sort of like Alan's Big Pocket.

In my mind's eye, it's like the grid on Celebrity Squares, and Vic and Bob were involved in it too. Comedians would appear from behind doors and ask questions to contestants, something like that. Think I saw it on Comedy Connections.

Please tell me I didn't imagine this brilliant thing? Looking at Ross' IMDB it's most likely Saturday Zoo or The Last Resort, but I'm familiar with neither.

One Hour With Jonathon Ross, Sunday Nights.

[DrGreggles]

Didn't Swiss Toni appear even earlier on a Jonathan Ross show from behind a door or something? Sort of like Alan's Big Pocket.

In my mind's eye, it's like the grid on Celebrity Squares, and Vic and Bob were involved in it too. Comedians would appear from behind doors and ask questions to contestants, something like that. Think I saw it on Comedy Connections.

Paul Whitehouse first did Mike Smash on that too.

I used to record that every week.
Somewhere there's a tape with Bob Mortimer dressed as Ken Dodd, falling off the stage, trying to show off his platform shoes.

[ColonelVolestrangler]

Yus, My Dear, spin-off featuring Arthur Mullard's character from Romany Jones, the latter of which ended suddenly due to the death of James Beck.

Romany Jones continued after Beck's death, with another two series. Instead of recasting Beck's role, Wolfe and Chesney created an upper class character called Jeremy Crichton-Jones, played by Jonathan Cecil, so they could continue with the Romany Jones title.

[Bad Ambassador]

Nurse from Down the Line/Bellamy's People.

Citizen Khan.

[Phil_A]

Romany Jones continued after Beck's death, with another two series. Instead of recasting Beck's role, Wolfe and Chesney created an upper class character called Jeremy Crichton-Jones, played by Jonathan Cecil, so they could continue with the Romany Jones title.

Huh, well I never. I always assumed that series died with Beck.

[McQ]

The title of this thread should be Spins Off.

[kidsick5000]

It Sticks Out Half a Mile, the largely forgotten radio sequel/spin-off from Dad's Army

The pilot was recorded and the go-ahead given for a full series, but then Arthur Lowe died.

A full series of 13 episodes was recorded and broadcast, and a second was apparently likely, but then John le Mesurier died and the whole thing was written off.

The curse of Dad's Army strikes again

[dontrunyoullfall]

Paul Whitehouse first did Mike Smash on that too.

I used to record that every week.
Somewhere there's a tape with Bob Mortimer dressed as Ken Dodd, falling off the stage, trying to show off his platform shoes.

Was the segment called Knock Down Ginger?

[DrGreggles]

Was the segment called Knock Down Ginger?

Something like that.
Definitely my first exposure to Vic & Bob.

[poodlefaker]

Was the segment called Knock Down Ginger?

Indeed. not on Youtube.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Was the segment called Knock Down Ginger?

Yes.

"The vase...the eyebrow...it's Roger Moore! "
Pretty sure Kathy Burke was involved an'all, playing a proto-Perry teenage boy.