Packet Of Three/Packing Them In – Nostalgia Central

1 9 9 1 (UK)
8 x 30 minute episodes
1 9 9 2 (UK)
8 x 30 minute episodes

Premiering on 2 August 1991, this Channel 4 show was an attempt to combine a sitcom with a showcase for new stand-up comedy and variety performers.

Henry (performance poet Henry Normal) was the owner of the (fictional) Crumpsall Palladium, a northern Variety theatre he had inherited from his Uncle Obadiah.

His staff were the ticket seller and kiosk attendant, Jenny (Jenny Eclair), and the caretaker and stage manager, Frank (Frank Skinner in his Teddy Boy days).

Episodes combined storylines of the goings-on behind the scenes – someone operating a pirate radio station from the wings, the Mafia sending death threats, Henry’s cousin Wally (Steve Coogan) trying to turn the theatre into a bingo hall – with three acts performing onstage each week (including Dave Gorman, John Otway, Attila the Stockbroker, the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and Italian mime and origami artist Ennio Marchetto).

Veteran yodelling accordionist Billy Moore was the warm-up guy.

The title was changed to Packing Them In for the second series, which featured guest appearances from Mark Lamarr, John Shuttleworth (Graham Fellows), Lily Savage, Bob Mills and Alistair McGowan.

The series was filmed at the Theatre Royal and Opera House in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

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