The New Statesman

The New Statesman, 1987

Hard hitting satire starring Rik Mayall.  The New Statesman ran for four series and three specials between 1987 and 1994.

In 2006 there was also a stage show featuring Alan B’Stard.

The show was written specifically for Rik Mayall at his own request.  Very much of it’s time it satirised the Conservative Government of the day.

The New Statesman was pricipally a Yorkshire Television production for ITV, although two of the specials one in 1988 and one in 1994 were made by the BBC (one of which was an episode for Comic Relief).

In 2017 it was announced that a new series of the hit show is in the planning stages.  Very little detail was given away.  However we were told it was to be written by original writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran and that the main character will be the son of  Alan B’Stard and the likely backdrop would be Brexit.

Regretably the project to date has not materialised.

Summary

Alan B’Stard, is the egocentric Conservative MP who will stop at nothing to further his political career.  With no morals, no depth to which he wouldn’t sink and no plot too cunning, the series follows the antics of the immoral MP.

Clips

 

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Cast

Rik Mayall
Michael Troughton
Marsha Fitzalan

Details

Channel: ITV (Except 1988 Comic Relief and 1994 specials BBC1)
Written By:  Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran
Executive Producers: David Reynolds
John Bartlett
Michael Pilsworth
Allan McKeown

Original Transmission Dates: 13 September 1987 – 30 December 1994

Notes On Transmission:

The first special came on February 5, 1988, as part of BBC1’s Comic Relief fund raiser.  The series itself came to an end in December 1992.  However the character was resurrected by the BBC on December 30th, 1994 , for a special episode A B’Stard Exposed.  This was the character’s last TV appearance.