Big Train

1998 • BBC
4.3
17 reviews
Eligible
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Season 2 episodes (6)

1 Susan
7/1/02
Season-only
Meet the Spanish flamenco dancers with a speciality in defusing car bombs, some tortoises that speak fluent French and a man who discovers his rival in love is far from human.
2 Judith
14/1/02
Season-only
One man's passion for potatoes leads to trouble, the world premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's The Working Class is the stuff nightmares are made of and the pros and cons of being blessed with huge hands are weighed up in a variety of scenarios.
3 Janet
21/1/02
Season-only
Beefeaters explain why they feel forced to riot in protest at their constant persecution, a boxing toddler is being put under pressure by her parents to throw her next prize fight and Den Davies, Britain's second most famous rostrum cameraman, shows what can happen when career demands become too much.
4 Glenda
28/1/02
Season-only
The Beefeaters return on a recruitment drive, the hazards of employing a man on strings are uncovered and we meet Dominic Flasks, a zoo keeper with a preference for sea lions.
5 Beryl
4/2/02
Season-only
The advantages of wearing armour are brought home for a group of knights in a battle who discover that whilst Hawaiian shirts may seem cool, they're not much of a defence against the average blade. And afer finding their second Messiah in two days, the Church of Science and Knowledge looks at making its questionnaire just that little bit harder.
6 Margaret
11/2/02
Season-only
Even if your legs are about to be cut off thanks to a bloody battle, there's still time to celebrate your surgeon's birthday - whisky or no whisky. Lessons can also be learnt from the public information film that questions whether making a ham sandwich can honestly be classed as nothing more than just a bit of fun, and from the over-confident office worker whose job really is his life.

About this show

Big Train steams out of the comedy tunnel as realism meets utter stupidity in a cavalcade of daft sketches performed by high-quality actors in a series of stunning costumes and vast sets reminiscent of the worst excesses of DW Griffith. There are also lots of sketches in offices. Along the way we meet shy policemen, pop stars chasing jockeys, a duck in danger, hens in armed combat, a confused Transport Minister, highly charged sexual politics and casual, though necessary, violence.

Ratings and reviews

4.3
17 reviews
Bryan Tookey
18 January 2018
I found this really funny and it holds up well despite being 15+ years old (unsurprising given that it is mostly surreal).
A Google user
27 October 2016
...and the most under-appreciated