The Benny Hill Show: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show that starred Benny Hill and aired in various forms between 15 January 1955 and 30 May 1991 in over 140 countries.

The Benny Hill Show features Benny Hill in various short comedy sketches and occasional, extravagant musical performances by artists of the time. Hill appears in many different costumes and portrays a vast array of characters. Slapstick, burlesque and double entendresare his hallmarks. A group of critics accused the show of sexism, and Hill responded by claiming that female characters kept their dignity while the men who chase them were portrayed as buffoons.

The show often uses undercranking and sight gags to create what he called "live animation", and he employs techniques like mime and parody. The show typically closes with a sped-up chase scene involving him and often a crew of scantily-clad women (usually with Hill being the one chased, due to silly predicaments that he himself caused), a takeoff on the stereotypical Keystone Kops chase scenes. Hill also composed and sang patter songs and often entertained his audience with lengthy high-speed double-entendre rhymes and songs, which he recited or sang in a single take.

Hill also used the television camera to create comedic illusions. For example, in a murder mystery farce entitled "Murder on the Oregon Express" from 1976 (a parody of Murder on the Orient Express) Hill used editing, camera angles, and impersonations to depict a Quinn Martin–like TV "mystery" featuring Hill in the roles of 1970s American television detectives Ironside, McCloud, Kojak, Cannon and Hercule Poirot.

Series details

• Title: The Benny Hill Show
• Format: Variety
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy
• Premiere date: 1955-01-15
• Final broadcast date listed: 1968-12-26
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.1/10
• TVMaze ID: 7759
• TVDB ID: 74492

Cast and credited roles

• Benny Hill — Benny Hill
• The Ladybirds — Vocal Backing
• Bob Todd — Bob Todd
• Henry McGee — Henry McGee
• Jackie Wright — Jackie Wright

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1955-01-15; final listed air date 1955-03-12.
• Season 2: premiered 1957-01-05; final listed air date 1957-06-01.
• Season 3: premiered 1958-02-01; final listed air date 1958-04-26.
• Season 4: premiered 1961-02-04; final listed air date 1961-04-01.
• Season 5: premiered 1961-11-04; final listed air date 1961-12-16.
• Season 6: premiered 1964-11-06; final listed air date 1965-05-22.
• Season 7: premiered 1965-11-06; final listed air date 1966-01-08.
• Season 8: premiered 1968-04-20; final listed air date 1968-12-26.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Benny Hill Show on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.