The Stage

South Bank Show to explore Footlights’ influence

Published Friday 28 November 2008 at 11:40 by Matthew Hemley

ITV’s The South Bank Show is to look at the influence the Cambridge Footlights has had on television comedy and radio as part of its 2009 series.

The arts show will look at how the company only ever uses material written by its members and how it has spawned some of the UK’s best-loved entertainers, including Peter Cook and John Cleese.

It follows the Footlights through the sixties to current day and includes contributions from past members.

Elsewhere, 2009’s series of the show will include a programme about Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The programme explores the thinking that informed the play and Shakespeare’s take on the Americas.

Other episodes include specials on director and writer Peter Kosminsky, who tells Melvyn Bragg about his controversial career, and actress Julie Walters.