The Dame Edna Experience
The Dame Edna Experience | |
---|---|
Series One DVD cover (North America) | |
Created by | Barry Humphries |
Presented by | Dame Edna Everage |
Starring |
Barry Humphries Emily Perry The Laurie Holloway Orchestra |
Narrated by | Robin Houston |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of episodes | 14 (inc. 2 specials) |
Production | |
Location(s) |
LWT Studios London |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company(s) | London Weekend Television |
Release | |
Original network | ITV |
Original release | 12 September 1987 – 22 December 1989 |
Chronology | |
Followed by |
Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch (1992) |
Related shows | A Night On Mount Edna (1990) |
The Dame Edna Experience is a British television comedy talk-show hosted by Dame Edna Everage (a character played by Australian satirist Barry Humphries). It ran for twelve regular episodes on ITV, plus two Christmas specials.[1]
Programme
The first seven aired for the first time in 1987, the next seven in 1989. It was directed by Ian Hamilton and Alasdair MacMillan and produced by London Weekend Television. Regulars on the program, besides Dame Edna, were her "bridesmaid" Madge Allsop (played by Emily Perry) and Robin Houston who was the announcer, with orchestra conducted and arranged by Laurie Holloway.
Each program featured several celebrity guests,[2] usually three, but some programs included up to eight guests. There would also be other invited "guests" like Kurt Waldheim and Imelda Marcos who once introduced at stage right would fall victim to a trap door or something similar and fail to make it to their chair.
DVD releases
The entire series was released on DVD (for Region 1) by BBC Video in June 2004, and can now also be purchased as a complete set including the 1987 Christmas special and the three An Audience with Dame Edna specials, plus other material.[1]
The series was released for Region 2 by Network DVD in the UK in 2007, as a 4-disc set. It includes the 1987 Christmas special and the one-off 1990 Christmas special A Night On Mount Edna with guests Mel Gibson, Charlton Heston, Gina Lollobrigida and Julio Iglesias.
For reasons unknown, neither the Region 1 or the Region 2 releases include the 1989 Christmas special "The Dame Edna Satellite Experience" that ended the second series and featured Ursula Andress, Yehudi Menuhin, and Robert Kilroy-Silk.
Season One episodes and guests
- Episode 1, Original Air Date: 12 September 1987 - Sean Connery, Cliff Richard, Mary Whitehouse
- Episode 2, Original Air Date: 19 September 1987 - Jeffrey Archer, Joan Rivers, Demis Roussos
- Episode 3, Original Air Date: 26 September 1987 - Larry Hagman, Arthur Marshall, Jane Seymour
- Episode 4, Original Air Date: 3 October 1987 - Zsa Zsa Gabor, Germaine Greer, Nana Mouskouri
- Episode 5, Original Air Date: 10 October 1987 - Jerry Hall, Charlton Heston, Patrick Lichfield
- Episode 6, Original Air Date: 17 October 1987 - John Mills, Rudolf Nureyev, Barry Humphries, Cynthia Payne
- Episode 7, Original Air Date: 26 December 1987 - Denis Healey, Lulu, Roger Moore (titled "The Dame Edna Christmas Experience")
Season Two episodes and guests
- Episode 1, Original Air Date: 4 November 1989 - Chubby Checker, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ronald Reagan Jr., Jane Fonda
- Episode 2, Original Air Date: 11 November 1989 - Magnus Magnusson, Liza Minnelli, Vivienne Westwood
- Episode 3, Original Air Date: 18 November 1989 - Edward Heath, Dolph Lundgren, Dusty Springfield
- Episode 4, Original Air Date: 2 December 1989 - Jason Donovan, Michael Gambon, Glenys Kinnock, Malcolm McDowell, Antony Sher, David Suchet, Tim Pigott-Smith, Jeffrey Archer
- Episode 5, Original Air Date: 9 December 1989 - Lauren Bacall, Gerald Durrell, Tom Jones, Jeffrey Archer
- Episode 6, Original Air Date: 16 December 1989 - Christiaan Barnard, Tony Curtis, Grace Jones, Jeffrey Archer
- Episode 7, Original Air Date: 22 December 1989 - Ursula Andress, Robert Kilroy-Silk, Yehudi Menuhin (titled "The Dame Edna Satellite Experience")
References
- 1 2 Gans, Andrew (6 October 2004). "The Dame Edna Experience: The Complete Collection DVD Now in Stores". Playbill. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "Dame Edna: She's More Famous Than You". CBS News. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2016.