The Benny Hill Show

The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show that starred Benny Hill and aired in various incarnations between 15 January 1955 and 30 May 1991 in over 140 countries. The show focused on sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody, and double-entendre. Thames Television cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large production costs at £450,000 per show.

The Benny Hill Show (1969-1989) is a British sketch comedy series created by Benny Hill for ITV1 and BBC One, produced by Thames Television. Benny Hill stars alongside a rotating troupe that includes Henry McGee, Bob Todd, Nicholas Parsons, Jackie Wright, Helen Horton, Bella Emberg, Patricia Hayes, Anna Dawson and Felicity Buirski. Rather than a continuing plot, each episode is a string of short, self-contained sketches built on slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre. Hill's lanky, bustling persona drives most gags, with fast chases, mistaken identities and music-backed routines carrying the humour forward. The show runs as an anthology of brisk, broad vignettes rather than a single narrative, and its roughly sixty-minute episodes spread across nineteen seasons. The tone is cheeky, bright and deliberately old-fashioned, with innuendo delivered straight-faced and visual gags landing without dialogue. Its variety tradition and silent-comedy roots set it beside Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Two Ronnies, and fans of The Muppet Show and The Keystone Cops will find a similar appetite for physical farce. Produced in the seventies and eighties, the series remains a nostalgic touchstone for classic British television comedy.

Audiences broadly rate the show positively for its slapstick sketches, parody and physical comedy, though its double-entendre humour is seen as dated.

• Monty Python's Flying Circusslapstick sketch comedy, broad physical farce, parody of popular culture
• The Muppet Showvariety sketch format, physical comedy, cheeky double entendre
• The Two RonniesBritish sketch comedy, parody, mime and visual gags
• The Keystone Copsslapstick chase comedy with rapid pacing and music underscoring

Created by

Benny Hill

Release Date

1969-11-19

Episode runtime

60 min

Rating

7.6 / 10 (183)

What is The Benny Hill Show about?

A long-running British sketch show where Benny Hill's slapstick, mime and double-entendre sketches made him a worldwide comedy star.

What is The Benny Hill Show like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Benny Hill Show as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.

Is The Benny Hill Show violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Benny Hill Show as mild.

What did critics think of The Benny Hill Show?

Audiences broadly rate the show positively for its slapstick sketches, parody and physical comedy, though its double-entendre humour is seen as dated.

Which shows are like The Benny Hill Show?

Shows with a similar feel include Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Muppet Show, The Two Ronnies, and The Keystone Cops.

How long is The Benny Hill Show?

The Benny Hill Show: 19 seasons, 58 episodes.

Is The Benny Hill Show still running?

No, The Benny Hill Show has ended.