This one off Comic Relief special from 1992 should not be confused with the 1995 Night of Comic Relief of the same name. A little over a year after the third night Red Nose Day, aka 'The Stonker'. Lenny Henry, Griff Rhys Jones and Jonathan Ross reunited on a Friday night in April and announced that this time, they were not asking for any more cash. After all, Red Nose day is an bi-annual event and this being an even numbered year, it was time to look back at the previous Red Nose events (including the 1986 stage show that started it all) and show reports on how the cash has been spent during the last year. The show started with Lenny Henry missing. Griff and Jonathan soon find out he's aboard an out of control train (footage from an episode of Thunderbirds). So an alarmed Griff calls International Rescue, headed by Jeff Tracy, also played by Griff. Soon Scott Tracy (a suitably stiff portrayal by Lenny Henry) boards Thunderbird 1 and his fairer brother Alan Tracy (wide eyed and blond wigged Jonathan Ross), Thunderbird 2 to rescue 'Mr. Henry Leddy'. Aneka Rice also appeared as Lady Penelope and Geoffrey Palmer as her faithful manservant Parker, though their support was restricted to staying at home and drinking tea. Nobody seems to know exactly who that was playing Brains, this comedian (?) being totally unrecognisable beneath the silly wig, enormous glasses and nasal voice..
The Thunderbirds spoof, shown in several parts, had great makeup and costumes, but was not especially hilarious and certainly not as original as the one Peter Cook and Dudley Moore did twenty years earlier in "Not Only But Also". Several serious segments were shown in between, revealing the various ways Comic Relief was (and still is) fighting poverty in Africa and the U.K. Also, Jeff Tracy announced which part of the last Red Nose event had been voted the best bit by BBC viewers and Radio Times readers: the battle of the sex Gods between Tom Jones and Theophilus P. Wildebeeste. Once Mr. Henry had been rescued from the out of control train, there followed a documentary starring Tony Robinson and a crew of 41 in Tanzania called "The Comic Relief Snappily titled totally and utterly spondicious stab at explaining why so many people in Africa are so damn poor". The second half of the show was made up of the Comic Relief A-Z, featuring all the best bits from the first four comic relief shows in alphabetical order. Highlights included Blackadder the Cavalier days, The New Statesman, The Stonk, Help! (by Bananarama and Lananeeneenoonoo) and that Paul Daniels magic trick that went disastrously awry. In the middle of all this Ben Elton popped up in a segment imaginatively titled "Why is Ben Elton watching what he drinks?", to prove that even when he's being serious, Ben still manages to be smart and hilariously funny at the same time, talking about the effects his favorite vice, booze. Strangely enough, the Comedy A-Z ended with various funny home videos provided by Chris Tarrant. A bit of an odd choice, as none of these were original Red Nose Material, but rather recycled laughs from "Tarrant on TV"
7 and a half Red Noses hanging on the wall
The Thunderbirds spoof, shown in several parts, had great makeup and costumes, but was not especially hilarious and certainly not as original as the one Peter Cook and Dudley Moore did twenty years earlier in "Not Only But Also". Several serious segments were shown in between, revealing the various ways Comic Relief was (and still is) fighting poverty in Africa and the U.K. Also, Jeff Tracy announced which part of the last Red Nose event had been voted the best bit by BBC viewers and Radio Times readers: the battle of the sex Gods between Tom Jones and Theophilus P. Wildebeeste. Once Mr. Henry had been rescued from the out of control train, there followed a documentary starring Tony Robinson and a crew of 41 in Tanzania called "The Comic Relief Snappily titled totally and utterly spondicious stab at explaining why so many people in Africa are so damn poor". The second half of the show was made up of the Comic Relief A-Z, featuring all the best bits from the first four comic relief shows in alphabetical order. Highlights included Blackadder the Cavalier days, The New Statesman, The Stonk, Help! (by Bananarama and Lananeeneenoonoo) and that Paul Daniels magic trick that went disastrously awry. In the middle of all this Ben Elton popped up in a segment imaginatively titled "Why is Ben Elton watching what he drinks?", to prove that even when he's being serious, Ben still manages to be smart and hilariously funny at the same time, talking about the effects his favorite vice, booze. Strangely enough, the Comedy A-Z ended with various funny home videos provided by Chris Tarrant. A bit of an odd choice, as none of these were original Red Nose Material, but rather recycled laughs from "Tarrant on TV"
7 and a half Red Noses hanging on the wall
