The Comedy Vault – Ted And Ralph.

Ted And Ralph (BBC2, 1998)

Two of the most popular characters on sketch show The Fast Show were Ted (Paul Whitehouse) and Ralph (Charlie Higson). Ralph is an aristocrat who lives in a mansion, it seems that he has some repressed feelings for his elderly Irish groundsman. Their exchanges were rather awkward, with Ted usually only saying “well I wouldn’t know about that, sir” (is that a catchphrase? Well The Fast Show was full of them so… yes, it was).

These sketches were written by the same team who were behind sitcom Father Ted. But wait! Viewers said that they wanted to see more of them. So in Christmas 1998, they were given a one-off 70 minute comedy-drama special. It turns out that Ralph must marry before the age of 35 or he will lose the estate. Can he find the woman who is right for him? He puts a list together of potential ladies that he might consider marrying.

But they all turn out to be by his standards, rather vulgar and common. That is until Ralph begins to fall for Wendy, and he feels that he has now found the one. But Ted, who is a much sharper cookie than he lets on most of the time, can clearly tell that something is not entirely adding up here. What are her intentions exactly? It would seem that Ralph only has eyes for Ted, viewers have known that for a while now.

Ralph soon reconciles with Ted, who has worked so hard for him over the years. If only he wouldn’t suddenly collapse and die just when he finally wanted to express his real feelings. We also meet a few other characters, including Ted’s wife, and Ralph’s ghastly aunt. Some thought that all this was rather touching, but there was also some trouble with this, because they ended up getting caught in something of an awkward circle.

To prolong the story for the extended timeslot, the pace had to be slower, going rather against the original concept of this featuring in a fast-moving show. Maybe they work better in small bursts. Ted And Ralph was released on DVD in a boxset featuring the other The Fast Show sitcom spin-offs Swiss Toni and Grass. And almost three decades on from their first appearances, viewers are still rather fond of these characters.