Charlie Higson revealed that The Fast Show being on BBC iPlayer doesn’t earn him a large amount of royalties (Picture: BBC/Down The Line Productions Ltd/Tyson Benton)
Charlie Higson has revealed his payslip from BBC for royalties connected to The Fast Show, and the amount may shock you.
The 65-year-old wrote and featured in the BBC Two sketch show The Fast Show which originally aired between 1994 and 1997, before returning with several specials in 1999 and 2020. It was also the creation of Paul Whitehouse and starred the likes of John Thomson, the late Caroline Aherne, and Mark Williams. In one episode, fan Johnny Depp made a cameo.
The show ran for four seasons and poked fun at stereotypes of British society. It was known for its fast pace and many sketches within the 30-minute episodes – the premiere episode featured a whopping 27.
Its style was replicated in future shows such as Little Britain and The Catherine Tate Show.
Despite, the cultural impact, the royalties from the show being available to watch on BBC iPlayer aren’t going to pay too many bills. Oh bugger!
Discussing money is something Brits can be known to avoid, but the comedian has decided to break the taboo with an honest post on X.
Charlie showed fans his royalties (Picture: John Lawrence/REX/Shutterstock)
Charlie revealed a document which showed how much it earned between April and December 2022 from the programme on the platform – £18.84.
He then seemed to reveal some advice he got with the accompanying tweet: ‘“You should make The Fast Show available on iPlayer!” “Nobody buys DVDs any more” “You’ll make a fortune!”’
Fans reacted to the disclosure with humour. ‘I’m just learning now that it’s on iPlayer. Which is nice,’ wrote Tom Parker, cleverly referencing one of Charlie’s characters’ catchphrases. Charlie then joked that Tom had fallen for the ‘indirect marketing’.
The cast of The Fast Show – Caroline Aherne, Arabella Weir, Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, John Thomson, Simon Day and Mark Williams (Picture: BBC Archives)
‘Skints you, sir,’ wrote John Brewin once again using a popular trope in the series, where characters would say ‘Suits you’ in a tailoring shop.
‘Isn’t Netflix Brilliant!? You go on there like and do a special and you get paid like lots of cash n stuff,’ suggested Dean the Bard.
Hayden Hewitt joked: ‘Alright, we get it. No need to rub it in our faces Daddy Warbucks. Jesus.’
Charlie said that it wasn’t his entire earnings from iPlayer (Picture: Kate Green/Getty Images)
‘That’s terrible, I didn’t realise how badly they paid. I’ve also recently realised that buying physical media is also better for the consumer because you don’t actually own anything that you’ve subscribed to on streaming sites,’ wrote Clarence C Water.
Although, when commenter Neil Anderson called the BBC ‘disgusting,’ Charlie said: ‘This isn’t everything I get from iPlayer. Just a tiny amount.’
To celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary, the cast went on a live tour earlier this year, and Charlie revealed on X how he figured out the schedule of the show.
It involved a whiteboard, and various coloured pens and fans are begging him not to destroy the piece of history.
‘But I have to start planning the next project….’ he responded.
Metro.co.uk contacted BBC for comment
The Fast Show is available to watch on BBC iPlayer
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.