tv & radio

Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) is a British television series, produced by Working Title Films for BBC One. It is a remake of the 1960s television series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and stars Vic Reeves as Hopkirk (once again in a white suit) and Bob Mortimer as Randall, Emilia Fox as Jeannie, and Tom Baker as Wyvern.

Two series were made, the first in 1999 (broadcast in 2000) and the second in 2001. The entire first series was written and produced by Charlie Higson, who also directed some episodes. The second series employed some other writers, including Gareth Roberts, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson.

Many episodes also included storylines that paid homage to the original show, as well as other 1960s shows - especially those made by ITC Entertainment, the original show's production company. In the fifth episode of series one, a clip of Mike Pratt (who had died before the new series was produced), from the original series episode "The Smile Behind the Veil", was included. Marty encounters him in Limbo. Place names also paid homage to the original show: Spooner Drive - named after Dennis Spooner - is used in the first episode of series one; and Cope House - named after Kenneth Cope - is the name of the building where the duo's office is. Marshall & Snellgrove - the name of the rival detective agency - was originally the name of an actual department store that was operating in the 1960s. While interviewing Higson and Reeves for a 2000 feature in The Sunday Times heralding the first series, the British journalist Tony Barrell mentioned a comical anagram he had devised of the show's title: Real Plonker and Sad Dickhead. A slightly revised version of the anagram was used by Higson (with permission) in the fifth episode of the second series, Marshall & Snellgrove.