Alfresco
Hugh's television career started off with two comedy series for Granada. The first was a 3-episode regionally-broadcast program called There's Nothing to Worry About. Starring Hugh, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Paul Shearer, Siobhan Redmond and Ben Elton, it was a surreal sketch comedy with each episode based on a different concept. The same team, minus Shearer but with the addition of Robbie Coltrane, wrote and performed the better-known sketch series Alfresco. The first series of six episodes aired in June 1982, and though it reputedly got off to a shaky start, it did well enough to be recommissioned for the following year. Ben Elton, Hugh and Stephen were credited as the writers. Granada Plus showed some episodes of Alfresco in 1998. From this distance, it seems mostly notable for the youth of the participants, but the style of the later Fry/Laurie double-act was already in evidence.
For a full history of these two series, plus photos, check the excellent UK cult TV website Some of the Corpses Are Amusing.
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