1 9 8 4 (UK)
7 x 30 minute episodes
The Seal Club is a seedy little dockland nightclub, packed full of mannequins to appear busy.
The club is run by the Armadillo brothers – Wayne (Steve Steen) and Donny Armadillo (Jim Sweeney) – a pair of idiots who each believe they are cleverer than their brother. They also think they are identical twins but are in fact physical opposites.
Hosting patrons such as elastic-hipped songster Zipmole Watkins, and washed-up soap star Quincey Strike (former star of Doctor on Top) who is now a backstreet abortionist, the Seal Club is home to chaos and violence.
Numerous sketches segued into the narratives with security guards (played by Mark Arden and Steve Frost) watching CCTV as if it’s a TV show.
1960s-style parody songs were sung by an all-girl band called The Flatlettes, with music and lyrics by Kenny Craddock and Colin Gibson.
Other regular players included Helen Lederer, Daniel Peacock, and Peter Wear.
Devised by Bob Spiers, this late-night Channel 4 series aired in September and October 1984.
Scripts were by Pete Richens and Colin Gibson, with additional material from Bob Sinfield, Andrea Solomons, Richard Fiddy and Mark Wallington.
Episodes were filmed in the TVS Southampton studios and on location around Southampton and Portsmouth.
Wayne Armadillo
Steve Steen
Donny Armadillo
Jim Sweeney
The Flatlettes
Alison Gunn
Suzanne Walsingham
Rosie Best
Pat Senior
Additional cast
Helen Lederer
Daniel Peacock
Steve Frost
Peter Wear
Mark Arden
Episodes
Dead Devious | Red Sailors in the Sunset | Lust Story | Sex, Sin and Surgery | Grievous Brotherly Harm | Wayne Sleeps | Cementing Relations