In a League of his own

With a fourth series planned and a book of the scripts published, he talks to Steve Pratt about the appeal of the dark comic tales.

MARK Gatiss is busy talking himself out of a job. Yes, he admits, he would love to be the next incarnation of Doctor Who. "If they ask me, I'll do it," says the County Durham-born member of the award-winning comedy team The League Of Gentlemen.

He's certainly as qualified as many of those being touted to assume the role of the Tardis time traveller in the planned revival of the BBC series. Not only is he an actor but also something of a Who's Who expert, having written three novels starring the Time Lord.

But Gatiss, who's in his late 30s, rules himself out on the grounds of age. "I think the doctor should be older," he says. "They're right to think of having someone like Bill Nighy. Casting Peter Davison in the TV series was a very brave and bold thing to do because no one would have thought of having a Dr Who that young. He was 31.

"Nowadays, people talk about the character being played by someone in their mid-30s. When I was growing up, he had to be about 50. It would be wonderful to have someone much more patrician next."

His wish to write for the new series would also be a dream come true too, but Gatiss has a League of his own to look after.

The surreal comedy series has already been an Edinburgh Festival Perrier Award winner, a Radio 4 series, a BBC2 series and a stage show. It was formed by Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson (who writes but doesn't perform) after they met while Leeds University students. Originally brought together for five performances by a mutual friend, the act went so well that they carried on, earning comparisons with the Monty Python and Not The Nine O'Clock News teams.

They were dubbed "comedy's new macabre shock jokers" for their dark comic tales set in the fictional town of Royston Vasey - the real name of North-East comedian Roy Chubby Brown - featuring an oddball world of sadistic careers advisors, dubious butchers, forgotten pop star Les McQueen and his band Crme Brulee, alcoholic vicar Bernice, and German exchange teacher Herr Lipp.

The League is not to everyone's taste. "It's a programme that divides people. I would much rather that than anything else," says Gatiss, who attended Woodham Comprehensive School in Newton Aycliffe and whose family still live in the area.

Keeping in the premier League is a full-time occupation as the four take their comedy very seriously indeed. After three BBC series and a Christmas special, they're developing a feature film.

Meanwhile, the scripts of the innovative comedy have been published in a new BBC Worldwide book. This is not the usual cheap and cheerful book often put out in the wake of a TV series' success.

The cover, based on a specially commissioned painting of the bizarre and twisted inhabitants of Royston Vasey by Stuart Pearson Wright, is an indication that it's different to the usual TV show tome.

"We were led by the things we liked as kids, such as the Monty Python books, which they lavished care on. They still stand up so well, and are packed with detail. As a fan, you can sit for hours on the toilet and read it," explains Gatiss, who confesses himself pleased with "the silliness" of the volume.

"Most books are pretty basic and reproduce what was on the video. We trawled the archives and our scribbles. We've spent most of this year on the book. We're all kind of obsessive compulsives, we have a horror of disposing of documents and have them all in damp cardboard boxes.

"I managed to find a few things from one of our early shows, the Indian restaurant Shakespeare, which I remember us doing and it was amazing to find it again. You look through it and all the lines are as fresh as paint."

He feels the book draws a line under the current TV incarnation of The League Of Gentlemen. Whatever comes next will feel separate. The BBC has optioned a fourth series. "We want to do it, but the key for us is not to think of it as a fourth series but the next project," he explains.

"Our show has never been just a sketch show. It's obvious there's a lot of development. That's why it's a natural stepping stone to film. It would be odd to go back and do another series like the last one. I'd like to do something like what Ripping Yarns was to Monty Python - a series that's League-ish."

The rise of The League has been rapid, from the first Edinburgh Festival appearance to the radio and TV series, but they're determined not to stand still. As a result the next move is being much considered.

"If you want to carry on, you need to work out how to do it. It would be folly to be constantly trying to get attention. Things that have real longevity, like Only Fools And Horses, haven't been on all the time," he says.

"It's slightly frustrating people are asking about the fourth series when we're trying to get the film right."

Just how big The League had become was demonstrated by the theatre tour which became "much bigger than we ever imagined" as 30 planned dates expanded into 111, culminating in a six-week season at London's Drury Lane Theatre.

He liked "the warm feeling" playing to audiences of up to 5,000, a reaction that doesn't happen with TV. Despite the vast array of wigs, teeth and glasses worn by the performers, he still gets recognised in the street. Three times the other day, he reports, people went out of their way to shake his hand and congratulate him. "They seem to be slightly awed. The show seems to have some respect," he says.

Unlike some comedy teams who fall out with success, the four have stayed faithful to each other, standing by an agreement made early on that they wouldn't do any other high-profile work that could compromise The League's identity.

"We needed to establish the show," he says. "If, after the first series, I'd been offered a 28-part ITV thriller, I'd have said no because then the focus on The League would have been split."

That isn't to say Gatiss the actor is been totally idle. He has a number of film and TV roles waiting to be seen. He joined comedian Johnny Vegas and The Office's Mackenzie Crook in the comedy movie Sex Lives Of The Potato Men, and filmed guest roles in ITV's Footballers' Wives and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's new TV comedy. On a more serious note, he's filmed some Shakespeare, including Iago in Othello and Richard III, for BBC3.

Now he's back in Royston Vasey as the rest of this year is being devoted to The League movie, already written and now looking for backers.

"We're having meetings with potential producers and film companies. We're hoping to start shooting next summer," he says.

* The League Of Gentlemen - Scripts And That is published by BBC Worldwide, £25.