# Dead Ringers (series)

Dead Ringers is a British radio and television comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. Among its stars are Jon Culshaw and Jan Ravens. The BBC cancelled the television run in 2007 after five years. Dead Ringers' return to Radio 4 was announced in 2014.

## History

The programme first aired on BBC Radio 4 in January 2000. Dead Ringers returned to radio in July 2014.
In November 2001 BBC One said it had commissioned a pilot for a television version. The pilot was well received and in August 2002 a full series was commissioned, this time on BBC Two. The TV show ran for seven series and was axed in April 2009. In 2002 the BBC's Arena broadcast a documentary about the series entitled Radio Ha! - Meet The Dead Ringers, directed by Fisher Dilke. It featured interviews with the cast and writers, and behind-the-scenes footage from a studio recording from the eighth series.

## Awards

| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 2001 | Dead Ringers | Radio Academy Awards Gold - The Comedy Award | Won |
| 2001 | Dead Ringers | Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Radio Programme | Won |
| 2001 | Dead Ringers | The British Comedy Awards - Best Radio Comedy | Won |
| 2001 | Dead Ringers | The Heritage Foundation Awards - Best Radio Comedy Show | Won |

## Home media
### Radio series

| Title | Episodes | Runtime | No. of discs | CD release date | Audio cassette release date | Digital download release date |
| Dead Ringers | 4 | 1 hr 50 mins | 2 discs | 6 November 2000 | 6 November 2000 | 15 February 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 2 Part 1 | 4 | 1 hr 45 mins | 2 discs | 2 July 2001 | 2 July 2001 | 6 April 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 2, Part 2 | 4 | 1 hr 50 mins | 2 discs | 5 November 2001 | 5 November 2001 | 6 April 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: The Specials | 2 | 1 hr 50 mins | 2 discs | 19 November 2001 | 19 November 2001 | 31 March 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 3 | 5 | 2 hrs 20 mins | 2 discs | 1 July 2002 | 1 July 2002 | 1 June 2012 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 4 | 4 | 1 hr 45 mins | 2 discs | 4 November 2002 | 4 November 2002 | 6 April 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 5 & 6 | 8 | 3 hrs 30 mins | 4 discs | 4 November 2002 | 4 November 2002 | 31 March 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Collection | 17 | 7 hrs 45 mins | 8 discs | 11 November 2002 7 April 2003 (MP3-CD) | — | — |
| Dead Ringers: Series 7 | 4 | 1 hr 50 mins | 2 discs | 3 February 2003 | 3 February 2003 | 31 March 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 8 | 4 | 1 hr 50 mins | 2 discs | 5 May 2003 | — | 5 April 2012 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 9 | 4 | 1 hr 50 mins | 2 discs | 7 July 2003 | — | 31 March 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Collection 2 | 13 | 5 hrs 45 mins | 7 discs | 10 November 2003 | — | — |
| Dead Ringers: Series 10 | 5 | 2 hrs 20 mins | 2 discs | 1 March 2004 | — | — |
| Dead Ringers: The Best of the Radio Series | — | 2 hrs | 2 discs | 3 October 2005 | — | 17 October 2005 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 12 | 6 | 3 hrs | 3 discs | 11 June 2015 | — | 11 June 2015 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 13 & 14 | 7 | 3 hrs 15 mins | 4 discs | 1 October 2015 | — | 1 October 2015 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 15 | 7 | 3 hrs 10 mins | 4 discs | 2 June 2016 | — | 2 June 2016 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 16 | 8 | 3 hrs 40 mins | — | — | — | 2 March 2017 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 17 | 8 | 3 hrs 40 mins | — | — | — | 1 March 2018 |
| Dead Ringers: Series 18 | 7 | 3 hrs 30 mins | — | — | — | 4 October 2018 |
* ↑ Contains The Archers Special, the Election 2001 Special and 50 minutes of unbroadcast material.
* ↑ Contains Series 1-3.
* ↑ Contains Series 4-6, plus the Golden Jubilee Special, which was exclusive to the set.
* ↑ Contains Series 15, plus the Christmas 2015 Special and A Look Back at the Year 2020 Special.
* ↑ Contains Series 16, plus the Christmas 2016 Special and The Alternative 2016 Special.
* ↑ Contains Series 17, plus the Christmas 2017 Special and The End of the World Special.
* ↑ Contains Series 18, plus the An Alien Has Landed Special.

### TV series

| Title | Runtime | No. of discs | CD release date | Audio cassette release date | Digital download release date | DVD and VHS release date |
| Dead Ringers: The Television Series | 2 hrs | 2 discs | 3 November 2003 | 3 November 2003 | 15 February 2005 | 7 July 2003 |
| Dead Ringers: The Television Series 2 | 2 hrs 10 mins | 2 discs | 5 July 2004 | 5 July 2004 | 16 March 2009 | — |
| Dead Ringers: The Television Series 3 | 2 hrs | 2 discs | 29 November 2004 | — | — | — |
* ↑ DVD & VHS release includes the pilot episode.