British comedy is thought of widely as being very tongue in cheek, nudge nudge type of comedy. It has spanned many entertainment genres including television, radio and film. Some of the characters and / or actors that have acted in these shows and films have become some of the best known in the entertainment business.
The St Trinians films were originally a comic sketch which were later made into a series of films. It is centred around a girls boarding school where the students are well armed with various tricks and are a little less then well behaved. Presided over by mistresses (female teachers) they may not be in better hands as the teachers are also a little less than honourable. The cartoons were always a bit dark, depicting dead bodies of female students that had died violently or been murdered. The girls were always made out to be the daughters of parents who were not the most upstanding members of society as well - usually being criminals of some kind. St Trinians school was actually based on a real St Trineans school in Edinburgh. The school was discontinued in 1946 after the headmistress retired and the house is now privately owned, but used as halls of residence for the students of Edinburgh University. The film has recently been remade (2007) and features Mischa Barton, Girls Aloud, Colin Firth and Stephen Fry among its cast members.
Four Weddings and a Funeral was made in 1994 and starred Hugh Grant and actress Andie MacDowell. It is the first of a few films made by Andrew Curtis and starring Hugh Grant. The success of this film was widely unexpected and it has gone on to take approximately 244 million dollars. In the film Grant plays a foppish English guy called Charles and the films sees him and his friends attend a series of weddings and a funeral. Charles falls for an american girl called Carrie (played by MacDowell) but they are unable to get together through a series of mishaps and events. Eventually, after leaving his bride at the alter during his own wedding Charles and Carrie finally get a happily ever after ending. Rowan Atkinson also makes a very memorable appearance in the film as a newly qualified priest who makes a series of errors during the vows of one wedding, much to the amusement of the guests.