Uncensored and Live

Mark Lamarr spent the 1990s as the sneering, rockabilly-styled misanthrope of British panel shows, but live on stage, he occasionally looked like he was having fun. Uncensored and Live captures him stepping out from behind the Never Mind the Buzzcocks desk and the Shooting Stars crossfire to do what got him on television in the first place. Armed with a chain-smoking habit and his signature quiff, he sheds his rigid TV persona for a loose set of quickfire crowd work and cynical storytelling.

Filmed at the Wilde Theatre in 1997, the video release caught him at the peak of his mainstream fame. He was finishing a three-year run letting Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer use him as a punchline and was fully settling into his role as an abrasive quizmaster on BBC Two. The live stage gave him room to breathe and stretch into long-form premises, taking aim at hecklers and outlining his vision of a gin-drunk Queen Elizabeth posing for a new £50 note.