'There's Nothing To Worry About!' was one of ITV's attempts to usurp the popularity of the BBC's 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' and 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'. It was created mainly by Ben Elton ( who also starred in the show ), who approached to appear in it the graduates from Cambridge Footlights Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Siobhan Redmond and Paul Shearer, all of whom had been performing at the Edinburgh Festival.
Rik Mayall and Tony Slatterly were originally approached to be cast but dropped out due to other commitments, particularly Rik, who at this point was appearing in 'The Young Ones' for the BBC and 'The Comic Strip Presents...' for Channel 4.
It was not as nasty as the earlier shows, it more tried to get laughs out of its own inanity. Some of Fry and Laurie's creations who would later appear in their later BBC show 'A Bit Of Fry & Laurie' first appeared here, such as Fry's arrogant Dr. De Quincey, who also later appeared in Elton's 'Happy Families'. One sketch featuring De Quincey had him asking a Sikh patient why his head is bandaged up, unaware that the patient is actually wearing a turban.
'There's Nothing To Worry About!' was funny in places but overall the word that probably sums up the show best is 'trite'. It was only ever shown in North West England so unsurprisingly is little known among viewers. The show was revamped the following year as 'Alfresco', with Robbie Coltrane replacing Paul Shearer.
Rik Mayall and Tony Slatterly were originally approached to be cast but dropped out due to other commitments, particularly Rik, who at this point was appearing in 'The Young Ones' for the BBC and 'The Comic Strip Presents...' for Channel 4.
It was not as nasty as the earlier shows, it more tried to get laughs out of its own inanity. Some of Fry and Laurie's creations who would later appear in their later BBC show 'A Bit Of Fry & Laurie' first appeared here, such as Fry's arrogant Dr. De Quincey, who also later appeared in Elton's 'Happy Families'. One sketch featuring De Quincey had him asking a Sikh patient why his head is bandaged up, unaware that the patient is actually wearing a turban.
'There's Nothing To Worry About!' was funny in places but overall the word that probably sums up the show best is 'trite'. It was only ever shown in North West England so unsurprisingly is little known among viewers. The show was revamped the following year as 'Alfresco', with Robbie Coltrane replacing Paul Shearer.
