The League of Gentlemen reunion: Mark Gatiss on returning to the show after 12 years

In three BBC2 Christmas specials, we are reintroduced to many of the characters we first fell in love with when the show began airing in 1999

The Independent could not be meeting The League of Gentlemen cast in a more League of Gentlemen place.

Mark Gatiss, one quarter of The League, alongside Jeremy Dyson, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, explain exactly where we are for the filming of three eagerly anticipated BBC2 Christmas specials, to mark the 20th anniversary of their first radio series.

From underneath a dripping brolly, Gatiss declares: “We are literally next to the bogs at the Co-Op car park in Glossop in the pouring rain which, if anything is, is the essence of filming ‘The League of Gentlemen’.”

Between 1999 and 2005, over the course of a Radio 4 series entitled On the Town, three BBC2 series, a Christmas special, a movie (The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse), and a live tour, Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith – Dyson confines himself to writing – played nearly a hundred characters in the fictional town of Royston Vasey (which, as true fans will know, is the real name of the “blue” comedian Roy “Chubby” Brown).

The League return: Tubbs, Edward, Mickey, Pauline, Ross and Auntie Val (BBC) (BBC/Ben Blackall/James Stack/Matt Burlem)

During the original BBC2 series, which won a BAFTA, a Royal Television Society Award and a Golden Rose of Montreux, many of the characters caught fire – both literally and metaphorically – and their catchphrases were parroted in pubs and playgrounds up and down the country. Audiences were attracted to the sinister yet compelling goings-on in Royston Vasey, whose sign greeted visitors with the cheery motto: “You’ll never leave.”

In these three Christmas specials, we are reintroduced to many of the characters we first fell in love with when the show began airing in 1999.

Against a backdrop of Royston Vasey facing the threat of being wiped off the map, we meet again such widely adored grotesques as: Edward and Tubbs (Shearsmith and Pemberton), the paranoid, homicidal siblings who run “the local shop for local people” and are terrified of outsiders; Mr Chinnery (Gatiss), the hopeless, disaster-prone vet whose animal patients have an unfortunate habit of exploding; Pauline Campbell-Jones (Pemberton) the condescending Restart officer obsessed with pens who spends her life sneering at unemployed Mickey (Gatiss) and Ross (Shearsmith); Herr Lipp (Pemberton), the predatory German teacher; and the three increasingly desperate businessmen, Geoff (Shearsmith), Mike (Pemberton) and Brian (Gatiss).

It is a delight to be back in the company of these weird and wonderful characters. Viewers may well welcome them as strange, yet strangely lovable long-lost pals.

Despite the rain, Gatiss is clearly equally pleased to be back amongst old friends. Like his three colleagues – they met at drama school in Yorkshire in the early 1990s – he has enjoyed a highly successful post-League career. With Steven Moffat, the Doctor Who showrunner, he co-created Sherlock, BBC1’s globally popular adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories.

He has also had major parts in Game of Thrones (as the inscrutable banker, Tycho Nestoris), Gunpowder (as the scheming Protestant enforcer, Robert Cecil), Denial (as the Holocaust expert, Robert Jan van Pelt) and Taboo (as the Prince Regent). This Christmas, the actor is also taking the guest lead role as The Captain in Peter Capaldi’s farewell episode as Doctor Who.

The boys are back: Brian Morgan (Gatiss), Geoff Tipps (Shearsmith), Mike Harris (Pemberton) (BBC) (BBC/Ben Blackall)

I begin by asking 51-year-old Gatiss if he experienced a sense of joy when he returned to Royston Vasey after an absence of 12 years. “It is more a kind of weariness,” he deadpans, before bursting out laughing.

“No, it has been genuinely lovely, honestly. I said the other day, you know, if this all went south, and suddenly we’d lost the money or something, it would still have been worth it because it has just been such a good laugh.”

For all that, there will surely still be carpers who complain that they should never have brought The League of Gentleman back, and that it isn’t as good as it used to be.

But Gatiss is not bothered by the prospect of such critics. “It doesn’t matter, does it? Life is too short. We’re doing it because we want to and we’re having a great time. That’s the best reason.” He continues that, if you listened to such nay-sayers, “Then you wouldn’t do anything. You’ve got to get out of bed in the morning – I scarcely manage that, as it is!”

The four members of the League admit that it was very hard to decide which of their dozens of popular characters to bring back. 50-year-old Pemberton has teamed up very fruitfully with Shearsmith in the aftermath of The League. Together they have written and starred in two acclaimed BBC2 shows, Psychoville and Inside No 9. He has also had main roles in Benidorm, Happy Valley, Shameless and Whitechapel.

Pemberton has evidently had a whale of a time pulling on all the old costumes, but one stands out. “I’ve always had a soft spot for Pauline, and so she was definitely one that we wanted to revisit. I had a ball yesterday when I did my Pauline day – just that wig, the lips, the heels, the power!”

A not-so-gentle woman: Pauline (centre) is a monster – but a beloved one (BBC) (BBC/James Stack)

He adds: “You’ve got a pen in your hand, a load of men sitting in front of you and you’ve got that power. It was brilliant to sweep into a room and say, ‘Okey cokey, pig in a pokey. Good morning, job-seekers!’ I couldn’t believe we were still doing it 20 years on.”

Audiences will doubtless be just as glad to be reacquainted with fan favourites Edward and Tubbs. In spite of many near-death experiences, the local shopkeepers seem to be completely unkillable.

Pemberton outlines why they couldn’t leave Edmund and Tubbs out of the Christmas specials. “Like any good characters – Michael Myers in ‘Halloween’, say – they can’t be killed off. They will keep coming back, even though we’ve tried to kill them off!”

The murderous Edward and Tubbs are emblematic of the unusual phenomenon at the heart of The League of Gentlemen’s continuing appeal: even though the characters are often homicidal maniacs, we still warm to them.

Dyson, 51, has had many hits as a writer. He co-wrote the long-running West End play, Ghost Stories, which has recently been turned into a movie. He has also scripted the TV comedies, Tracey Ullman’s Show, Psychobitches and Funland.

The Invincibles: Tubbs (Pemberton) and Edward (Shearsmith) are back by popular demand (BBC) (BBC/Ben Blackall/James Stack/Matt Burlem)

He explains why we are drawn to such apparently despicable characters in The Legal Gentlemen. “A theme which runs through the whole of it is that the murderous and repellent characters are also very loveable. It’s the Herr Lipp thing, it’s the Pauline thing.

“These characters who should be monsters are all given a human dimension and not in a cheap pantomime way. I think it is to do with the charm of the performers, because you’ve got three very warm actors at the heart of the show who are all very emotional.”

“Not very warm at the moment, I can tell you that,” chips in Pemberton, who is shivering beside Dyson in the rain.

There is also a vein of real poignancy that runs through the best loved characters in The League of Gentlemen. Pemberton cites the example of Pauline. “She is monstrous, but people’s hearts go out to her because she has a very sad life. Sympathy for the monster is a great way of approaching Pauline.”

This sense of poignancy – and its close friend, nostalgia – will no doubt strike viewers as they sit down to watch the three League of Gentlemen Christmas specials.

As well as making Psychoville and Inside No 9 with Pemberton, 48-year-old Shearsmith has starred in The Producers, The Dresser and Hangmen in the West End. In addition, he has led the cast in the TV dramas, The Widower and Chasing Shadows.

Shearsmith reflects on the power of familiarity. “Steve and I recently went to see Neil Sedaka, as we always do whenever he is in London. His audience are so elderly; it’s like a sing-along in a care home, and we’re part of it.

“He’s been doing those songs for 50 years or more with same banter in between the songs. It was absolutely brilliant. It was also poignant to be there because I thought, ‘We’re sort of doing the same thing here.’”

So will The League be doing sketches in a care home in 25 years’ time? “We hope so,” Gatiss replies with relish.

If the specials go well, I wonder what the chances of another League of Gentlemen series are. Gatiss smiles patiently. “We did these three specials in order to stop people asking, ‘Are there any more?’

“Now all people will ask is, ‘Will there be any more?’ We’re doomed! It’s like The Flying Dutchman. We’ll be sailing the earth forever doing the local shop. You’ve opened the door now!”

Before then, Pemberton expresses his hopes for the three specials. “I hope people will think it’s almost like a continuation. We haven’t tried to do anything too fancy. Viewers will just really enjoy being back in Royston Vasey and being back amongst the characters. It will be like it’s never gone away.”

'The League of Gentlemen' Christmas specials are airing on three consecutive evenings at 10pm on BBC2 from Monday 18 December