Papa Lazarou

Reece Shearsmith as Papa Lazarou.

Papa Lazarou is a fictional character in the BBC TV comedy programme The League of Gentlemen.He appeared in two episodes, a Christmas special, and the film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. The character is part written by and played by Reece Shearsmith. Papa Lazarou has been listed as both the 8th and 14th most popular sketch of all time with British audiences, according to The Radio Times and Channel 4 respectively.

Appearance

His face really is black and white like a minstrel, and he has to paint over it with make up to appear normal. Papa learned the makeup skills to cover his minstrel face from his various wives.

His hair is black and frizzy, and bears a notable resemblance to Jeremy Dyson's hair, who unlike the others, does not appear as any regular characters. His teeth are yellow, and his hands covered in rings - the wedding rings of his 'wives'.

Keith Drop

Papa Lazarou's alter-ego's first appearance was in the third series of the League of Gentlemen. Papa Lazarou's natural skin colour is dark and he wears pink make-up to appear as Keith Drop. He helps out in the charity shop with Reenie Calver (whose friend, Vinnie Wythenshaw has been killed in an accident). This was merely a front for Lazarou to gain more wives.

He is keen on amateur dramatics and is doing a production of The Diary of Anne Frank, featuring the character Pam Doove as a Nazi.

He eventually gets rumbled when Brian Morgan comes into the shop looking for the missing pieces to his board games. Drop inadvertently gives Brian the brooch his wife Katy Morgan was wearing the day she mysteriously disappeared — which coincided with the carnival coming to town. Keith is unable to ward him away from the subject and tries to kill him. However, Reenie Calver hits him over the head and they restrain him. He manages to escape and, when they follow him, he imprisons them in his circus animals cages.

When Brian breaks into Papa's home he realises that Keith was a real person whose identity Papa assumed. The fate of the real Keith has yet to be revealed.

Origins

Despite being one of the more bizarre characters in the series, Papa Lazarou was actually based on a real person, Peter Papalazarou who was a landlord who owned a flat in which Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton lived. When he called, he would only ever ask for "Steve" (Pemberton), and would refuse to talk to Shearsmith. When calling, he would say "Hello Steve? Is that Steve?"; when Shearsmith informed him that Pemberton was not present he would persist, "O.K., is Steve there?". When Shearsmith said that he was not present but that he could take a message, Mr. Papalazarou would just say "No, I wanna talk to Steve." Both this, and the landlord's other saying, "This is just a saga now", were adapted into Papa Lazarou's character.

Also, he would say, "I've got a hoover Steve... BeLOOONGING to you...". This also found its way into the series, except 'hoover' became 'pegs' - Papa Lazarou's trade as a cover for his true purpose: collecting wives.

Papalazarou is a common Greek last name.

Comments by the Writers

Mark Gatiss: "People are always banging on about how dark it is and we always say, 'Oh, come on…'. And then we watch it again and sometimes I’m quite taken aback by all that’s going on. The thing that I always think is really something is Papa Lazarou kidnapping Bernice’s mother in the Christmas Special. That’s absolutely terrifying."

"But that flashback with the screaming child and Papa Lazarou is absolutely ghastly."

Reece Shearsmith: "I've done a few Hello Dave's for people's answering machines," said Reece Shearsmith, before putting on the Papa Lazarou voice, 'They're not in at the moment!'"

"I love doing Papa Lazarou because he is almost iconic now. I just saw in Kerrang magazine this week, there was some rock band talking about how he’s their favourite weird character. It’s weird that kind of crossover he’s made into like goths and the heavy-metal world, it’s great."

"I think that Johnny Depp was Papa Lazarou in 'Pirates of the Caribbean'".

Mark Gatiss: "There was a funny moment when we were filming by the sea and the doubles for Tubbs and Edward and Papa Lazarou were all having a fag. Actually, I filmed it because it was really quite creepy." Pemberton: "There was one bit at the end when all our characters had to be there and they came in one at a time. It was really freaky. It was like the film had come to life."

Mark Gatiss: "Marilyn Manson keeps dressing up as Papa Lazarou". Steve Pemberton: "We had our photo taken, and this guy said 'I was doing a photo shoot with Marilyn Manson, and as I was doing it, I said "Do you realise that this look you've got is from a British TV show?".' He didn't know so someone got him the DVD and showed it to him. He offered to change his look, because he didn't want to step on our toes."

Reece Shearsmith: "Things shock you because you don’t expect characters to do certain things, but you’re never thinking, 'Oh, that can’t happen.' With Papa Lazarou coming through, that’s normal, you’re watching that thinking, 'Oh wow, that’s brilliant, this crazy circus is coming to town.'"

Popular culture

One of the oddest aspects of the character is how he has managed to become a figure in popular culture. The magazine 'Bizarre' featured Papa Lazarou on its front cover, as if he were a real person Bizarre Cover. Various people have noted him as their favourite character, and he has numerous fan sites.

Papa Lazarou was a key element in their publicity material for the League of Gentlemen's live tour.

Comments by Reviewers

"...oddest of all is a spring-heeled, blacked-up refugee from some ramshackle, time-warped carnival: Papa Lazarou."

"...no matter who you are Papa Lazarou will freak you the hell out."

"Marilyn Manson ... blacked up with hollow white eyes, an image that would probably inflame and enrage a little more if it wasn't so reminiscent of the League Of Gentlemen's Papa Lazarou!"

External links

• The League of Gentlemen Website! - Papa Lazarou
• BBC H2G2 Guide to League of Gentlemen Characters
• Overview of Papa Lazarou character