The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.

6

90 min

Cast

Rowan Atkinson

as Self - Various Roles

Jeff Beck

as Self

Alan Bennett

as Self - Various Roles

Graham Chapman

as Self - Various Roles

Eric Clapton

as Self

John Cleese

as Self - Various Roles

Phil Collins

as Self

Billy Connolly

as Self

Peter Cook

as Self - Various Roles

Sheena Easton

as The Secret Policeman Choir

Bob Geldof

as Self

Barry Humphries

as Self - Various Roles

Michael Palin

as Self - Various Roles

David Rappaport

as Various Roles

Sting

as Self

John Bird

as Self - Various Roles

Tim Brooke-Taylor

as Self - Various Characters

Donovan

as Self

Johnnie Fingers

as Self

John Fortune

as Self - Various Roles

Chris Langham

as Self - Various Roles

Griff Rhys Jones

as Self - Various Roles

Alexei Sayle

as Self

Pamela Stephenson

as Self - Various Roles

John Wells

as Self - Various Roles

Victoria Wood

as Self

Daryl Stuermer

as Various Roles

Maynard Williams

as Various Roles

Pete Townshend

as Self

Jasper Carrott

as Self

Doreen Chanter

as The Secret Policeman Choir

Chris Cross

as The Secret Policeman Choir

Neil Innes

as Self

Micky Moody

as The Secret Policeman Choir

Midge Ure

as The Secret Policeman Choir

Director

Julien Temple