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PHIL MEALEY AND CRAIG CASH’S REBOOT OF THEIR CULT TV COMEDY EARLY DOORS HAS PROOVED A BOX OFFICE WINNER

EARLY DOORS RETURNS:

WHEN it was first announced that cult TV comedy Early Doors was being brought back to life for a new stage show at The Lowry theatre, things went just a bit crazy. The show’s creators and stars Phil Mealey and Craig Cash rather underestimated interest in their comedy, following the lives of pub-goers at the fictional Stockport boozer The Grapes, which was last on screen 14 years ago.

The initial two week run of shows at the smaller Quays theatre sold out so fast that it was swiftly transferred to The Lowry’s largest Lyric theatre space to try and cope with demand - but tickets all sold out there too.

An extra week was added at The Lowry, before show bosses decided they’d simply have to take it out on the road to arenas too to cope with the kind of demand they were seeing at the box office.

So, no pressure on Craig and Phil then, in bringing back to life such a clearly revered comedy!

When we caught up with the duo earlier this year, they were astonished at the reaction to the comedy’s return, that ran for two series on the BBC back in 2003 and 2004 and in which they starred as pubgoing lads Joe and Duffy.

Craig said: “The reaction still kind of shocked us because it was 13, 14 years ago since we did it. We knew there was an underground fanbase, we knew there was a few people who liked it, but even so, we didn’t expect to sell out the shows like that.”

Phil added: “It has been fantastic for us. Obviously people do come up to you and say ‘oh we really enjoyed Early Doors,’ but you don’t know what the general feel is out there.

“It was surprising to us to realise how much affection people really have for it, how much people enjoyed it.”

Craig smiled: “We were dead touched. We had a moment, didn’t we Phil?”

Phil, 55, and Craig, 57, first met as teenagers working “stacking shelves” at Tesco in Stockport precinct, and it became a friendship for life, with Phil joking: “The trolleys bumped into each other and it’s been that way ever since.”

It was their experiences around the pubs and bars of Stockport that led to their idea for a sitcom, with initially the plans for it to be a community-based comedy series.

But they soon realised that “all the funny bits” happened at the pub, so it ended up being centred around the fictional boozer, The Grapes, and hence Early Doors was born.

The new stage show will bring back almost all of the original cast from the TV series including pub landlord Ken, played by John Henshaw, cleaner Winnie played by Joan Kempson and policemen Phil and Nige, although 13 years on it will be reflecting many of the changes in the pub world - most noticeably of course, the smoking ban.

Phil said: “The one big change at the pub is there’s a smoking canopy outside because we’ve got to progress with the times.

“Although Joe is on the e-cigarettes nowadays, puffing away,” chips in Craig.

Of course, since 2004 many traditional boozers have now closed, but The Grapes has not been hit, with Phil quipping: “The Grapes is clinging on, it’s the sale of crisps that’s done it.”

Fans can expect plenty of nods to the past in the show, but it will be an entirely original story.

Phil said: “We’ve purposefully not done the best of Early Doors, it’s not anything you’ve seen before, it’s a new story. We didn’t want to just regurgitate what people have seen before.”

Early Doors is at The Lowry Theatre, Salford for a sold out run of dates from from 29 August to 15 September and then from 17 - 22 September.

The show heads to Manchester Arena on October 4, where tickets are still available, from ticketmaster.co.uk

By DIANNE BOURNE dianne.bourne@men-news.co.uk @DianneBourne