The New Statesman (1987 TV series)

The New Statesman
Series title card
GenreSitcom
Political satire
Created byLaurence Marks
Maurice Gran
StarringRik Mayall
Marsha Fitzalan
Michael Troughton
Theme music composerModest Mussorgsky arrangement by
Alan Hawkshaw
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series4
No. of episodes26 + 3 specials (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJohn Bartlett
Allan McKeown
Michael Pilsworth
David Reynolds
Running timeApprox. 24–25 minutes
(excluding adverts)
Production companiesYorkshire Television
(1987, 1989-1992)
Alomo Productions
(1992 & 1994)
Original release
NetworkITV (1987, 1989-1992)
BBC One
(specials, 1988 & 1994)
Release13 September 1987 (1987-09-13) –
30 December 1994 (1994-12-30)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The New Statesman is a British sitcom made in the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the United Kingdom's Conservative government of the period. It was written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran at the request of, and as a starring vehicle for, its principal actor Rik Mayall.

The show's theme song is an arrangement by Alan Hawkshaw of part of the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky.

The programme was made by the ITV franchise Yorkshire Television between 1987 and 1992, although the BBC made two special episodes; one in 1988, the other in 1994. It won the BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Series in 1991.