Editing Beyond the Fringe (section)

== Influence ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2022}}
''Beyond the Fringe'' was a forerunner to British television programmes ''[[That Was the Week That Was]]'', ''[[At Last the 1948 Show]]'', and ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]''.<ref name="Yapp2008">{{Cite web
| title = Before the Flying Circus: A black and white documentary
| author = Will Yapp
| via = YouTube
| date = 2008
| access-date = 7 October 2018
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYtlFoe-biY
}}</ref>

As with the established comedy revue, it was a series of [[satire|satirical]] sketches and musical pieces using a minimal set, looking at events of the day and, with Shakespeare, the past. It effectively represented the views and disappointments of the first generation of British people to grow up after [[World War II]], and gave voice to a sense of the loss of national purpose with the end of the [[British Empire]]. Although all of the cast contributed material, the most often quoted pieces were those by Cook, many of which had appeared before in his Cambridge [[Footlights]] revues. The show broke new ground with Peter Cook's impression of then Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]]; on one occasion, this was performed with Macmillan in the audience, and Cook added an ''ad lib'' ridiculing Macmillan for turning up to watch.

The show is credited with giving many other performers the courage to be satirical and more improvisational in their manner, and broke the conventions of not lampooning the Royal Family or the government of the day. [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]an drama was another target of their comedy. There were also a number of musical items in the show, using Dudley Moore's music, most famously an arrangement of the [[Colonel Bogey March]] which resists Moore's repeated attempts to bring it to an end.

The show prefigured the [[Satire Boom]] of the 1960s. Without it, there might not have been either ''[[That Was the Week That Was]]'' or ''[[Private Eye (magazine)|Private Eye]]'', the satirical magazine which originated at the same time, that partially survived due to financial support from Peter Cook, and that served as the model for the later American ''[[Spy (magazine)|Spy]]'' magazine.  Cook and Moore formed a comedy duo and appeared in the popular television show ''[[Not Only... But Also]]'', and the 1967 film ''[[Bedazzled (1967 film)|Bedazzled]]''.  Cook also launched his club, [[The Establishment (club)|The Establishment]], around this time.  Many of the members of [[Monty Python]] recall being inspired by ''Beyond the Fringe''.

The retrospective show ''Before the Fringe'', broadcast during the early years of [[BBC 2]], took its title from this production.  It consisted of performances of material that was popular in theatrical revue before the advent of ''Beyond the Fringe''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}