[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harry_and_paul.png]]
''Harry and Paul'' was a British SketchShow which aired between 2007 and 2012, lasting 4 seasons (the first one was titled ''Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul''). The concept is to bring back together Creator/HarryEnfield and Paul Whitehouse, who had previously worked together on ''Series/HarryEnfieldAndChums'' -- Whitehouse is now at least as well known for ''Series/TheFastShow''. Other ''Fast Show'' actors, such as Simon Day, started appearing in series 2.

A running theme seems to be that of class warfare and cultural divisions in British society. This was true to some extent in ''Series/HarryEnfieldAndChums'', but is more obvious here. A second major theme, growing more prominent over time, is that of examining past attitudes with {{Retraux}} and DeliberateValuesDissonance.

The show has had a mixed reception: Some people love it, others hate it.

Enfield and Whitehouse, along with some of their co-stars, reunited in 2014 for ''The Story of the Twos'', a {{Mockumentary}} retrospective for the fiftieth anniversary of BBC Two. Hosted by a parody of Simon Schama, the episode spoofs many of the shows broadcast on the channel including ''Newsnight'', ''Series/IClaudius'', ''Series/BoysFromTheBlackstuff'', ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' and ''Series/TheFastShow''.

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!!''Harry and Paul'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* ActingForTwo:[[invoked]] In the ''Series/DragonsDen'' sketches, Enfield and Whitehouse, between them, play the entrepreneurs, all the Dragons, and Evan Davis.
* AlterEgoActing: Series 4 episodes begin with a sketch where Harry and Paul supposedly play themselves meeting to write the script, but always with some twist on it, usually the sketch being done InTheStyleOf another writer they're parodying.
* AlternateHistory: The Beatles sketches from Series 3 are about what might have happened if Music/TheBeatles had never got into drugs - they're all alive and still together in 2010 and are still acting as they did in their ''Film/AHardDaysNight'' days.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Danny the cultured fisherman. He doesn't appear to have any interest in women, and, when asking Kenny to come to a posh restaurant with him, it sounds like he is asking him out.
** The Posh Scaffolders. They both act camp and very rarely discuss women (outside of heckling them, which they only do, according to a tearful Darren, because they were 'trying to be friendly'). They are also constantly touching each other. Kev frequently calls Darren 'dear'.
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The multilingual football manager, who talks to each of the players from his international side in his own language - most of which is authentic-sounding but gibberish.
* BetterOnDVD: InUniverse: One set of sketches in Series 4 is about a couple who are culturally elitist about owning foreign DVD boxsets.
* {{Blackface}}: In one ''Series/DragonsDen'' parody the regular entrepreneurs Ken and Bryan disguise themselves as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Roots Levi Roots]], in the hope of a more favourable reception.
* BraggingThemeTune: The opening credits portray Enfield and Whitehouse as Communist-style dictators, accompanied by a patriotic anthem praising them in the same style.
* CaptainOblivious: The Minor Royals (series 4)
* CatchPhrase:
** "Really Sheridan, one must ''always'' make time for one's NHS work" and "You may feel a slight discombobulation" -- Charles, the Consultant Surgeons sketches
** "I saw you coming" -- the owner of the eponymous shop
** "''`Ands'', Ashley!" -- the Clean Chavs (series 1)
** "...or some sort of shit like that" -- the Cultured Fisherman
** "But I ''am''...a Chocolatier!" -- the Chocolatier
** "What in the name of looooooooove is...?" "You too"/"Are a great band" and "What have you been making history this week, Bono?" -- Bono and The Edge
** "Is he a quare?" "If he looks like a quare and sounds like a quare..." -- the Old Tories (series 3-4)
** "I'm a very important man" -- the Very Important Man (series 2)
** "We're from [[LondonEnglandSyndrome Badiddlyboing, Odawidaho]]" and "Isn't she pretty?"/"Whatta guy!" -- Ronald and Pam the eccentric small town American tourists.
** "Everything's Better In Scotland" from the Scotsman in the eponymous sketch, and "We're no' all like that! I take a ''sideways'' look at life, you know?" from the Creator/BillyConnolly expy played by Paul.
* CelebrityParadox: Referenced in one episode where the Old Tories debate whether Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse are 'quares'; unsurprisingly, the Old Tory played by Harry thinks Enfield isn't and Whitehouse is, while the one played by Paul thinks the opposite.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
** In one ''Series/DragonsDen'' sketch, the hopeless entrepreneurs Ken and Bryan actually come up with the brilliant breakthrough of a perfect biodegradable plastic bag... yet pitch it to the Dragons only as a way of temporarily storing non-biodegradable plastic bags.
** The point of the "Clive the Geordie" sketch was to comically exaggerate the north/south divide by having a southern couple treat a Geordie as a pet, and to highlight that racism is often accepted in a DoubleStandard in a north/south context. Then there was one sketch about another southern couple visit and bring their Filipino maid in the hope that she will mate with Clive, which created a diplomatic storm with the Filipino embassy -- thus demonstrating the truth of the point the sketches were making, that people were fine with the idea when it was a Geordie being treated in such a way, but kicked up a fuss when it was someone of a different race.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: In many of the {{Retraux}} past sketches, especially "When Times Were Simpler".
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In the Bono and The Edge sketch where The Edge accidentally says he likes Music/{{Coldplay}}, the way Bono reacts is almost like The Edge were cheating on him. When he says they 'should split up', he is talking about the band, but his tone of voice and The Edge's horrified reaction makes it sound much more like they are talking about a relationship.
* DumbBlonde: The Sloane Rangers, who frequent the shop "I Saw You Coming".
* {{Eagleland}}: At first glance Pam and Ronald seem to be flavour 2 of the HawaiianShirtedTourist variety, but turn out to be quite nice people, just eccentric and overly friendly.
* EverythingIsRacist: The Scotsman in "Everything's Better in Scotland" thinks everything English people say is "patronisin' and racist". ''Everything''.
* {{Expy}}: "I'm [[Series/HarryEnfieldAndChums Tim Nice-But-Balding]]."
* FakeBand:
** Not exactly -- as in ''Series/TheSmellOfReevesAndMortimer'', it's a real band presented in a crazy manner, specifically U2. This consists of The Edge hiding a surprise under his woolly hat every week, while Bono appears in a cloud of smoke and a white messianic glow and mentions what he's been "making history" this week. Catchphrases: "What in the name of loooooooooooooooove is..." and "You too" "Are a great band!"
** Also see their Beatles sketch above.
* FunnyForeigner: "Theo Profiterole" in the ''Series/DragonsDen'' parodies.
* {{Gaydar}}: Played with. The Old Tories spend all of their spare time trying out their hopelessly inaccurate Gaydar.
* GoodOldWays: Parodied in "When Times Were Simpler" (and several other sketches).
* GossipyHens: The Fifties Typists.
* GranolaGirl: The entire clientele of "I Saw You Coming".
* GratuitousFrench: One customer at "I Saw You Coming" thinks the chocolate tart is rather expensive. But she's quite willing to pay the same price for "chocolat tarte".
* HaveIMentionedIAmGay:
** While we never see Bunny doing anything more than sitting in his leather armchair, quietly reading a hardback while nursing a dram of whisky, he assures us that he is in fact a ''frightful'' quare.
** In series 4, the Old Tories ask him if "[[StraightGay you can not look like a quare or sound like a quare but actually be a quare]]" and he goes off in a fantasy about various HardGay stereotypes.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday / ActorAllusion: The Old Tory played by Harry Enfield refuses to believe that Harry Enfield is a quare. Even if he looks like a quare and sounds like a quare and is on television like a quare.
* {{Homage}}: The "Clarkson Island" sketch is one to [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Whicker Island]]; the opening shows the two islands next to each other on a map, accompanied by a snatch of the Liberty Bell march.
* IdenticalGrandson: The Consultant Surgeons' identical Georgian barber-surgeon ancestors appear in one sketch.
* ImpossibleTaskInstantlyAccomplished: The "Yeah, we can do that" builders, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBP50dXcsk who build a London Underground extension in an afternoon]].
* InTheStyleOf: ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' in the style of ''Series/OnTheBuses''.
* JizzedInMyPants: A series two sketch shows a tennis umpire getting aroused as he listens to the female tennis players moaning and grunting as they play. Over the course of the sketch, he tries to cover his groin and gets more and more uncomfortable. After the point is won, he wipes his forehead and excuses himself.
* LastSecondWordSwap: The Ricky Gervais sketch in series 4 has them both make outrageously offensive comments before insincerely backing down by this method. "I hate the Jews!...you get in cartons, I prefer it freshly squeezed."
* TheModestOrgasm: In the {{Retraux}} take on "When Harry Met Sally", the woman [[FakeOrgasm fakes an orgasm]] by crossing her eyes and clearing her throat slightly. Everyone else in the restaurant is still shaken to their core.
* NarrationEcho: Inverted in one ''Series/DragonsDen'' sketch, as a reference to Evan Davis's CaptainObvious tendencies on the real show:
-->'''Ken:''' I've left it in the car.\\
'''Narrator:''' Ken has left the solution to all the world's problems in the car.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Parking Pataweyo has been known to manifest superpowers, if that's what it takes to ticket a car.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
** Jasper Hazelnut (series 1) is a thinly disguised parody of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
** In "Everything's Better In Scotland", Paul plays an expy of Creator/BillyConnolly.
** In "The Cops", an expy of Series/{{House}} appears at one point.
* OfficerOHara: Officers O'Malley-Mulligan-Hoolagey and O'Pat-Eddery-Flannery-Hoonigan.
-->"I come from a small place in Ireland where everyone's a cop. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Even the cops are cops.]]"
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: The Consultant Surgeons.
* ParodyNames:
** The Dragons from ''Series/DragonsDen'' often get different ones every time.
** A rather clever one is ''Eenie Meanie Minie Mole'' as a parody of ''Literature/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy''.
* PatrioticFervour: "Everything's Better In Scotland", in which a Scotsman at an English pub rudely insists that, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin everything's better in Scotland]]. This is followed by Paul playing a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Creator/BillyConnolly who insists "We're no' ''all'' like that!"
* PoliticianGuestStar: Nigel Farage, the leader of [[UsefulNotes/WithEuropeButNotOfIt the UK Independence Party]], makes a random cameo in a series 4 sketch parodying Creator/RickyGervais' tendency to have a celebrity make an appearance for no reason in his series.
* {{Retraux}}: The black-and-white 1930s "original versions" of hit movies, such as ''The Bourne Identity'' and (controversially) ''Brokeback Mountain''. Many more Retraux sketches have been added over time, such as "When Times Were Simpler", which are similar in tone to the Mr Cholmondeley-Warner sketches from ''Series/HarryEnfieldAndChums''.
* RidiculouslyFastConstruction: The father-and-son builders who build huge prisons, Tube stations far out in the country, etc., in seconds with the help of a StockFootage HardWorkMontage.
* SelfDeprecatingHumour: In ''The Story of the Twos'', a {{Mockumentary}} retrospective of BBC Two, after sticking the boot into practically everything else the channel did, the showrunners saved some snark for themselves; ''Series/TheFastShow'' (which Paul Whitehouse co-wrote) is depicted as over-reliant on catchphrases and speedy to the point of nonsensicality at times. And in a later mock-interview about the show Harry Enfield (playing himself being interviewed by a DJ played by Whitehouse) offers some quite unconvincing denials about how he didn't want to be part of the show anyway and how he's not at all jealous that ''The Fast Show'' won four [=BAFTA=]s while his own show won none.
* SpotTheImposter: ''Eenie Meanie Minie Mole'' is a sketch in which the head of MI-6 struggles with the fact that he now has two [[Creator/JohnLeCarre George Smileys]] working for the department, the Alec Guinness version played by Harry and the Gary Oldman version played by Paul. All this is really just an excuse for both men to compete over who can do the best George Smiley impression, which involves [[GlassesPull cleaning your glasses]], [[DramaPanes staring out the window]], and giving a MeaningfulLook that hints at your HiddenDepths and KnightInSourArmor nature.
* StayInTheKitchen: In a {{Retraux}} version of ''Series/TheApprentice'', [=LordSirAlanSugarDaddy=] fires his daughter, instructing her to 'go home and do some knitting'.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: In the series 4 sketch parodying Creator/RickyGervais' style, Paul jokes with Harry about running into fans who ask when Harry's bringing back his old [[TheEighties Eighties]] character Loadsamoney. A few minutes later, Nigel Farage walks in and tells Enfield he's done nothing good since Loadsamoney.
* StrawmanPolitical: The audience and panel of ''Series/QuestionTime''.
* TakeThat: Several jabs at Creator/RickyGervais.
* TrafficWardens: Parking Pataweyo.
* TheUnintelligible: A series 4 sketch with an Irish racing magnate and his posh English friend (Paul and Harry respectively), who have similar levels of unintelligibility as Paul's earlier character Rowley Birkin from ''Series/TheFastShow''.
* VerbalTic:
** The Consultant Surgeons often get stuck on repeating the phrase "forty, forty-five years" while reminiscing.
** The father-and-son builders do the same with "four-by-two-by-four-by-two-by..."
** And the Fifties Typists with "Anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway..."
* WorkoutFanservice: In-universe. The one time we see Pik engaged in his work as a gym instructor, he's taking an attractive woman through a stretching routine, and enjoying it rather more than he should.

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