| Runtime: | 25 minutes |
| Starring: | |
| Director: | Tony Dow |
| Executive Producer: | Laurence Marks (series 2) |
| Producer: |
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| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | Channel 4 |
| Num Series: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Company: | Alomo Productions |
Nightingales is a British situation comedy set around the antics of three security guards working the night shift. It was written by Paul Makin and produced by Alomo Productions for Channel 4 in 1990.
Nightingales revolved around the jobs of three bored nightwatchmen working in a deserted office block, the location of which is never revealed, although exterior shots are of Beneficial House located on Paradise Circus in Birmingham City Centre.
A typical episode involved both very naturalistic dialogue — and the kind of claustrophobic studio-setting that prevailed in shows such as Steptoe and Son — combined with the surreal.
Nightingales ran for two series totalling 13 episodes from 27 February 1990 to 10 February 1993. The long delay was prompted by Channel 4 executive Seamus Cassidy who was not happy with the proposed scripts for the second series and it was nearly three years before it was given the go-ahead. The theme tune was a version of the song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" sung by Lindsay. Writer Paul Makin went on to write more conventional comedies like Goodnight Sweetheart. A US remake (titled "In Security") was piloted but never commissioned.
Guest characters included Piper (Edward Burnham), the elderly cleaning man; Eric the werewolf (Ian Sears); an additional security guard who was a gorilla; and Mary the Christmas Allegory (Lia Williams), who gave birth to consumer products.
| No. | Title | Original airdate | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Moonlight Becomes You" | 27 February 1990 | The new lad gets a touch of lycanthropy. Problems with the inspector. |
| 2 | "Takeaway" | 6 March 1990 | Carter and Bell take the guise of Shakespearian villains to do away with Piper. |
| 3 | "Kiss and Make Up" | 13 March 1990 | Carter wins a date with a glamorous model. |
| 4 | "Opening Night" | 20 March 1990 | Sarge needs surgery. Swan may be a werewolf, but he's also a medical student. |
| 5 | "Scrutiny of the Bounty" | 27 March 1990 | They're under suspicion and under surveillance. |
| 6 | "Terence in the Midst" | 3 April 1990 | Security is so easy even a monkey can do it. |
| No. | Title | Original airdate | Synopsis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Silent Night" | 30 December 1992 | Christmas episode. A pregnant woman called Mary arrives on Christmas Eve. She assures them she's not an allegory. | |
| 2 | "Trouble in Mind" | 6 January 1993 | A psychiatrist delves into the murky waters of Bell's mind after an incident with a horse. | |
| 3 | "Crime and Punishment" | 13 January 1993 | A burglar, Jake Wood is apprehended, who produces incontrovertible evidence that he is the illegitimate son of one of the three men. | |
| 4 | "All at Sea" | 20 January 1993 | Peter Vaughan guests as the new inspector who rules with an iron fist. Mutiny is in the air. | |
| 5 | "Reach for the Sky" | 27 January 1993 | Carter and Bell compete for a job at Heathrow Airport by sitting a three-part exam. | |
| 6 | "King Lear II" | 3 February 1993 | Eric the werewolf returns and a Shakespearean plot is brewed to sabotage the Sarge's prodigal "son". | |
| 7 | "Someone to Watch Over Me" | 10 February 1993 | The employers install a new CCTV system and give them a cake. Three familiar-looking replacements arrive. |