Paul Putner's Lee and Herring character revived in a comic book

Paul Putner is reviving his character The Curious Orange for a comic book.

The actor and comedian played the inquisitive citrus in Stewart Lee and Richard Herring’s 1990s BBC Two series This Morning With Richard Not Judy.  He started out as a nervous, mild-mannered character before becoming increasing megalomaniacal.

Now the twisted fruit is being reprised for an 1980s-influenced series of photo comics called The Chefs Of Death, where his lust for global domination appears undimmed.

Comic book fan Putner provided both the photos and the dialogue for his scenes, with writer Alex Finch saying ‘I really can’t thank him enough for taking the time out to guest star in the final issue.’

The comic is described as an affectionate homage to the 1980s series Doomlord, and stars comedian Ian Lane.

Its plot revolves around the deadly alien species the Kabrullions, who apparently microwaved the whole of the Earth in the last episode.  The only survivor was journalist Audrey Pearce, who has been kidnapped so that they can clone her whenever they wish and ensure they never run out of tasty human flesh. 

But then Queen Elizabeth II from a parallel universe attacked their planet, and demanded Audrey's release. Now the monarch’s recruiting a team who might just be able to stop these ravenous aliens once and for all...

The project is funded by a Kickstarter, with all profits from this third and final issue going to homelessness charity Crisis.

The Curious Orange took his name from the album I Am Kurious Oranj by The Fall, one of Lee’s favourite bands, and was itself a reference to the 1967 Swedish erotic drama.

Herring apparently encountered him in a supermarket, but at the end of the first series of TMWRNJ he was revealed to be Herring's illegitimate son and  crushed to death – although  he was later reconstituted by a mad scientist. 

Published: 16 Jun 2025