Before the Fringe was a BBC television series which ran for two series on BBC2 in 1967.^[1]

The first series ran for eight episodes between 30 January and 20 March 1967.^[2][3] The second series of six episodes ran between 18 September and 23 October 1967.^[4][5]

Alan Melville was the guiding light behind this series which attempted to showcase on television some of the best aspects of pre-Before the Fringe revue.^[3] Before the 1960s Cambridge Footlights graduates took it by storm, the medium had been a much more gentler, broader affair.

These two series of sketches were made up by performers who had been veterans of such shows. They included:

• Alan Melville (all programmes)
• Joan Sims (seven programmes)
• Ronnie Barker (six programmes)
• Dora Bryan (five programmes)
• Beryl Reid (four programmes)
• Douglas Byng (four programmes)
• Hermione Baddeley (four programmes)
• Hugh Paddick (three programmes)
• Dilys Laye (three programmes)
• Hermione Gingold (two programmes)
• Cicely Courtneidge (two programmes)
• Betty Marsden (two programmes)
• Eunice Gayson (two programmes)^[6]

Various guest stars were featured, including Robert Dorning, Stanley Holloway, Thora Hird, Brenda Bruce, Wilfrid Brambell, Dame Edith Evans, Bud Flanagan, Peter Jones, Patrick Cargill and Barbara Windsor.