Green Wing Special

Last updated

"Green Wing Special"
Green Wing episode
Green Wing - Special DVD.jpg
The cover of the Green Wing Special DVD.
Directed by Tristram Shapeero
Dominic Brigstocke
Written by Victoria Pile
Robert Harley
Gary Howe
Stuart Kenworthy
Oriane Messina
Richard Preddy
Fay Rusling
James Henry
Guest appearance
Jeremy Sheffield

The "Green Wing Special" is the final episode of the British sitcom Green Wing . It was first broadcast in Australia and Belgium on 29 December 2006. It was aired on 4 January 2007 in the United Kingdom. [1] The episode is sometimes billed as a Christmas special, although the episode contains nothing Christmas related. The special is 90 minutes long, around twice the length of a normal episode.

Contents

The special continues the plot from the end of the second series of Green Wing, which ended with Caroline Todd (played by Tamsin Greig) becoming engaged to Guy Secretan (Stephen Mangan), "Mac" Macartney (Julian Rhind-Tutt) learning that he was going to die, Alan Statham (Mark Heap) and Joanna Clore (Pippa Haywood) fleeing from the police after they murdered Joanna's cousin, and Karen Ball (Lucinda Raikes) having a dramatic change of personality after she fell out of a window. [2] While this was the final episode of Green Wing, an alternative ending was produced in case a third series was written. There was an argument between the cast and the writers about which ending should have been used. The special received mixed reviews from both critics and fans. [1]

Plot

The episode begins at a funeral, attended by Guy, Caroline, Boyce (Oliver Chris), Martin Dear (Karl Theobald) and Sue White (Michelle Gomez). References made in the episode lead the viewer to believe that it is Mac's funeral, but then a giant picture of Angela Hunter (Sarah Alexander), who left the hospital in series two, appears. [3] The cause of her death is not fully explained, although comments made by the characters indicate she died in a hunting accident with a moose. The plot then splits between three groups of characters. [4] [5]

Caroline, Guy and Mac

Mac returns to work after a month's leave. When Caroline meets him, she implies that she is engaged to Guy. Mac and Guy are then drunk in a bar, where Mac tells Guy he is going to die in a couple of weeks and makes Guy promise he will not tell Caroline. However, Guy tells Martin, who then complains to him about his selfishness. Caroline walks in and overhears the argument. Meanwhile, Mac suggests to Sue that she find someone else to love. Caroline confronts Mac about marrying her. Mac defends himself by saying it would be better for her to marry Guy because he will live longer. Guy later decides to do the right thing, and tells Mac to propose to Caroline because they love each other. Caroline and Mac therefore become engaged and later marry. The majority of the core cast attend the wedding. At the wedding, Sue is seen with a new boyfriend. The special ends with Caroline floating away into the sky holding a mass of helium balloons. [5]

Alan and Joanna

After being rescued by Martin while they were teetering over the edge of a cliff in a stolen campervan, Alan and Joanna are on the run, believing the police are after them for the murder of Joanna's cousin. [2] They go to a garage to get the van checked for faults, but, as they leave, Joanna accidentally runs over the mechanic by putting the van in the wrong gear and reversing into him. They then try to rob a corner shop and Joanna tells Alan to sit on the shopkeeper to restrain her, but this causes Alan to accidentally suffocate her. Back at the hospital, Boyce begins to miss Alan after discovering his replacement is worse than him. Boyce's plotline with Alan is concluded when Alan telephones him to say goodbye, almost confirming the strange love they have for each other, but instead telling him (in code) that he is "flying west". [5]

Later, Alan and Joanna are stopped by a policeman on suspicion of stealing the campervan. Joanna gets her peanut butter sandwich and smears it in the policeman's face. Alan and Joanna have an argument about the minute odds of the policeman having a peanut allergy and going into anaphylaxis, while in the background this is actually happening. They then carry the body of the policeman into the van. Soon, having run out of food and petrol, Alan changes the engine to run on alcohol and fermented excrement. The plan is of no use, however, as the van explodes. They soon reach the beach and Joanna gives Alan three options: give themselves up, swim the English Channel to Spain, or commit suicide. As Alan is not keen on the Spanish, they choose the third option and are last seen walking naked into the sea, presumably to their deaths–– although the alternate ending shows them hanging on to a buoy some time later. [5]

Admin girls

Having fallen out of a window, [2] Karen walks into the office dressed smartly and feistier. However, she has lost a hand and her nose whistles when she has an orgasm. When the girls realise that Joanna is not there to control them they start going wild. They start off by doing mild things such as swapping desks and tipping up litter, then become wilder by interviewing people and asking people to pull their trousers down. Slowly, the scene turns into a "Lord of the Flies" situation. They soon begin to argue and Harriet Schulenburg (Olivia Colman) decides to become the new Joanna. Martin is captured by Naughty Rachel (Katie Lyons), Kim Alabaster (Sally Bretton) and Karen, chanting "Kill the doctor" at him. Martin calls for his mummy (Joanna), but when Harriet comes out into the office she proclaims she is the "new mummy in town", and he is dragged into the office. However, Martin somehow manages to escape by means unknown. [5]

Production

The production on the special was similar to that of the other episodes, with the hospital scenes being shot in the usual locations (the Northwick Park Hospital in Middlesex and the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke). The script was written by the usual eight-person team led by Victoria Pile, and produced and directed by the same people who recorded all the previous episodes. The special was recorded at the same time as the second series. [6] The exterior scenes were harder to shoot. In the beginning funeral scene, one of the mourners is Alan Yentob, who had been filming an episode of the BBC One documentary series Imagine . [7] [8] Stephen Mangan said that Martin's mime during the funeral was one of his favourite moments in Green Wing. [9] The opening titles of the episode differ from the others as it does not use the normal theme tune, "Last Week", (as it is named in the original television soundtrack) and instead uses the track, "Camel".

There were some improvised scenes. These included a scene in the beginning of the episode where Alan and Joanna are in a middle of a field and the scene begins with a low-angle shot. Later, when Alan is "humping" Joanna, the scene suddenly becomes a crane shot. This is because the crew at the time had a crane camera after they had finished filming the final scenes in series 2 where Alan, Joanna and Martin are teetering over the edge of a cliff in the stolen camper van. [10] The camper van scenes were the hardest to shoot, especially the scene where the van explodes, as this had to be done in one take. Another problem was the smell of the van, which Pippa Haywood said, "smelt of old dogs." The van also suffered other problems such as bits of the steering wheel and gear stick coming off. [11] Julian Rhind-Tutt commented that the scene where Alan and Boyce talk together for the last time was one of the most moving scenes in the whole of Green Wing. [12] The wedding was shot at Hall of Bayham Abbey in Kent, where the crew had difficulty filming due to bad weather. [13] The show also features a guest appearance from Jeremy Sheffield near the end of the episode as Sue's new boyfriend. [4]

The DVD of the special was released on 8 January, four days after its premiere in the UK. Features include the alternate ending, a "Behind the Scenes" featurette, 20 minutes of deleted scenes and commentary from many of the main cast, which includes commentary from some foreign relatives of Michelle Gomez who had not seen the show before. Three extra deleted scenes from the special were later released in "The Definitive Collection" DVD boxset. [14]

Alternative ending

An alternative ending was made for the special, which was never broadcast, but was put as an extra on the DVD. In this version of the ending, when Mac sees Caroline floating away, he runs down the stairs and out of the castle to save her. Caroline begins to descend, and both Mac and Guy grab hold of one her legs to bring her down, but instead they are lifted into the air with her. While the three fly away, Caroline exclaims "We're all going to die!", to which Mac quite sternly says "Caroline, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," opening the possibility that Mac is not going to die. Meanwhile, Alan and Joanna, after walking into the sea, are last seen hanging onto a buoy waiting to drown. They are still talking while waiting for the ocean to drown them. [15]

This ending was the favourite amongst the actors. Mangan said that the alternative ending was the best moment in the whole of Green Wing. However, the alternative ending was rejected and the writers favoured the ending that was eventually broadcast. It is believed that the alternative ending would have been broadcast if a third series was being made, as that ending was much more ambiguous, since Alan and Joanna are still seen alive and Mac tells Caroline that he still has something to say. In fact, for the recording of the DVD commentary, they were watching the special with the alternative ending, indicating that the decision to switch endings was made sometime between recording of the commentary and broadcast. Speaking on the commentary, Rhind-Tutt says that he was glad that after much discussion they chose the ending "they all wanted", with "the three of them flying off together", however, this was not the version that was eventually broadcast. [16]

Reception

When the special was first broadcast, it was watched by 1.7 million viewers, 11% of the total audience. However, these ratings are poor compared to other programmes. For example, an episode of Desperate Housewives shown the previous night attracted 2.8 million viewers. [1] Responses from critics were mixed. Matt Baylis said, "Like a homegrown ER on laughing gas, this show will be sorely missed," [1] [17] and Ian Johns said, "It was like a Richard Curtis romcom, albeit one force-fed magic mushrooms." [18] In The Guardian , Sam Wollaston wrote that it was one of the funniest shows on British television, alongside the satirical sitcom The Thick of It , saying, "The Thick of It is clever-funny, Green Wing is mad-funny." Wollaston opined that while the dramatic elements of the show, such as Mac's death, were good, Alan and Joanna's storyline was most entertaining. "Mark Heap and Pippa Haywood, who play them, have been the shining lights in an already glittering show. They, and it, will be sorely missed," he said. [19] David Butcher in the Radio Times wrote that, "Green Wing's sublime comic acting and a vein of shrieking madness in the writing make it very hard to beat." [20]

Paul Whitelaw, however, attacked both the series and the special, saying, "This final instalment was typically awful, more so considering its length." [21] Fans of the show thought that while the special was good, it was not the greatest episode of Green Wing made.[ citation needed ] Some thought the special concentrated too much on the drama instead of the comedy. Some were confused by the final ending and others complained about the lack of appearances made by Sue White. [1]

Related Research Articles

Philippa Jane Haywood is an English actress. She won the 2005 Rose d'Or Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for Green Wing (2004–2006). Her other television credits include The Brittas Empire (1991–1997), Chimera (1991) Prisoners' Wives (2012–2013) and Scott & Bailey (2012–2016). In 2018, she played the role of Lorraine Craddock in the BBC television series Bodyguard. In 2019 she appeared in series 4 of the BBC Radio 4 Show The Pin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Phillips</span> English actress and comedian

Sally Elizabeth Phillips is an English actress, comedian, and television presenter. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show Smack the Pony. She is also known for her roles in Jam & Jerusalem as Natasha "Tash" Vine, Miranda as Tilly, I'm Alan Partridge as Sophie, Parents as Jenny Pope, Set the Thames on Fire as Colette in 2015, Zapped as Slasher Morgan, and her guest appearances as the fictional Prime Minister of Finland Minna Häkkinen in the US TV series Veep. Phillips also co-starred in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as Mrs Bennet and in the role of Shazza in all three films of the Bridget Jones franchise.

<i>Green Wing</i> British TV sitcom (2004–2007)

Green Wing is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch show Smack the Pony – Channel 4 commissioner Caroline Leddy and producer Victoria Pile – and stars Mark Heap, Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt. It focuses on soap opera-style twists and turns in the personal lives of the characters, portrayed in sketch-like scenes and sequences in which the film is slowed down or sped up, often emphasising the body language of the characters. The show had eight writers. Two series were made by the Talkback Thames production company for Channel 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamsin Greig</span> British actress (born 1966)

Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig is a British actress. She is known for both dramatic and comedic roles. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom Green Wing, Beverly Lincoln in British-American sitcom Episodes and Jackie Goodman in the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner. Other roles include Alice Chenery in BBC One's comedy-drama series Love Soup, Debbie Aldridge in BBC Radio 4's soap opera The Archers, Miss Bates in the 2009 BBC version of Jane Austen's Emma, and Beth Hardiment in the 2010 film version of Tamara Drewe. In 2020, Greig starred as Anne Trenchard in Julian Fellowes' ITV series Belgravia.

"Worst Episode Ever" is the eleventh episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 4, 2001. In the episode, Bart and Milhouse are banned from The Android's Dungeon after stopping Comic Book Guy from buying a box of priceless Star Wars memorabilia for $5. However, when Comic Book Guy suffers a massive heart attack, he hires Bart and Milhouse as his replacements while he leaves his job to pursue a relationship with Agnes Skinner.

Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt is an English actor, best known for playing Dr "Mac" Macartney in the comedy television series Green Wing (2004–2006).

PTV (<i>Family Guy</i>) 14th episode of the 4th season of Family Guy

"PTV" is the fourteenth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 6, 2005. The episode sees the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) censor the shows on television after a controversial wardrobe malfunction at the Emmy Awards. Peter starts to create his own TV network which he calls PTV, broadcasting classic shows unedited and uncut, as well as original programming. PTV is a big success, and Stewie and Brian join him, creating shows for the network. Lois calls the FCC to close PTV as she is concerned how children would be influenced by Peter's programming. Not only do the FCC close down the network, but they also start censoring the citizens of Quahog, so the Griffin family travels to Washington, D.C., and convince the Congress to have the FCC's rules reversed.

"Blind Ambition" is the third episode of the fourth season of the American animated sitcom Family Guy. It was first broadcast on Fox in the United States on May 15, 2005. In the episode, Peter swallows an excessive number of nickels, causing him to become blind. He later becomes a hero after unwittingly saving Horace the bartender from a fire at his bar, The Drunken Clam, and then regains his sight. Meanwhile, Quagmire is forced to refrain from perverse sexual behavior or risk being driven out of the neighborhood following his arrest for spying on Lois in a ladies' lavatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Mangan</span> English actor (born 1968)

Stephen James Mangan is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Seán Lincoln in Episodes, Bigwig in Watership Down, Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie, Richard Pitt in Hang Ups, Andrew in Bliss (2018), and Nathan Stern in The Split (2018–2022).

<i>Miranda</i> (2002 film) 2002 British film

Miranda is a 2002 British comedy film starring Christina Ricci, Kyle MacLachlan, John Simm, John Hurt, Tamsin Greig and Julian Rhind-Tutt. The film is classified as a romance/thriller by IMDb.

<i>Green Wing</i> series 1 Season of television series

Green Wing is a surreal medical sitcom starring Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt. All the episodes were written by a team of eight writers working on every episode together. The writers are Victoria Pile, Robert Harley, Gary Howe, Stuart Kenworthy, Oriane Messina, Richard Preddy, Fay Rusling and James Henry. The series was directed by Tristram Shapeero and Dominic Brigstocke. The first series consisted of nine episodes broadcast between 3 September and 29 October 2004 on Channel 4. A DVD of the series was released on 3 April 2006. The scripts of the first series entitled Green Wing: The Complete First Series Scripts were released in paperback on 22 October 2006. The first series was received well by both critics and fans. The series also won several awards including a BAFTA, two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards, and a Rose d'Or.

<i>Green Wing</i> series 2 Season of television series

The following is a list of episodes from the second series of Green Wing. Green Wing is a surreal sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital, starring Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt. Each episode was written by a team of eight writers, namely Victoria Pile, Robert Harley, Gary Howe, Stuart Kenworthy, Oriane Messina, Richard Preddy, Fay Rusling and James Henry. Tristram Shapeero and Dominic Brigstocke directed all the episodes together. The second series consists of eight episodes broadcast between 31 March and 19 May 2006 on Channel 4. A DVD of the series was released on 2 October 2006.

"Hell Comes to Quahog" is the third episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, an episode produced for Season 4. It originally aired on Fox on September 24, 2006. The episode follows Meg after she requests her parents to buy her a car. At the showroom, however, her father, Peter, decides to buy a tank, instead of the car Meg was interested in. Deciding to pay for a new car herself, Meg is able to get a job at Superstore USA, which eventually destroys the local economy of Quahog, and upsets the local community, leading Brian Griffin and Stewie to save the day.

"Barely Legal" is the eighth episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode originally broadcast on Fox on December 17, 2006. The plot sees Meg developing an obsession with Brian after he accompanies her as her date for the Junior Prom, eventually leading to her kidnapping Brian in order to rape him. Meanwhile, Peter and his friends join the Quahog Police Department to assist Joe with his work, but find being a police officer is not always about action.

"Bill & Peter's Bogus Journey" is the 13th episode of season five of Family Guy; originally airing on Fox on March 11, 2007. The plot follows Peter feeling depressed at the prospect of becoming old. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton appears and takes him out in Quahog, giving him a new outlook on life. Meanwhile, Stewie and Brian attempt to be toilet trained by buying an instructional video, but Brian persists on leaving his feces in the garden, forcing Lois to make him to wear a diaper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter's Two Dads</span> 10th episode of the 5th season of Family Guy

"Peter's Two Dads" is the tenth episode in the fifth season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 2007. The episode was written by Danny Smith and directed by Cyndi Tang, with Greg Lovell as co-director. The plot follows Peter travelling to Ireland, along with Brian, to find his biological father, after he accidentally kills his stepfather at Meg's birthday party. Meanwhile, after Lois hits Stewie, he becomes fascinated with it and goes to great lengths to have her hit him again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)</span> Show organised by Eddie Izzard

The Secret Policeman's Ball 2006 was a show staged as a benefit for human rights organization Amnesty International at London's Royal Albert Hall in October 2006. Its title was a conscious reprise of the title of the 1979 Amnesty benefit show that heralded the organization's breakthrough in public awareness and fundraising. The 1979 show The Secret Policeman's Ball, organised by John Cleese and producers Martin Lewis and Peter Walker, led to greater participation by comedians and rock musicians in further benefit shows for Amnesty and other social and political causes. It also led to the series of benefit shows that are informally known as The Secret Policeman's Balls.

<i>Family Guy</i> season 1 Episode list for a season of an animated series

The first season of Family Guy aired on Fox from January 31 to May 16, 1999, and consisted of only seven episodes, making it the shortest season to date. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, son Stewie and their anthropomorphic dog Brian, all of whom reside in their hometown of Quahog, a fictional city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The show features the voices of series creator Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, and Lacey Chabert in the roles of the Griffin family. The executive producers for the first season were David Zuckerman and MacFarlane. It is also the only full season to feature Chabert, before she was replaced by Mila Kunis for the rest of the series' run, starting with the season two episode "Da Boom".

<i>Family Guy</i> season 5 Season of television series

The fifth season of Family Guy first aired on the Fox network in eighteen episodes from September 10, 2006 to May 20, 2007 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It premiered with the episode "Stewie Loves Lois" and finished with "Meet the Quagmires". The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stewie and Brian, the family pet, who reside in their hometown of Quahog, a fictional city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The executive producers for the fifth season were David Goodman, Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith and series creator Seth MacFarlane. Sheridan and Goodman served as showrunners for the fifth season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road to the Multiverse</span> 1st episode of the 8th season of Family Guy

"Road to the Multiverse" is the first episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Greg Colton and written by Wellesley Wild, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2009, along with the series premiere of The Cleveland Show. In "Road to the Multiverse", two of the show's main characters, baby genius Stewie and anthropomorphic dog Brian, both voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane, use an "out-of-this-world" remote control to travel through a series of parallel universes. They eventually end up in a world where dogs rule and humans obey. Brian becomes reluctant to return to his own universe, and he ultimately ends up breaking the remote, much to the dismay of Stewie, who soon seeks a replacement. The "Road to" episodes which have aired throughout various seasons of Family Guy were inspired by the Road to ... comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, though this episode was not originally conceived as a "Road to" show.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Boosey, Mark (23 January 2007). "Green Wing Newsletter: Issue 17". British Sitcom Guide. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "Series 2, Episode 8". Green Wing. Season 2. Episode 8. 19 May 2006.
  3. ↑ "Series 2, Episode 3". Green Wing. Season 2. Episode 3. 14 April 2006.
  4. 1 2 "Special". Green Wing. 4 January 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Special". British Sitcom Guide. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  6. ↑ Nicol, Patricia (9 July 2006). "Interview: He's earned his wings". London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  7. ↑ "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Studio". Imagine. Season 7. Episode 3. 31 January 2006.
  8. ↑ Green Wing Special: Audio Commentary, with Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Karl Theobald (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007. Event occurs at 2:03.
  9. ↑ Green Wing Special: Audio Commentary, with Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Karl Theobald (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007. Event occurs at 6:08.
  10. ↑ Green Wing Special: Audio Commentary, with Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Karl Theobald (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007. Event occurs at 8:27.
  11. ↑ Green Wing Special: Behind the Scenes (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007. Event occurs at 5:27.
  12. ↑ Green Wing Special: Audio Commentary, with Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pippa Haywood and Victoria Pile (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007. Event occurs at 1:13:35.
  13. ↑ Green Wing Special: Audio Commentary, with Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pippa Haywood and Victoria Pile (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007. Event occurs at 1:16:30.
  14. ↑ Boosey, Mark (23 January 2007). "Green Wing Merchandise". British Sitcom Guide. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  15. ↑ Green Wing Special: Alternative Ending (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007.
  16. ↑ Green Wing Special: Audio Commentary, with Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pippa Haywood and Victoria Pile (DVD). TalkbackThames. 8 January 2007. Event occurs at 1:25:30.
  17. ↑ "Comedy". Broadcast. 25 October 2007. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  18. ↑ Johns, Ian (5 January 2007). "Hospital visit proves a test of patience". The Times. London. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  19. ↑ Wollaston, Sam (5 January 2007). "Last night's TV". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  20. ↑ Butcher, David (4 January 2007). "Green Wing: Downloads". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  21. ↑ Whitelaw, Paul (5 January 2007). "Dismal comedy finally dies a deserved death". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2007.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.