Jerk (TV series)

Last updated

Jerk
GenreComedy
Created by Stu Richards
Written by
Directed byTom McKay
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes14
Production
Executive producers
ProducerRebecca Murrell
EditorCalum Ross
Running time20 minutes
Original release
Network BBC Three
Release24 February 2019 (2019-02-24) 
28 March 2023 (2023-03-28)

Jerk is a British black comedy television series starring and co-written by Tim Renkow. It centres around Tim (played by Renkow), a man with cerebral palsy who tries to use his condition to his advantage. The character of Tim is based upon Renkow, who also has cerebral palsy. [1] The series built upon a 2016 BBC production, A Brief History of Tim. [2]

Contents

Jerk first aired on 24 February 2019 on BBC Three. [3] [4] In September 2019, it was reported that BBC Three had ordered a second series before the first had aired. [5] The second series premiered on BBC Three on 1 August 2021. The show was renewed for a third series in 2022. [2]

Plot

Tim (Tim Renkow) has cerebral palsy, and is also a terrible person. He attempts to take maximum advantage of his condition by being insufferable to those around him. In Season 1, Tim faces deportation due to the impending expiration of his visa, and makes various attempts to ward off this fate.

Cast

Series 1

Episodes

Series overview

SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
1 424 February 2019 (2019-02-24)
2 41 August 2021 (2021-08-01)
3 614 March 2023 (2023-03-14)

Series 1 (2019)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"Quota"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Stu Richards, Shaun Pye24 February 2019 (2019-02-24)
Tim is employed by a greeting card company headed by Shaun (Karl Theobald), but takes excessive advantage of his disabled status.
22"Refugee"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Stu Richards, Shaun Pye24 February 2019 (2019-02-24)
Tim concocts a false personal history about being a refugee in order to receive free meals, but quickly becomes tangled in a web of deceit.
33"Nemesis"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Stu Richards, Shaun Pye24 February 2019 (2019-02-24)
Tim's mother suggests that he get married in order to avoid deportation. After a failed attempt at internet dating, he meets Clara (Izuka Hoyle) and invites her to an art exhibition by his old enemy, Kiefer (Lee Ridley).
44"Genes"Tom McKayShaun Pye, Alex Smith, Tim Renkow24 February 2019 (2019-02-24)
Tim's deportation is averted when it is discovered he has British ancestry, but his encounter with Great Uncle Thomas (David Calder), does not go smoothly.

Series 2 (2021)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
51"Episode 1"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye1 August 2021 (2021-08-01)
Having narrowly escaped deportation to the USA, Tim has found himself a loophole and landed a place on a postgraduate course in London.
62"Episode 2"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye1 August 2021 (2021-08-01)
Following a car accident, Tim is referred for personal training to build up his strength, but he gets more than he bargained for with ex-Paralympian PT Claire, known as The Wrecking Ball.
73"Episode 3"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye1 August 2021 (2021-08-01)
After terrifying a group of young kids, Tim is invited by well-intentioned but misguided teacher Marcus to run a disability workshop for children.
84"Episode 4"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye1 August 2021 (2021-08-01)
After being mistaken for an addict, Tim is welcomed in by an eccentric religious community who set their sights on his spiritual health.

Series 3 (2023)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
91"Episode 1"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye14 March 2023 (2023-03-14)
An open casting for actors in a period biopic leads Tim to a role as an extra, which quickly turns to him replacing James Norton as the disabled lead, with chaotic results.
102"Episode 2"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye14 March 2023 (2023-03-14)
Tim gets scouted as a drug dealer but soon realises it isn’t as fun as it looks on TV, while Ruth is left to look after his new care dog, Snuffles.
113"Episode 3"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye21 March 2023 (2023-03-21)
Following his 15 minutes of movie star fame, Tim is invited to Parliament to take part in a select committee for the new disability funding act. Way out of his depth, Tim bumps into a familiar face at the committee.
123"Episode 4"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye21 March 2023 (2023-03-21)
Lily and Tim have just a day to hire enough disabled talent to put on a showcase and scam Tim’s nemesis, Kiefer, who wants to buy them. But it’s not as easy as they thought.
135"Episode 5"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye28 March 2023 (2023-03-28)
After a surprise announcement, Idris organises a night to remember for Tim. Not everyone agrees with his idea of a good time, so Ruth takes matters into her own hands.
146"Episode 6"Tom McKayTim Renkow, Shaun Pye28 March 2023 (2023-03-28)
Lily’s plan to scam the venue for a free wedding is thrown into jeopardy when Tim tries to help. Someone unexpected comes to Idris’s rescue during an existential crisis.

Reception

Reviewing the first series of the show in Guardian, Stuart Jeffries describes Renkow as "Larry David with a twist". [6] In The Times, Carol Midgley gave the second series of the show a positive review, comparing it favourably to Curb Your Enthusiasm: "[..] both series push the boundaries splendidly into dark, dark humour and political incorrectness and both have selfish, thrillingly unlikeable lead characters." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Herring</span> English comedian and writer (born 1967)

Richard Keith Herring is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring. He is described by The British Theatre Guide as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Davis</span> English actress (born 1966)

Julia Charlotte L. Davis is an English actress, comedian, director and writer. She is known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night (2004–2005) and the comedies Hunderby (2012–2015) and Camping (2016), which she also directed. Davis has been noted by critics for creating boundary-pushing black comedy that centres female anti-hero characters.

Shaun Pye is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television producer, known for co-creating the animated sketch comedy Monkey Dust with Harry Thompson, and for his role as Greg Lindley-Jones on Ricky Gervais's sitcom Extras. Pye created and wrote There She Goes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Horne</span> British comedian and musician

Alexander James Jeffery Horne is a British comedian. Horne is the creator of BAFTA award-winning TV series Taskmaster, in which he takes the role of assistant to the Taskmaster Greg Davies. He is the host and bandleader of comedic band The Horne Section. Horne hosts the band's eponymous podcast and television series, and has appeared with them on BBC Radio 4, TV channel Dave, and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Key</span> English comedian and poet (born 1976)

Timothy Key is an English poet, comedian, actor and screenwriter. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, both as a solo act and as part of the comedy group Cowards, and plays Alan Partridge's sidekick Simon in film and television. In 2009, he won the Edinburgh Comedy Award and was nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Davies</span> Welsh comedian and actor

Gregory Daniel Davies is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners (2008–2010), Ken Thompson in Cuckoo (2012–2019), Dan Davies in Man Down (2013–2017) and Paul "Wicky" Wickstead in The Cleaner. Since 2015 he has hosted the comedy panel game show Taskmaster and he has also appeared on Mock the Week, Fast and Loose, Live at the Apollo and Would I Lie to You?

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Acaster</span> English comedian (born 1985)

James William Acaster is an English comedian. As well as the stand-up specials Repertoire and Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, he is known for co-hosting the food podcast Off Menu and the panel show Hypothetical. Acaster makes use of fictional characters within his stand-up comedy, which is characterised by frequent callback jokes, offbeat observational comedy and overarching stories. He has won five Chortle Awards, a Just for Laughs Award and International Comedy Festival Awards at Melbourne and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Carroll (comedian)</span> English comedian and actor

Jack Carroll is an English comedian and actor. He competed in the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent at the age of 14, finishing as the runner-up. As an actor, he appeared in two series of the CBBC series Ministry of Curious Stuff and from 2014 to 2018, he starred in the Sky sitcom Trollied. Carroll, whose cerebral palsy is often a subject of his act, won a Pride of Britain award in 2012. He returned to mainstream media in 2024, taking on a regular role in Coronation Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Robins (comedian)</span> English stand-up comedian and presenter

John Michael David Robins is an English stand-up comedian and radio presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Ridley (comedian)</span> English stand-up comedian

Lee Ridley, better known by his stage name the Lost Voice Guy, is an English stand-up comedian. Disabled since early life, and unable to speak, in June 2018 he won the 12th series of Britain's Got Talent.

Sophie Willan is an English actress, narrator, writer and comedian. She has won two BAFTAs for her television sitcom Alma's Not Normal.

Asim Chaudhry is a British comedian, writer, director and actor best known for playing Chabud "Chabuddy G" Gul in the BBC mockumentary series People Just Do Nothing, which he co-created. For this role, he won a Royal Television Society Award and was nominated for two British Academy Television Awards.

<i>Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier</i> 2018 British TV series or programme

Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier is a British panel show broadcast on Dave. The first series premiered on 16 May 2018. In the show Jon Richardson and the panel talk about and rank worries in order of severity in the Worry Index. Worries are categorised as either a low, moderate or severe worry. The first series also features sketches in which Rose Matafeo and Richard Gadd research topics Richardson is worried about. A second series of ten episodes began on 3 July 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosie Jones (comedian)</span> British comedian and actress (born 1990)

Rosie Luisa Jones is a British comedian, writer and actress. After starting her career as a writer on panel shows, she went on to appear as a guest on The Last Leg, 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, QI and Hypothetical. She attended the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo as a roving reporter for The Last Leg.

<i>Stath Lets Flats</i> British TV sitcom

Stath Lets Flats is a British sitcom created by Jamie Demetriou that aired on Channel 4 from 27 June 2018 to 30 November 2021. The series stars Demetriou as Stath, an awkward and bumbling English-Cypriot man who is employed at a London letting agent solely because his father owns it.

<i>Dont Forget the Driver</i> British television series

Don't Forget the Driver is a 2019 BBC Two comedy series, co-created and co-written by Tim Crouch and Toby Jones, in which Jones also stars alongside Erin Kellyman. A second series was commissioned by the BBC for broadcast in 2020, but was delayed and then cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show is produced by Sister Pictures and distributed by BBC Studios.

Lucy Pearman is a BAFTA-nominated British comedian, actor and writer. She was nominated for Best Newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 for her solo show. In July 2021 she wrote and starred in the BBC Three sitcom pilot Please Help, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2022.

Tim Renkow is an American actor, writer and comedian. He plays the leading role of Tim in the TV series Jerk, which he also co-wrote.

<i>The Goes Wrong Show</i> BBC television comedy

The Goes Wrong Show is a British comedy television series created by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and produced by Mischief Screen and Big Talk Productions, in association with Lionsgate UK, for the BBC. The programme stars the ensemble members of the Mischief Theatre company, who reprise their roles as the members of the fictitious theatre company, "Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society", as they conduct a "live" televised stage play, which tends to go wrong due to mistakes, accidents and other issues that hamper the company's efforts. The concept was devised by Lewis, Sayer and Shields following two television Christmas specials for the BBC, with the series premiering on BBC One on 23 December 2019. In 2020, the group conducted a second series, but under strict guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, which aired on 27 September 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kai Samra</span> Stand up Comedian

Kai Samra is a stand-up comedian from Handsworth, Birmingham. His comedy dissects life as a young, working class, British Asian.

References

  1. "'I use cerebral palsy to get away with a lot': the shameless star of sitcom Jerk". the Guardian. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Bennett, Steve. "BBC has another Jerk : News 2022 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. "Series 1, Jerk". BBC .
  4. "Jerk - Episodes". British Comedy Guide.
  5. "Tim Renkow comedy Jerk to return". British Comedy Guide . 5 September 2019.
  6. "Jerk series two review – still the most outrageously un-PC comedy on TV". the Guardian. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  7. Midgley, Carol. "Jerk review — politically incorrect and sick, and I loved it". ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 19 November 2021.