Little Miss Jocelyn

Last updated

Little Miss Jocelyn
Little Miss Jocelyn-TC.JPG
Opening credits for Little Miss Jocelyn (2006-08)
Created by Jocelyn Jee Esien
Written byJocelyn Jee Esien
StarringJocelyn Jee Esien
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series2
No. of episodes13 (one unaired)
Production
Running time30 minutes
Original release
Network BBC Three series 1)
BBC Two (series 2)
Release22 August 2006 (2006-08-22) 
14 February 2008 (2008-02-14)

Little Miss Jocelyn is a British TV sketch comedy written by and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien. The show is made up of studio sketches and hidden camera footage in which unsuspecting members of the public become part of a sketch. The series ran for two series from 22 August 2006 until its cancellation on 14 February 2008; 12 episodes aired, while a 13th episode was never broadcast for unknown reasons but is featured as a bonus extra on the Series 2 DVD.

Contents

In 2007, Esien featured in Girls Aloud and Sugababes' Comic Relief video for "Walk This Way", [1] where she puts a parking ticket on Ewen Macintosh, a reference to the character Jiffy from the show Little Miss Jocelyn.

History

The first episode aired on BBC Three in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2006. The show was also available in the UK via Internet streaming one week before transmission. On 21 March 2007 the BBC announced that a second series of six episodes had been commissioned and that the show would be moved to BBC Two. The second series was filmed in the summer of 2007 and began airing on 10 January 2008 on BBC Two. On 11 June 2009, BBC confirmed that they would be axing the show from their schedules.

Selected characters

Jiffy – a dysfunctional Nigerian traffic warden who gives people tickets for things like sleeping in the car or breaking down. She often appears in strange places, such as the back seat, glove compartment or boot of a car, a coffin or the screen of a cash machine. She gives lengthy speeches about her services as a traffic warden, insisting that she works for "Her Majesty De Quayn". She pronounces her words incorrectly, for example, she pronounces "vehicle" as "Ve-hickle" and "illegally" as "illegal-lully". She usually ends with: "this may take a loo-oo-oong time."

Florence – an overweight dietitian who uses Juju to help people lose weight. One of her catchphrases is "umm-hmm" (used repetitively), and "...or dream of this!", said while doing outrageous things, such as ripping open someone's shirt. She usually ends the session with: "save yourself, save yourself, save your se-e-elf!"

Sheson – a Nigerian-Cockney bus driver who regularly sings "In The Name of Jesus". She criticises her passengers on a regular basis. Several scenes include telling a female passenger with a dog to "take her sheep off her bus", accusing her of making the bus look as if it is Noah's Ark. She refuses to allow a lady with a pram to board her bus, branding it as a spaceship, and closes the door on a man who asks if the bus stops at a certain place. She refuses a passenger permission to talk to her when he asks a question. In one scene she has a mat for her passengers to wipe their feet on that says "I Can See Your Knickers". She criticises two men for not thanking her by calling them homosexuals. One of her catchphrases is "You're lucky I'm a Christian!"

Paulette – a spoilt middle-aged woman who screams and cries when she doesn't get her own way.

Fiona – a middle-aged woman who works in an office and tries to conceal the obvious fact that she is black.

Madame President – the first black female president of the US. She speaks slang instead of regular English.

Mrs Omwokwopopo – a Nigerian woman who is constantly in marriage counselling with her several husbands, and who often tries to make a move on the counsellor, or insult them, calling them a "pimp" or "prostitute".

Helen – a woman who is often seen in important places, such as at a wedding or an interview, where she rubs her buttocks along the floor. When the surrounding people look confused, she states, "I've got worms."

Liz – a savage and the girlfriend of Prince William whom he met on his mission in the Third World. Liz accompanies William on visits to charities, telling jokes that offend people but are funny to the fictional Prince William.

Gladys Kingston – an old Jamaican woman who is going through a divorce and hates men or anyone of the male gender, whether young or old. In one episode, she scolds her nephew Josh, saying that her niece is her favorite. She is also a teacher in a primary school. She tells a boy to stand at the corner on one foot, and a girl that her father will run away and impregnate a postwoman. She also wishes her husband was dead. She also has a habit of launching into monologues about life in Jamaica.

Prim – a white South African woman, originally from Johannesburg who wanders around Brixton trying to find a black maid. When confronted with anything she doesn't like, her fall-back phrase is "Aa'm waat!" ("I'm white")

Hortense – a woman in her early to mid-fifties who asks people with babies to allow her to take a look at them, thinking them to be beautiful. However, on two of the three times she appears (all in S1 E6) she finds the baby ugly so says "What a lovely...pram" or "What a lovely...rattle". In her third and final appearance, she says: "Oh! What an ugly baby! Jesus!" At the end of her section she usually says "You take care now you hear, and God bless!"

Sharonisha – a teenage schoolgirl who is seen with her friends on a bus, sometimes driven by Sheson. She is seen talking to or about other passengers and asking them questions. Sharonisha usually makes a big speech about how something her friend said doesn't make sense. She often calls other passengers "pefodiles".

Ignatius – a Nigerian driving instructor who teaches the people who took his lessons how to drive a vehicle in a very hazardous, inappropriate manner. Ignatius is ignorant of the car's controls (e.g. he calls the gear-stick the "pully-puller"). Ignatius allows his 10-year-old son Toby to get behind the wheel, in an effort to teach him the family trade. He admits that he lives in the UK illegally.

Cash Helper – a girl who works at a supermarket checkout or sometimes on a sweet stall. She attempts to add the prices of the items in her head, causing great inconvenience to customers. Her catchphrase is "If you don't use it, you'll lose it..."

Reception

The first series was nominated for a BAFTA for "Best Comedy Programme" in 2007. [2] Esien was also praised for being the first black woman in either the UK or USA to be given her own sketch show.

However, after the second series, a poll conducted by the British Comedy Guide website named the show the "Worst British TV Sketch Show of 2008". [3]

DVD releases

The first series was released on DVD in the UK (Region 2) on 25 September 2006, and in Australia (Region 4) on 23 April 2007.

The second series was released on DVD in the UK on 29 September 2008 but is missing some scenes.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)</span> Series of Monty Python sketches

"The Spanish Inquisition" is an episode and recurring segment in the British sketch comedy TV series Monty Python's Flying Circus, specifically series 2 episode 2, that satirises the Spanish Inquisition. The sketches are notable for the catchphrase, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!", which has been frequently quoted and become an Internet meme. The final instance of the catchphrase in the episode uses the musical composition "Devil's Galop" by Charles Williams. Rewritten audio versions of the sketches were included on Another Monty Python Record in 1971.

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again was a BBC radio comedy programme that was developed from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, Cambridge Circus., as a scripted sketch show. It had a devoted youth following, with the live tapings enjoying very lively audiences, particularly when familiar themes and characters were repeated; a tradition that continued into the spinoff show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

<i>Some Mothers Do Ave Em</i> British TV sitcom (1973–1978)

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice. It was first broadcast in 1973 and ran for two series, including two Christmas specials in 1974 and 1975. After a three-year absence, the programme returned for a third series in 1978 and again in 2016 for a one-off special. The series regularly garnered 25 million viewers and was broadcast in 60 countries.

<i>Goodness Gracious Me</i> (TV series) British sketch comedy series

Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC sketch comedy show originally aired on BBC Radio 4 from 1996 to 1998 and later on BBC Two from 1998 to 2001. The ensemble cast were four British Indian actors, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. The show explored British Asian culture, and the conflict and integration between traditional Indian culture and modern British life. Some sketches reversed the roles to view the British from an Indian perspective, and others poked fun at Indian and Asian stereotypes. In the television series, most of the white characters were played by Dave Lamb and Fiona Allen; in the radio series those parts were played by the cast themselves. Some of the white characters were also played by Amanda Holden and Emma Kennedy.

<i>Bo Selecta!</i> Television series

Bo' Selecta! is a British television sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 2002 until 2009 and lampooned popular culture, becoming known for its often surreal, abstract toilet humour. Season 4 was known as A Bear's Tail while season 5 shifted filming to the United States and was called Bo! In the USA. The show consists of comedy sketches of characters played by Francis, with minor support roles over the years played by Craig Phillips, Caroline Flack, Ozzy Rezat, Patsy Kensit, Karen Hayley, Barunka O'Shaughnessy, Dexter Fletcher, Sean Pertwee, Luis Fernandez-Gil and Robert Stone.

<i>Chewin the Fat</i> Television series

Chewin' the Fat is a Scottish comedy sketch show, starring Ford Kiernan, Greg Hemphill and Karen Dunbar. Comedians Paul Riley and Mark Cox also appeared regularly on the show among other actors such as Gregor Fisher and Tom Urie.

<i>3 Non-Blondes</i> British hidden camera television series

3 Non-Blondes is a British hidden camera comedy show, distributed by the British Broadcasting Corporation on the BBC Three digital network channel, first aired in 2003. It also airs on BBC America and Comedy Channel in Australia.

<i>Smack the Pony</i> British sketch comedy television series (1999–2003)

Smack the Pony is a British sketch comedy show that was originally broadcast between 1999 and 2003 on Channel 4. The main performers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips. There were also regular appearances from Sarah Alexander, Darren Boyd and Cavan Clerkin. The show's theme tune was a version of the Dusty Springfield song "In the Middle of Nowhere", sung by Jackie Clune. In addition to the three principal cast members, the show was written by many writers, the core of whom went on to write Green Wing and Campus.

<i>The Catherine Tate Show</i> TV sketch comedy show

The Catherine Tate Show is a British television comedy sketch programme written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten featuring a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show aired on BBC Two and was shown worldwide through the BBC. Collectively, the show has been nominated for six BAFTA Awards, two British Comedy Awards and an Emmy Award, and it has won two Royal Television Society Awards, two British Comedy Awards and a National Television Award since its debut in 2004.

Spoons is a British comedy sketch television show, first broadcast on Channel 4 from September to November 2005. It focuses on characters in their twenties and thirties, and stars an ensemble cast of British actors. It lasted one series of six episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou and Andy</span> Fictional characters

Lou Todd and Andy Pipkin are fictional characters from the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain, played by David Walliams and Matt Lucas respectively. Andy's catchphrases include, "Yeah I know", "Want that one" and "(I) Don't like it", while Lou's catchphrase is "What a kerfuffle!"

Jocelyn Jee Esien is a British comedian, actress and writer of Nigerian origin. She stars in the hidden-camera show 3 Non-Blondes, and her own comedy sketch show, Little Miss Jocelyn.

Shola Adewusi is a British actress of Nigerian descent, of stage screen and radio.

Dry Your Eyes is a Northern Irish sketch show which aired on BBC One NI in 2006, and was created by the Hole in the Wall Gang, the makers of one of Northern Ireland's most successful shows Give My Head Peace. The show was 'written' by Damon Quinn who also produced and appeared in the series.

<i>Touch Me, Im Karen Taylor</i> British TV series or programme

Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor is a British television sketch comedy show written and performed by comedian Karen Taylor and produced by Avalon Productions. The show focuses largely on sex and contains much innuendo. The title animation was created by Joanna Davidovich. According to Taylor's Myspace, the BBC decided against creating another series.

<i>The Fast Show</i> British TV comedy sketch show (1994–2014)

The Fast Show, also known as Brilliant in the United States, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran on BBC 2 from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne. Other significant cast members included Felix Dexter, Paul Shearer, Rhys Thomas, Jeff Harding, Maria McErlane, Eryl Maynard, Colin McFarlane and Donna Ewin.

<i>Come Fly with Me</i> (2010 TV series) British mockumentary television comedy series

Come Fly with Me is a British mockumentary television comedy series created by and starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Narrated by Lindsay Duncan, the series launched on 25 December 2010 on BBC One. A spoof of British documentaries Airport and Airline, the series follows the activity at a major airport and three fictional airlines: low-cost British airline ‘FlyLo’, low-cost Irish airline ‘Our Lady Air’, and major British airline ‘Great British Air’.

<i>The Catherine Tate Show</i> series 2 Season of television series

The second series of the British television sketch comedy premiered on BBC Two on 21 July 2005. This series included six episodes with the concluding episode broadcast on 25 August 2005. A Christmas Special followed the second series and was screened on BBC Two on 20 December 2005.

<i>The Catherine Tate Show</i> series 3 Season of television series

The third series of British television comedy sketch series The Catherine Tate Show premiered on BBC Two on 26 October 2006 and ended on 30 November 2006. This is the final series of the show; However a Christmas Special was broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2007. Although this was the end to the sketch series, popular character Joannie 'Nan' Taylor began appearing in her own spin-off specials, beginning with Nan's Christmas Carol in 2009 and Catherine Tate's Nan from 2014.

References

  1. "Red Nose Day – Walk This Way". Archived from the original on 11 August 2008.
  2. "BAFTA Nominations announced". British Sitcom Guide. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
  3. "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2008". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 19 January 2009.