The Invisibles | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy drama |
Created by | William Ivory |
Directed by | Will Sinclair Metin Huseyin |
Starring | Anthony Head Warren Clarke Jenny Agutter Dean Lennox Kelly |
Composer | Nick Green & Tristin Norwell |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producers | George Faber Charlie Pattinson William Ivory Andrew Lowe Polly Hill |
Producer | Richard Burrell |
Production locations | Ireland Northern Ireland |
Editor | Adam Trottman |
Running time | 60 min. |
Production company | Company Pictures |
Release | |
Original network | BBC One BBC HD |
Original release | 1 May – 5 June 2008 |
The Invisibles is a British 2008 comedy drama series created and written by William Ivory for the BBC. It was produced by Company Pictures, shot in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Maurice Riley (Head) and Syd Woolsey (Clarke), are "The Invisibles", a team of retired master burglars. After a string of successful crimes during the 1980s – during which they were never apprehended or identified by the authorities – they retired with their wives to the Spanish Mediterranean coast. In their heyday, the media turned them into minor folk heroes.
Now getting long in the tooth, they give in to homesickness and return to England, settling in a quiet Devon fishing village. They still have enough money to support themselves comfortably (though not as extravagantly as they might be used to), and look forward to a quiet life of fishing and the benefits of the NHS. Circumstances, however, conspire to pull them back to a life of crime. Woolsey's son (Tighe) is in trouble with mobsters, and the son of a former associate (Lennox Kelly) idolizes them and wants them to teach him the business. On top of this, they're feeling old and bored. Early capers prove to them that security technology and the brutality of the criminal life have changed dramatically in two decades, and they've lost their edge as well. But the excitement is undeniable, and they try to make a go of it.
Maurice's wife Barbara (Agutter), initially resistant to their plans, can't deny the positive effect it has on Maurice's demeanour. Their daughter, Grace (Emily Head), is completely unaware how Dad made his money or what he does when he goes out for the evening. [1]
The music was especially commissioned and composed by Nick Green and Tristin Norwell. The brass parts were performed by Guy Barker and Phil Todd.
The series was filmed in the Northern Ireland village of Portaferry, County Down which was considered a good look alike for a Devon village without being so crowded.[ citation needed ]
It was originally commissioned under the title Desperados [2] but was changed to The Invisibles to match the name used by Head and Clarke's characters, and in reference to how people become "invisible" in society as they get older. [3]
The BBC confirmed in March 2009 that it would not be renewing the series for a second season. [4]
It was released on DVD 14 July 2008 in the UK, and 26 May 2009 in the US.
Episode 1- First aired: 1 May 2008 |
---|
After fifteen years of living it up in the Costa del Sol, Maurice Riley and Syd Woolsey are back in Britain. Mo is determined to keep his promise to his wife and not return to crime, but Syd's son is in trouble and the only way they can help bail him out is to rob again. With the help of their old colleague's son Hedley, the boys try one last job. Or so they say. |
Episode 2- First aired: 8 May 2008 |
Maurice and Syd are shocked when Knacker, a copper from their past, rents the flat below them. Maurice struggles to keep him away from his visiting daughter, who doesn't know about his criminal history. Things get much worse for the boys when Knacker reveals he has evidence that could send them both down for a very long time – unless they do a job for him. They complete the job, but Knacker is seen by the authorities and blamed for the crime. He dies during the escape of natural causes, explaining to Mo he wanted the stuff for his wife. |
Episode 3- First aired: 15 May 2008 |
Maurice is rattled when Barbara befriends a local aristocrat. When her bracelet is stolen, Maurice is convinced he knows the culprit and will stop at nothing to prove he's right. Meanwhile, Syd runs into his first love and as sparks fly again, he completely goes off the boil. |
Episode 4- First aired: 22 May 2008 |
Maurice decides to try and crack the one safe that he could never open, the iron lady, ignoring warnings from Hedley and Syd of a curse on the safe. But, is it really a safe at all? Or is it just a distraction, the real safe, a much smaller one always right next to it. After, he cracks it he makes a getaway. And what beautiful prize does he get for his troubles? A paint bomb! Poof. And the trio of criminals end up looking like the smurfs. |
Episode 5- First aired: 29 May 2008 |
Hedley considers leaving the gang and giving up his life of crime after finding out that his wife is pregnant. |
Episode 6- First aired: 5 June 2008 |
After their doctor suffers a heart attack, Maurice and Syd realize that they're getting old. They both about trying to be young in very different ways: Syd tries cool clothes, roof jumping and other junkie related stuff, while Mo attempts to stop being short-tempered and become calm and peaceful, to give himself less stress. Barbara actually tries to encourage the weakling Mo to steal the real violin, which belonged to their daughter, but, she knows she's been given back a fake. After bodging the attempt to retrieve the stolen violin, they find themselves in a police siege in the pub. Hedley pretends to be a hostage and Syd and Mo get to grips that they're becoming old. They injure Syd's son in the genital area to get him out of the pub and tell Barbara how passes the message on, so, that their mentor knows what to do. They then escape, disguised and drive a motorbike out through the police squad and to safety, leaving their "Hostage" knocked out on the floor. They all celebrate with a big party in the Jacuzzi, to the Invisibles final crime. |
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who became the princess of Monaco. After starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco on April 18, 1956. Kelly is known as an iconic actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She received an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and is listed 13th among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classical Hollywood cinema.
Jennifer Ann Agutter is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in East of Sudan, Star!, and two adaptations of The Railway Children—the BBC's 1968 television serial and the 1970 film version. In 1971 she also starred in the critically acclaimed film Walkabout and the TV film The Snow Goose, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama.
Emily Olivia Laura Blunt is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards. Forbes ranked her as one of the highest-paid actresses in the world in 2020.
Warren Clarke was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. His television appearances included Dalziel and Pascoe, The Manageress and Sleepers.
Waterloo Road is a British television drama series set in a comprehensive school of the same name, first broadcast on BBC One on 9 March 2006, concluding its original run on 9 March 2015, exactly nine years after the broadcast of the first episode.
Paddy Kirk is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Dominic Brunt. He has been married four times: to Mandy Dingle in 1999, to Emily Dingle in 2002, to Rhona Goskirk in 2012 and to Chas Dingle in 2020. He has also had several extramarital affairs since arriving, notably with Viv Hope and Tess Harris. His other storylines in the series have included discovering his biological father and dealing with the loss of his child.
St Boniface's Catholic College is a secondary school for boys, under the direction and trustees of the Roman Catholic Community in the Plymouth area in the South West of England. Founded in 1856 as an independent boarding and day school for "young Catholic gentlemen" in the West Country, it is now a comprehensive school. The College is named for St Boniface who was born in Crediton, Devon and is the patron saint of Germany. The school has a list of distinguished former pupils including Air Chief Marshal Sir John Gingell GBE KCB KCVO, the writer and intelligence agent Alexander Wilson, and Sir Julian Priestley KCMG, Secretary General of the European Parliament from 1997 to 2007.
Mercedes McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jennifer Metcalfe. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 19 June 2006 as the first character to be introduced to the series by series producer, Bryan Kirkwood. In 2008 Metcalfe feared that the character was to be axed but was later reassured by the series producer that she would not be. Metcalfe later stated her intention to stay with the series. Mercedes is part of the McQueen family and is the longest serving McQueen on the series. On 26 August 2014, it was revealed that Metcalfe had decided to quit the soap. On 20 November 2014, Mercedes was presumably stabbed to death, with her body discarded. However, Metcalfe returned to screens on 17 February 2015 in a surprise, unannounced twist which saw Mercedes revealed as alive and well, living in Nice, France. It was announced that Mercedes would make a full-time return to the show in May 2015, after brief appearances on 18 February, 9 March, and 6 April. Metcalfe announced her pregnancy in 2017 and revealed that she would be taking a year's break from the show. Mercedes was last seen on screen leaving with Goldie McQueen on 4 July 2017, although she briefly appeared on 7 September 2017 in a fake flashback scene involving her and Amy Barnes surmised by James Nightingale. Mercedes returned on 9 July 2018, and then made several other appearances before returning permanently on 13 August.
Skins is a British teen comedy drama television series that follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of sixth form. Its controversial story-lines have explored issues like dysfunctional families, mental illness, adolescent sexuality, gender, substance abuse, death, and bullying.
"Grace Kelly" is the second single by British singer Mika. It is the opening track on Mika's debut studio album Life in Cartoon Motion (2007). Produced and mixed by Greg Wells, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number three and the UK Official Download Chart at number one. One week later, it jumped to the top of the UK Singles Chart on download sales alone, the second song to do so after Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" the previous year. The track was number one on the UK Singles Chart for five weeks, and ended 2007 as the year's third biggest-selling single in that country. In the US, "Grace Kelly" was made available for digital download on 16 January 2007. This song was also No. 89 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007. It was designed to be a mocking satire of musicians who try to reinvent themselves to be popular.
Warren Fox is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, portrayed by Jamie Lomas. The character and casting were announced on 12 May 2006, and Warren made his first appearance on 26 June. He was introduced as an old acquaintance of Sean Kennedy. Lomas left the series in 2009, with his departure coinciding with the return of Clare Devine. On 17 October 2010, it was announced that Lomas would return to the series, appearing from 29 October, but he left the series for the second time in December 2011.
Sasha Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nathalie Emmanuel. Sasha first appeared on-screen on 17 July 2006 as part of the newly introduced Valentine family. Sasha has been at the center of many high-profile storylines including use of recreational drugs, a heroin addiction and a subsequent overdose, prostitution, a victim of a series of violent attacks, portraying a gangster's moll and binge drinking. In March 2010, Paul Marquess announced that 11 characters are to depart the show which included Sasha. Although it was initially reported Emmanuel was axed, Ricky Whittle confirmed she had planned to leave at the end of her contract. Emmanuel left in 2010 and was later credited on 1 December 2010 for a flashback episode.
The Railway Children is a 1970 British family drama film based on the 1906 novel of the same name by E. Nesbit. The film was directed by Lionel Jeffries and stars Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Bernard Cribbins in leading roles. The film was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom on 21 December 1970.
Emily Head is an English actress. Her breakout role was as Carli D'Amato in E4's sitcom The Inbetweeners and she later played Rebecca White in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale and Colette Andrews in BBC drama, The Syndicate.
Last Choir Standing is a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Broadcast on BBC One in July and August 2008, the series saw amateur choirs competing each week to be the 'last choir standing'.
Left Bank Pictures is a British film and television production company. It was formed in 2007 and was the first British media company to receive investment from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC.
Anthony Stewart Head is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, which led to major roles in several television series. He is best known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), the Prime Minister in Little Britain (2003–2006), Uther Pendragon in Merlin (2008–2012) and Rupert Mannion in Ted Lasso (2020-2023), as well as voicing Herc Shipwright in BBC Radio 4's Cabin Pressure.
Monte Carlo is a 2011 American adventure-romantic comedy film based on Headhunters by Jules Bass. It was directed by Thomas Bezucha. Denise Di Novi, Alison Greenspan, Nicole Kidman, and Arnon Milchan produced the film for Fox 2000 Pictures and Regency Enterprises. It began production in Harghita, Romania on May 5, 2010. Monte Carlo stars Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy as three friends posing as wealthy socialites in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The film was released on July 1, 2011. It features the song "Who Says" by Selena Gomez & the Scene and numerous songs by British singer Mika. Monte Carlo received mixed reviews from critics, and earned over $39 million on a $20 million budget. Fox Home Entertainment released Monte Carlo on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 18, 2011.