Watson & Oliver | |
---|---|
Genre | Sketch comedy |
Written by | Lorna Watson Ingrid Oliver Kevin Cecil Alex Lowe |
Directed by | Richard Boden Simon Gibney |
Starring | Lorna Watson Ingrid Oliver Adrian Scarborough Hugo Speer Rhona Croker Matthew Earley Bob Golding Tom Parry Daniel Lawrence Taylor |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 12 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Mark Freeland Robert Popper |
Producer | Simon London |
Camera setup | Multiple-camera setup |
Running time | 29 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Two BBC HD |
Release | 20 February 2012 – 30 May 2013 |
Watson & Oliver is a British sketch show starring Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver, known for their performances together at the Edinburgh Fringe. [1] The show features a mixture of pre-recorded sketches and material performed in front of a studio audience. It was shown on BBC Two and BBC HD; the first series began on 20 February 2012. [2] A second and final series started on 25 April 2013. [3]
The programme was filmed in front of a live studio audience. It is a co-production between the BBC's in-house comedy department and independent production company Popper Pictures.[ citation needed ]
Regular characters included a pair of Georgian ladies, a guard and inmate at a women's prison, Playboy bunnies Candy and April, and Prince William and Kate Middleton reminiscing about their wedding day. Guest stars for this series included John Barrowman, Daniel Rigby, Adrian Scarborough, Sophie Thompson, Felicity Montagu, Daisy Aitkens, Hugo Speer, Colin Salmon and Perry Benson. [4]
Episode | Broadcast |
---|---|
1. Episode One: In the first episode, it emerges that Lorna Watson has a slight issue with timekeeping. We also see Wills and Kate relaxing at home, and visit a typical East End café. John Barrowman drops in for a performance with Ingrid. | Mon 20.02.12 |
2. Episode Two: This week, the ladies with Absolutely No Sense & Sensibility perform at the pianoforte, and we look inside the offices of the Bad Men. | Mon 27.02.12 |
3. Episode Three: In this week's episode, the Georgian ladies have Absolutely No Sense or Sensibility whilst picknicking, and a pair of schoolgirls go clothes shopping. Back in the studio, Lorna and Ingrid receive some surprising news from James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli. | Mon 05.03.12 |
4. Episode Four: The Teenage Girls try to catch the bus home but are distracted by two boys. Meanwhile, Colin Firth is humble, and Julio Iglesias is reunited with his son Enrique for a chat and a song. | Mon 12.03.12 |
5. Episode Five: Miss Steepes and Miss Rutherford try to gatecrash Brigadier Burnham's Biannual Ball. Candy and April have a photoshoot on a golf course, and Romeo and Juliet is analysed in an English class by the Teenage Girls. | Mon 19.03.12 |
6. Episode Six: Superhero AlloyMan has problems with his new suit; Fi & Bea are off to Spain; and Sir Thomas and Mr Bridgewater have marriage on their minds. Have Miss Steepes and Miss Rutherford finally caught their prey? Back in the studio, Lorna and Ingrid attempt to put on their own Olympic Opening ceremony. | Mon 26.03.12 |
A guard and inmate at a women's prison, two policewomen and the scholars Fi and Bea are regular characters of this series.
Episode | Broadcast |
---|---|
1. Episode One: A realistic cookery programme shows how to bin your burnt dinner and order a take-away; two policewomen get a bit too musical; a prime minister comes up with the ultimate excuse to duck out of a boring dinner; a homeless girl invites her date back to her bench; a disco at the prison; and there's wall-to-wall cakes and cockney mums in a loving re-creation of Call the Midwife. | Thu 25.04.13 |
2. Episode Two: This week's sketches include a meeting with a forgetful spy; a supermarket shopping trip with a Brazilian carnival dancer; and details on how to get hold of a proper cup of tea. | Thu 02.05.13 |
3. Episode Three: Prime Minister Frances invents a war, Susan has a bit of a problem with a wasp, Bea and Fi have a bit of a problem with a Take That calendar and a rodent control operative shows her more sensitive side. A warrior from the future has a warning about tea, and the Kooky Girls, the girls that can sell you anything and like to ride bikes with baskets. | Thu 09.05.13 |
4. Episode Four: This episode features the agony of a teenage date; the mysterious power of an unfashionable brown dress; and a great new way to stay fit and lose weight - terror. Plus a poodle and a basset hound discuss the finer points of dog shows. | Thu 16.05.13 |
5. Episode Five: This episode features some very flirty Europeans, the psychology of biscuit eating and a hen night that goes horribly horribly wrong. Plus it looks as if prisoner Pat and warder Jean may be about to part forever. | Thu 23.05.13 |
6. Episode Six: Three ways to escape a boring conversation; an actress learns how to cry on cue; an author discovers her new erotic novel is too embarrassing to read out loud; and somewhere in Spain a matador and a bull are falling in love. | Thu 30.05.13 @ 10pm |
The first series of Watson & Oliver received mixed reviews. [5] [6] The Daily Telegraph found the show "hugely enjoyable" and said "it has a rare sense of comic mischief that teases but doesn't offend". [7] However, the Radio Times gave a negative review, saying that "on the whole it's pretty poor, with a few thin laughs in a clutch of woefully under-written sketches". [8]
The Daily Mirror gave a mixed review, saying "They’ve got the talent and are both immensely likeable, but what they’re lacking right now is better material." [9] as did The Independent , which found the show's style "old-fashioned" but said "They are both talented comic actresses as well as comedians. A more up-to-date vehicle would help." [10]
The first series' opening episode drew 1.05 million viewers, but the audience shrank to 550,000 viewers by the end of the series. [11]
Jonathan Watson is a Scottish actor best known for his comedy sketch show Only an Excuse?, which parodied people and events from the world of Scottish football, as well as roles in the BBC comedies Bob Servant Independent in which he appears with Brian Cox, and as Colin in the acclaimed Two Doors Down (2013–present). In the 1980s he was also a regular cast member of the Scottish sitcom City Lights and the sketch show Naked Video.
Matthew Crosby is an English comedian and writer.
That Mitchell and Webb Look is a British sketch comedy television show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb that ran from 2006 to 2010. Many of its characters and sketches were first featured in the duo's radio show That Mitchell and Webb Sound.
Never Better is a British television sitcom which started on BBC Two from 10 January to 14 February 2008. It stars Stephen Mangan as recovering alcoholic Keith Merchant and Kate Ashfield as his suffering wife Anita. The series is written by Fintan Ryan for World Productions.
Ingrid Oliver is a German-born British actress and comedian, and one half of the comic double act Watson & Oliver. She played Petronella Osgood, a supporting character in the BBC television series Doctor Who.
Horne & Corden is a British sketch show written by Jon Brown, Steve Dawson, Andrew Dawson, Tim Inman and the cast, script edited by Sam Ward, and starring Mathew Horne and James Corden. It aired on BBC television in 2009. The first episode was broadcast on 10 March 2009 on BBC Three. It is presented by stars Mathew Horne and James Corden in front of a live audience, featuring pre-recorded sketches and vignettes filmed in a studio with an audience. Several episodes featured a song and dance routine as their finale. The first episode attracted the highest ratings for a comedy show debut on BBC Three, however, ratings quickly dropped throughout the show's run.
Miranda is a British television sitcom written by and starring comedian Miranda Hart. It originally aired on BBC Two from 9 November 2009, and later on BBC One. Developed from Hart's semi-autobiographical BBC Radio 2 comedy Miranda Hart's Joke Shop (2008), the situation comedy revolves around socially inept Miranda, who frequently finds herself in awkward situations. The show features actors Sarah Hadland, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, Sally Phillips, James Holmes and Bo Poraj. It was taped in front of live audiences at the BBC Television Centre and The London Studios.
Episodes is a sitcom created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and produced by Hat Trick Productions. It premiered on Showtime in the United States on January 9, 2011 and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2011. The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with unexpected results. It stars Matt LeBlanc portraying a satirical version of himself. LeBlanc made his regular return to television for the first time since he was on NBC's Joey.
This is Jinsy is a British comedy series. The pilot was first broadcast on 1 March 2010 on BBC Three. The programme is about the bizarre residents of the fictional island of Jinsy which is based on Guernsey, where the two writers are from. The show was written by Chris Bran and Justin Chubb who also play the leading roles. Although the pilot episode was made for the BBC, the full series of eight episodes was picked up by Sky Atlantic. The first series began airing with a double bill on 19 September 2011 and ended on 31 October 2011. A second series was commissioned and was first broadcast on 8 January 2014.
Whites is a BBC sitcom, written by Oliver Lansley and Matt King, directed by David Kerr, and starring Alan Davies as the executive chef at a country house hotel. BBC Two gave the go ahead for the show to go into production in August 2009 with the first episode airing in September 2010. Whites aired for six episodes in 2010. On 1 March 2011 Davies announced that the BBC would not be renewing Whites for another series.
Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights is a comedy sketch show created in 2010 by Frankie Boyle, starring Boyle himself alongside Jim Muir, Tom Stade, Robert Florence and Thaila Zucchi.
Being Eileen is a BBC comedy-drama which began as a six-part series on 4 February and ended on 11 March 2013. It began as a one-off Christmas special titled Lapland, broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 24 December 2011. A full series was later announced, with the title Being Eileen, consisting of six 30 minute episodes, due to the success of the single episode, which was viewed by 6.9 million viewers upon its original airing. The series also aired on BBC Two as part of Sign Zone, which features sign language throughout. The series was released on DVD on 1 April 2013.
Lorna Watson is a British comedian, actress and television presenter. She was one of the presenters of Spy School. Her acting roles include various characters in television sketch shows Rush Hour, The Wrong Door and Watson & Oliver with comedy partner Ingrid Oliver.
Cardinal Burns is a British television sketch show starring Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns. After a pilot on BBC Three, the first series began on 8 May 2012 on E4, before moving to Channel 4 for the second series in 2014.
Citizen Khan is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. It ran for five series, from 2012 to 2016. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man Mr Khan (Ray), as "the capital of British Pakistan". Citizen Khan follows the trials and tribulations of Mr Khan, a loud-mouthed, patriarchal, cricket-loving, self-appointed community leader, and his long suffering wife and daughters Shazia and Alia. In Series One, Kris Marshall starred as Dave, the manager of Mr Khan's local mosque. The first name of Mrs Khan is Razia; however, Mr Khan's first name is never revealed.
Heading Out is a British sitcom created by and starring comedian Sue Perkins. It was first broadcast on BBC Two on 26 February 2013. Heading Out tells the story of Sara, a veterinarian who is given an ultimatum by her friends to tell her parents that she is gay. Perkins had the idea for the sitcom for around ten years, before she developed the confidence to write it. Heading Out was commissioned for a full series in April 2012 and production began in September that year. The show was not commissioned for a second series.
Horrible Histories is a British children's live-action historical and musical sketch comedy television series, based on the bestselling book series of the same name by Terry Deary. The show was produced for CBBC by Lion Television with Citrus Television and ran from 2009 to 2014 for five series of thirteen half-hour episodes, with additional one-off seasonal and Olympic specials.
Inside No. 9 is a British black comedy anthology television programme that first aired in 2014. It is written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and produced by the BBC. Each 30-minute episode is a self-contained story with new characters and a new setting, almost all starring Pemberton or Shearsmith. Aside from the writers, each episode has a new cast, allowing Inside No. 9 to attract a number of well-known actors. The stories are linked only by the number 9 in some way, typically taking the form of a door marked with the number 9, and a brass hare statue that is in the background of all episodes. Themes and tone vary from episode to episode, but all have elements of comedy and horror or perverse humour, in addition to a plot twist. Pemberton and Shearsmith took inspiration for Inside No. 9 from an episode of Psychoville, a previous project, which was filmed in a single room – this in turn was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Rope.
"Sardines" is the first episode of the first series of the British black comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. Written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, it premiered on BBC Two and BBC Two HD on 5 February 2014. In the episode, a group of adults play sardines at an engagement party. Rebecca, the bride-to-be, finds a boring man named Ian in a wardrobe; he introduces himself as a colleague of Jeremy, Rebecca's fiancé. The pair are subsequently joined by family, friends and colleagues of Rebecca and Jeremy. As more people enter the room and step into the wardrobe, secrets shared by some of the characters are revealed, with various allusions to incestuous relationships, child sexual abuse, and adultery. The humour is both dark and British, with references to past unhappiness and polite but awkward interactions.