Nathan Barley
Encyclopedia : N : NA : NAT : Nathan Barley
Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom about a fictional twentysomething loathsome London media type, created by Charlie Brooker in 1999. Described by his own creator as a 'meaningless strutting cadaver-in-waiting', the character originated on TVGoHome, a website parodying television listings, as the focus of a fly-on-the-wall documentary called Cunt. After the cult success of TVGoHome, the name 'Nathan Barley' was frequently used pejoratively towards those whose lifestyles were satirised by the (fictitious) show's descriptions. He is a webmaster, guerrilla filmmaker, screenwriter, DJ and in his own words, a 'self-facilitating media node'. He is convinced he is the epitome of urban cool, and therefore secretly terrified he might not be, which is why he reads Sugar Ape magazine - his bible of cool.
The series has two other main characters, Claire and Dan Ashcroft, who are siblings. The paradox of the tale is that whilst Dan dislikes everything about Nathan Barley, Dan achieves the least in his life and is incapable of staying true to any of his own morals making him the real 'idiot'.
-->The first episode was broadcast on the February 11, 2005 on Channel 4. The six episode run was co-written by TVGoHome creator Brooker and Chris Morris, the latter of whom also directed.
Advertising for the series attracted some attention, with billboards advertising a fictitious yet plausible mobile telephone, the Wasp T12 Speechtool ('it's well weapon'), appearing throughout the UK.
The fourth wall was further broken when Barley's website, trashbat.co.ck, was actually made in real-life, which served as an official site for the television series. The DVD of the series was released in October 2005, featuring all 6 episodes, a host of extras (including the pilot) and a booklet written by Nathan himself.
Cast
- Nicholas Burns - Nathan Barley
- Julian Barratt - Dan Ashcroft
- Claire Keelan - Claire Ashcroft
- Ben Whishaw - Pingu
- Richard Ayoade - Ned Smanks
- Spencer Brown - Rufus Onslatt
- Charlie Condou - Jonatton Yeah?
- Nina Sosanya - Sasha
- Rhys Thomas - Toby
- Noel Fielding - Jones
- David Hoyle - Doug Rocket
- Rupert Degas - Beer Gourd Man
- Ophelia Lovibond - Mandy
External links
- [Trashbat.co.ck] - Official Website
- [British Sitcom Guide]
- [A Cunt Compendium] - the collected Cunt entries from TVGoHome
- [BBC News: Anatomy of a backlash] - Nathan in the context of Internet hype
- [Text from press release for the Nathan Barley show]
- [Sugarape.com] - Unofficial Sugar Ape Website
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.