The Catherine Tate Show
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The Catherine Tate Show is an award-winning television sketch comedy show which airs on BBC Two. Comedienne Catherine Tate writes and appears in all of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters.
The first series of the show, which consisted of six episodes, aired from February 2004 to March 2004. A DVD of this series was released in August 2005. A second series aired from July 2005 to August 2005, and a 40-minute Christmas special was aired on December 20, 2005.
A third series has been commissioned by the BBC and will go into production later this year. [#endnote_Thirdseries]
The show's theme tune for the first series was "In These Shoes?" by Kirsty MacColl.
Series One (2004)
Main characters
Characters who appear regularly in Series One include:
- Lauren the Teenager (listed in the Series One DVD as "Fly Girl") - Lauren is a comprehensive school student with a bad attitude. She frequently responds to unfavourable situations by continually asking, "Am I bothered? Am I bothered though?" If insulted, she asks, "Are you disrespecting me? Are you disrespecting my family?" or "Are you calling me a pikey?" Sketches throughout the series saw Lauren arguing with authority figures such as train inspectors and teachers, as well as her friends.
- Nan Taylor - the foul-mouthed grandmother (listed in the Series One DVD as "Old Woman") - This sketch involves an old woman who is frequently visited by her well-mannered grandson. The visits usually start off well enough, with the grandmother showing how grateful she is that her grandson has come to see her. However, things usually take a turn for the worse after she starts to make unfavourable comments about her neighbours, family, or home help visitors. One episode saw the grandson take her to a pound shop. Nan Taylor's catch phrase is 'What a fucking liberty'.
- The office workers (listed in the Series One DVD as "How Much/How Many") - This sketch follows two office workers who sit next to each other. While one is usually keen to get on with her work, she is frequently disturbed by the other, Tate. She continually makes conversation about her lifestyle, inviting her co-worker to "Have a guess!" on such delicate situations as how much weight she has lost, how many miles she can run, and how much money she paid for her holiday. While the sensible worker is reluctant to go along with the game, she is pressured into making a "wild guess", which almost always results in Tate's character becoming insulted and offensive. On several occasions, she guess correctly. This upsets Tate's chracter often resorting to reacting in ways such as shoving a cake in her face or calling her a lesbian.
- Paul and Sam - the Essex couple - A happily married yet slightly simple couple, who find everyday situations surprisingly hilarious. Catherine revealed in an interview that these characters are based on people that she knows, but that they are not aware of this despite enjoying the sketch.
- Bernie - the incompetent nurse - An Irish nurse who borders on being sacked in every episode. She frequently makes inappropriate remarks to her patients, takes critically ill members of the public on wild nights out, and mixes up the records of patients who are dead and alive.
- Bunty Carmichael - the over-aged majorette - A woman who insists on being allowed to perform in a children's majorettes (similar to baton twirling) team, as there is no age limit. Her obsession with the club results in the owner contacting the police and obtaining a restraining order.
- Elaine Figgis - the bride of a killer (listed in the Series One DVD as "Death Row Wife") - A woman who appears in a documentary, following her engagement and eventual marriage to a convicted killer on Death Row in the US.
- Margaret - the jumpy woman (listed in the Series One DVD as "Frightened Woman") - A woman who screams with terror at quiet, everyday noises. Catherine has revealed that she based this character on her mother.
- The enigmatic cop - A detective who comes up with bizarre theories at crime scenes, to the surprise and frustration of her assistant, Whittaker.
Minor characters
- The help desk worker - A woman who works at a help desk in a shopping centre. When shoppers ask for her assistance, she usually misunderstands them or mistakingly believes that they are trying to engage in friendly conversation with her.
- Karen and Ben - the new parents - A couple who will do anything to stop their newborn baby from waking up, including refusing to leave their car to attend a birthday dinner. They frequently argue, but switch to happy singing if their child starts to cry.
- The airhead - An American woman who starts every sentence with the words "and I'm like..."
- The Aga Saga Woman - An upper class English woman who goes into a state of shock in various, seemingly harmless, situations. For example she receives a phone call from her husband's business associate and has to tell her children that "daddy hasn't been able to find any good brie" on his business trip to France, thereby jeopardising the school fete, and panics at the thought of having to use a dishwasher or go shopping herself, instead calling on her housekeeper.
- The Drunk Estate Agent - An estate agent who makes only one appearance. She arrives at the property drunk and offends both the owner and prospective buyers, accusing one man of being homosexual ("You know what they say about a man who likes a bit of chrome in his kitchen, he likes a bit of cock up his arse"), before passing out.
- The backhander woman - A woman who advises complete strangers to give people who are irritating them "one swift backhander" to teach them a lesson. She then switches back to complete politeness.
- Sandra Graham - the last hit woman - A businesswoman who starts a game of 'last hit' at the office. When a colleague is involved in a car accident as a result of the game, she is more interested in whether she has won or not.
- Jill - the tragic clown - A trainee clown who constantly interrupts her classes in circus skills to talk about a horrific car accident she claims to have been involved in. She paints a child's face to look like a crash victim, and complains that different sounds remind her of glass shattering and brakes squealing. Her sketches are interspersed with those of the "last hit" woman throughout the course of one episode, suggesting that she may have been the driver who ran over Sandra's coworker.
Comic Relief 2005
Tate made an appearance during the BBC's Comic Relief telethon in March 2005, in the guise of Lauren the Teenager. In a section of the show which saw fans of McFly asking questions to the group, Lauren decided to ask, "Why are you so rubbish?" When told by Simon Amstell, who was hosting the segment, that only positive questions were allowed, Lauren used a variety of her catch phrases, including "Am I bothered?" and "Are you calling me stupid?"Lauren was then 'ordered' to ask a more positive question to the group, and confused them with Busted, asking, "Are you gutted that Charlie left?"
When told to leave the set, on her way she asked Danny from McFly to sign her knee, walking away promptly saying "You can't even spell."
Best Of (2005)
In the months preceding the launch of the second series, BBC Two aired three 'Best Of' episodes, featuring a variety of the funniest clips from the six episodes of Series One, including Lauren the teenager and the foul-mouthed grandmother. Meanwhile, repeats of all six episodes of the first series aired on UKTV G2.Series Two (2005)
The second series began airing in July 2005. Following Tate's Comic Relief appearance, and news of her non-existent feud with David Schwimmer, it received slightly more publicity than Series One in the run-up to the first episode. BBC Two also promoted the series by running trailers showing Lauren arguing with a furry dog in the shape of the channel's logo.This series was far more successful than the first, partly due to a successful lead-in from Ricky Gervais' newest sitcom, Extras. The first episode attracted 3.39 million viewers, but the final episode received higher ratings than the episode of Extras which aired beforehand.
A number of celebrities agreed to make appearances for series two, including Peter Kay, Jill Halfpenny, Una Stubbs, Brian Murphy, Paul Whitehouse and Michael Brandon.
For the second series, the opening sequence was completely revamped, and a new theme tune introduced.
Main characters
- Lauren - who is more offensive than ever before. One notable change is that Lauren becomes insulting without being provoked, while in the past, her catchphrase of "Am I bothered?" was only used after she believed that she had been wronged in some way.
- Nan Taylor - who spends less time in her living room. She makes a disastrous visit to the doctor, and spends two weeks in hospital. True to form, she does not suffer in silence, complaining about her fellow patients and accusing a nurse of stealing from her. In one sketch Peter Kay guest stars as one of Nans freinds, he refers to homosexuality as a disibility which the grandson does't take to kindly too.
- Paul and Sam - who show little change from series one. In episode five, we were introduced to Sam's parents, who share many of the same characteristics as their daughter. Paul Whitehouse guest starred as her father.
- The office workers - in this series, the nice office worker is more aware of material that the loud worker will use for her "Have a guess!" games, and often knows the correct answer before being asked. Unfortunately, this irritates Tate's character even more than usual, and during the course of this series she pours a drink over her fellow worker's head, trashes her desk and spits in her hair.
- Bernie - who makes only two appearances in this series. In one episode, she is nearly sacked after being hypnotised, while in her next appearance she returns to her usual man-eating ways.
- Elaine Figgis - Elaine appears for one episode, and is still using the Internet to find potential lovers. Unfortunately, her new boyfriend, Mohammad, ends up conning her and taking her savings.
- The Aga Saga Woman - who goes into a state of shock and terror after a Northern nanny shows up to look after her children. Jill Halfpenny guest starred as the Northern nanny.
New characters
- Derek - A man who shows several signs of being gay (combining mannerisms of famous gay British comedians such as Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd), but becomes extremely offended when people suggest he is. His catchphrase is "How very dare you!", as well as the overuse of the word "dear". He is sometimes seen with a male companion, Leonard.
- Allie - an extremely tactless woman, who "unintentionally" offends people after being introduced to them at parties. Afterwards, she becomes embarrassed and tries to look for an escape from the conversation as quickly as possible. In an interview, Tate said that this character was partly based on herself.
- The unhappy Northern couple - who express their disgust at meals they have had in restaurants. After complaining about the food and prices, they use their catchphrase: "The dirty robbing bastards!"
- The austere woman - who disapproves of the behaviour of everybody around her, before passing wind loudly and unashamedly.
- Amanda - a perky waitress at the fictional BBJ's restaurant: "I'm Amanda, but my friends call me Zebedee!" After annoying diners with her loud and childish behaviour, she breaks into dance routines with her fellow workers after she takes each order.
- Irene and Vern - the owners of a lay-by café, who try to convince a regular customer, played by Brian Murphy, that they have been visited by celebrities, including Madonna and former Russian premier Gorbachev.
- Moo Shepherd - a dog trainer who resorts to strange and desperate methods to achieve success. Unfortunately, her dog Lady Penelope ends up coming last at an important contest.
- DI Angie Baxter - a single mother who brings her children with her to an unpleasant crime scene.
- Trudy and Ivan - the owners of an extremely successful wig emporium. When they invite a production crew into their workplace to make a documentary about them, they struggle to keep the names of their clients a secret: "If that jiffy bag doesn't get to Wembley Arena by 8pm, it'll be the first time "Candle In The Wind" has been sung in a crash helmet."
- Victoria - a drunk bride who insults her new husband and his family in a memorable wedding speech. She appears several times in one episode.
- The unprofessional croupier - who takes the ball away from the roulette wheel when the noise starts to annoy her: "It was probably red". In another sketch, a man bets a lot of money on red, and she announces the ball landed on red. However, she then says it is black - as the colours "sort of merge" while the wheel is spinning.
After Series Two
In November 2005, Tate appeared as Lauren in a special sketch for the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon. The segment was a crossover with EastEnders, featuring Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell), Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo) and Lacey Turner).The sketch saw Lauren arrive in Walford in search of revenge on Stacey, who had stolen her boyfriend. When she made an appearance in the Queen Vic, Peggy found herself getting increasingly frustrated with the visitor, who asked, "Are you a Cockney? Are you a Cockney sparrow?" and "Do you know Chas and Dave? Are you their mum?" repeatedly. Peggy also used some of Lauren's catchphrases without realising, such as "Are you disrespecting my family?" and "Are you calling me a pikey?" Lauren eventually left the pub after mixing some famous lines from the soap, including "Hello princess" and "Rickaay!" with her usual catchphrase, "Bothered?"
Also in November, Tate was a guest at the 77th Royal Variety Performance and once again appeared in the guise of Lauren. Looking up at the Royal Box, she mimicked the Queen's accent and asked, "Is one bothered? Is one's face bothered?", adding, "Who is looking after the corgis?" The Queen was seen laughing (at least politely) at this joke, and Prince Phillip also appeared to take this in good humour. There were, however, reports in The Sun Newspaper that the Prince was extremely unimpressed by the performance.
A Christmas show was aired on 20 December 2005. It featured appearances from celebrity guests Richard Park, Charlotte Church and Chas and Dave. In this show we met Paul and Sam's two children, who have identical characteristics to, and look like, their parents. According to official overnights figures, over 5.3 million viewers watched the show, making it the most-watched programme at the time.
The second series started airing on UKTV G2 in January 2006. Series one still airs on UKTV Gold. The second series is also being screened on BBC America, and repeated on BBC2, from June 2006.
Following the success of Series Two, Tate will be launching a range of merchandise based on characters from the show in 2006.
A third series has been confirmed for 2006. BBC One controller Peter Fincham reportedly hoped to lure Tate to BBC One. However, she decided to stay with BBC Two, where she will not be as pressured to secure high ratings.
Controversies
The show has caused controversy with its 'Lauren the schoolgirl' character whose catchphrase is 'Am I bovvered?' because it was believed it encouraged yob behaviour. (Southport Visiter, August 2005)External links
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