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Disappointing start for series 2 of #BigSchool

30/8/2014

 
Series 2 of Big School got off to a somewhat disappointing start in terms of ratings last night, gaining just 2.85 million viewers overnight (14.2% audience share). This is less than any of the series 1 episode overnights; the opening episode of last series attracted 4.24 million, rising to 5.28 million after 7days.

The new series also received mixed reviews in the press and on social media. T
he Daily Mirror said:
As it returns for a second series, Big School really seems to have found its comedy feet. Big School is well enough written to survive Walliams' camp, asexual gurning and the dream cast add extra polish to an already shiny script.
The Daily Telegraph also enjoyed it, remarking that Big School has grown up
...the desperate misogyny had subsided into a gentle brand of juvenile wit. At times, [Philip] Glenister threatened to steal the show as Gunn, who had now been drafted in to teach Geography (or, as he beautifully puts it, jog-raffy, stress on the raff).
However, the Scottish Herald and The Independent were less than impressed with the episode, with the latter commenting that
Big School Series 2 doesn’t make the grade. The problem is that it's trying too hard to be funny. it isn’t quite sure what it wants to be. Is it a surreal comedy... a dramatic comedy... or it is the cringe-y schoolboy humour of Little Britain...?
The Twitter-verse was littered with comments about the show too; the majority quoting one-liners from the show or praising specific performances. We've retweeted a lot of those mentioning Phil, so check out our Twitter feed to see those.

When the consolidated ratings come in, the 2.85 million will rise but it's hard to see how this episode will come close to competing with last series. Hopefully, there will be an increase as the series goes on. Finger's crossed.

It is fair to say that out of all TV genres, comedy is probably the one that divides audiences the most. We don't all have the same sense of humour or laugh at the same things... if we did, the world would be a very strange place.

Perhaps mainstream BBC One isn't the best place for Big School at the moment, or perhaps it's suffering from being aired straight after another comedy that's aimed at a completely different target audience. What we can be sure of though, is that it's great to have Phil back on our screens, even if not everyone agrees!
2 Comments

#FromTheretoHere has strong start on BBC One

24/5/2014

 
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The first episode of new BBC One drama 'From There to Here' had a strong start last night with 4.5m people tuning in to watch. This gave it a 21.8% audience share, winning the 9pm slot. 

Press reviews have been generally positive, with the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian thinking very highly of it but the Daily Mail needing a bit more convincing. Twitter comments were mixed, with a lot praising the casting of Philip. 

To read press reviews please visit our deidicated 'Articles' page. You can also see screencaps from the episode here. 

Philip was promoting the show on several radio stations this week and two of these interviews (BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 5live) can be found in our 'Audio' section. 

Phil continues on the promotion trail this week with an appearance on The Paul O'Grady Show on Monday at 5pm, ITV 1. 

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#FromTheretoHere: BBC North screening report.

6/5/2014

 
Earlier this evening the BBC held a preview screening of the first episode of From There to Here' followed by a Q&A with some of the cast and creative team. We dispatched our Manchester based admin to go along and bring back the goss. Don't worry; it's spoiler free!

The event took place at the National Football Museum in Manchester, which is housed in the URBIS building, a unique piece of architecture in Cathedral Gardens. We (my Dad and I) arrived quite early to be sure of getting a good seat and we were second in the queue. 
Whilst we were queuing, we saw the writer, Peter Bowker go inside, followed about 5 minutes later by Liz White and Daniel Rigby. No sign of Phil. When we got in there we were given an information sheet with background to the show which also told us which members of the cast and creative team  would be there. Also no Phil. The event was attended by Liz White (cast), Daniel Rigby (cast), Peter Bowker (writer and exec producer), Derek Wax (Executive Producer for Kudos), Tim Bracknell (producer) and James Strong (director). And I was sat on the same row as them, but the other side of the aisle… about 4 rows from the front. So in hindsight, it was probably a good thing Phil wasn’t there or I would have been more focused on him that the show!
This was a point that writer, Peter Bowker, was keen to re-iterate when they took the stage for the Q&A. The bomb is the catalyst but the story is about the families, the people caught up in it and the effect that it has on them. 

Before they opened questions to the audience, the chair asked a few of Peter, but there was nothing that he hadn’t already said in the press pack interview.  Then the chair stole the question that I was going to ask Liz.

What was it being back in Manchester and filming with Phil after doing Life on Mars?
It was very different this time, it was quite a shock on the second day to have to… well I can’t say to much as you’ve not seen that bit yet, but stuff happens. In Mars I played his subordinate for two years so was nice to be his equal in terms of the relationship. I think we bored a lot of the production company though because every time we went to a new location we’d be pointing out places along the way saying, ‘Do you remember we went there for Life on Mars?’
Staying on the subject of Phil, he then turned to Daniel.

And you’re filming with Philip Glenister at the moment right?
Yeh, but we’re filming something very different. It’s a series called Big School. I’m not playing his son in that though, which he’s very relieved about. He was furious that I’d been cast as his son and that his character was going to have grandkids and stuff! But yeh, he’s well – I’ll give him your regards.
Time for questions from the audience. And my Dad asked the first one… about the aftermath scenes from the bomb.

It all looks very realistic; it looks like the Arndale looked then. How did you do that? Did you recreate a physical Arndale or is it CGI?

The answer was that it was a bit of both. The debris etc. that is seen on the floor was all recreated in a street in the Northern Quarter but then the tech guys super-imposed some photos etc. into it as well, to give the most realistic view possible.

Liz was asked what attracted her to the part of Joanne and she said, that she doesn’t need help or ‘saving’; she’s capable of managing on her own with her two boys. That jumped off the page to her and as such, she is very confident in playing her as she feels she knows here.

Daniel was asked why he took the job. He said it was for the money and the chair pressed him – was the script good? Looking at the writer sat two chairs down he nodded and said that yes it was very good. Then he stopped joking and said it was the quality of the script and, having worked with Peter Bowker before, he knew it would be good.

There were a couple of questions about how they think the show will be received.

Peter said he wasn’t sure but hopefully it would be positive. He said what he actually hoped for more than that was that people would watch all three hours before making any judgements on it, because with TV they do tend to make judgements after only one episode, but you wouldn’t read a third of a novel and make an over-arching judgement about it. He said with Twitter and other social media platform people are starting to make judgements even quicker (i.e. in the first 5 minutes) which can be really difficult but that you can’t think about that when writing. You’ve got to write what is true to you and let the audience decide.

Someone asked if they thought the show, being set in Manchester and being about Manchester, would appeal to southern places such as Essex and Norwich.

The team thought that it would because when they watch something set in a different place, it’s fine as long as the sense of that place is strong. If it seems like it could be set anywhere in the country, that when they find that they’re not as engaged in the show. And also, it’s about a family and those problems and situation are universal… families exist everywhere in the country and most have problems/secrets.

The chair then ended the Q&A by telling us that the show would air ‘at the end of May’ on BBC and that also it was to be accompanied by a BBC Four documentary about the writer ‘Peter Bowker’ which we also got a preview clip of. That will air on Sunday 18th May at 9.30pm and will feature contributions from Phil and Daniel.

Afterwards, I spoke with both Daniel and Liz and they were both really friendly. Daniel said it was the first time they’d seen the episode, so it was really nice to see how it had all come together and he thought it looked good. I explained that, being a local like him, I thought it was fab.  He mentioned that he was going to the BAFTA screening tomorrow and then was back filming a couple of days on Big School. I told him I thought his description of Charlie in the Q&A was spot on (he called him a well-meaning tw*t) and he said, ‘well he is a bit isn’t he?’. He signed my ticket and after a quick thank you and goodbye, I made my way over to Liz.

Liz congratulated us on getting tickets – she said it sounded like there’d been a lot of interest (the chair said that they'd had over 3,500 applications for tickets). I said we were really glad we did and had really enjoyed the first episode; she agreed, saying it had come out really well. I told her I’d seen them filming a scene which had been in the episode (in the aftermath of the bomb) and it was interesting to see it after the edit. I told her I was sure it would be a big success. I told her I was a big fan of Life on Mars and Phil and she said it was a shame that he couldn’t come up for the screening but he was filming. I asked would he be at the BAFTA Screening in London tomorrow (because our other admin is going to that). She said yes, she thought he would be.  I asked her for a quick photo and my Dad said, “Do you want me to take it, or are you doing a selfie?” I said I thought it would be best if he took it and Liz agreed. “Selfies are so passé.” So we had a photo and also signed my ticket before we said goodbye.
A great show, a great script, a great cast, a great city! Most definitely worth a watch when it airs at the end of May.
3 Comments

Review: #MadDogs Series 4, Episode 1

24/12/2013

 
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Here at Philip Glenister Fans we have once again taken full advantage of Sky's decision to show the first episode of Mad Dogs Series 4 early via their On Demand service and we can now bring you our review of episode one.

It is (mostly) spoiler free, but we will put it under a cut for those who don't wish to read. Suffice to say, it's a very good episode and we can't wait for the concluding part!

Nothing ever goes right for the Mad Dogs. We, the viewers, have come to know that by now, but it seems that Quinn, Baxter, Woody and Rick haven’t quite learnt this lesson…

Finally free from the CIA the boys are reunited for Baxter’s daughter’s wedding. They all say they’re getting on okay, but it soon become clear that that’s not the case at all. Then Rick tells them of his great idea to make them rich again.

After some hilarious scenes involving snooker cues, a fire extinguisher and a fish tank, two star cameos by Phil and John’s real life spouses (Beth Goddard and Kate Magowan) and some brilliant dancing from Phil(!) the quartet decide to go along with Rick’s plan. Which doesn’t bode well, because let’s face it; Rick is hardly the brains of the outfit, is he?

Skip forward two months and all seems hunky dory… the lads (and some of their partners) are back in Cape Town, and meeting up at Quinn’s beautiful and seemingly very secure house. But then, in a chilling shout out to the first series, Rick finds a dead goat floating in the swimming pool and the lads start to wonder if they’ve actually escaped from their past misdeeds. Something that the viewer has known the answer too for a while now. And the final scenes confirm that yes, their past has most definitely come back to haunt them… in a fatal way.

Some of the camera angles are a little strange, but it doesn’t detract from the feel of the episode or the acting. You can tell that these four (six, if you include Beth and Kate) are very close in real life… it bleeds through into the characters and their relationship. And the episode does still manage to pull off the tricky feat of balancing both comedy and thriller elements in equal measure.

We also felt that it was perhaps a little stretched out in parts near the beginning… We wonder if it would have flowed better if it had been one 90 minute special rather than two hour long episodes. But one thing is for sure… We cannot wait for the concluding episode because despite the surreal, wacky and dark nature of this show – We’ve grown to love the four leads (well, perhaps not so much Rick, because he can be a bit of a moron) and we will be sad to see their story end.

Mad Dogs: The Finale will air on Sky 1 (and Sky 1 HD)  on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th December at 9pm. Sky’s On Demand users can get the first episode now via their Sky boxes.
1 Comment

Review of Big School

17/8/2013

 
Overnight ratings show that 4.24 million people (20.6% audience share) tuned into to see Philip Glenister in Big School last night; his first comedic role since playing Phil in Roger, Roger in the late nineties. Keeping in mind all the expectations that brings, here’s a review from one of our team. (We’ve put it under a cut, in case some people haven’t seen it yet.)

Big School, written and produced by David Walliams, is set in a secondary school and focuses on a love (lust) triangle between three teachers. Mr Church (Walliams), Miss Postern (Catherine Tate) and Phil’s character Mr Gunn.

Overall, the comedic elements of the show were mixed. It made me laugh in places (the car scenes) but by the same measure it made me cringe in places too (the half-naked lab tech in the cupboard – that was just creepy!). There were some new jokes but there were also some very overused jokes (Miss Postern storming off and having to come back sheepishly for her bag, being one). The writing was poor, predictable and bordering on offensive. Mr Gunn’s comments about ‘slipping [Miss Postern] a length and the ones in the scene where Gunn gave Miss Postern a sports massage, and she noticed that he had an erection, would have fit well with Philip’s character from Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, Gene Hunt. But it’s important to remember that those shows were set in the 70s and 80s respectively – they could get away with comments like that, because that was how women were treated at the time. From a high school teacher in 2013…it’s a bit of a no-no!

The characters were all a bit 2-dimensional, with the supporting cast horrifically underused, and I find myself hoping that Miss Postern doesn’t choose either of her prospective suitors; as neither of them are suited to her! It reminded me of 1997 comedy Chalk (starring David Bamber and Nicola Walker); except it isn’t that good.

That was the show, but what about Philip, I hear you cry. Well, it was certainly a brave choice for Philip to take on a role which is so unlike any of the characters he’s played before. I have to say though, that with the little he was given he did quite a good job. He seemed to play the part with ease, showing what a fantastic character actor he is, as we all know he’s nothing like Mr Gunn at all in real life.

However, I felt that both his character and Phil’s talent were underused. We’ve seen from some of Phil’s other projects that he has the ability to deliver a subtle comedy performance and I can only hope we’ll see more of that in next week’s episode (which, incidentally, includes Philip doing an impression of Keith Lemon!).

It’s well documented that it’s difficult to produce new, award winning comedy and the team should be praised for trying. But I can’t see Big School being as much of a success as some of Walliams’ other shows, like Little Britain. (But then, I didn’t like that either, so maybe his style of comedy just isn’t for me!)

The ratings, of course will provide the final judgement on its performance and that is the test; can it sustain the number of viewers in what is a fairly competitive time-slot. We’ll see. I shall give it another chance next week and if I’m being honest, I’ll probably watch the whole thing because it’s got Phil in it; for me, that’s the only attraction.

So, there you have it. It’s received mixed reviews both in the media and on social networking sites like Twitter. But what did you guys think? Please leave us a comment below and let us know.

If you don’t mind spoilers, there is now a trailer for next week’s episode and a preview clip (which includes the impression mentioned above) available on our Big School videos page.
4 Comments

Big School reviews

10/8/2013

 
In anticipation of  the broadcast of Big School's first episode on Friday, several reviews have been appearing on line. Here's what some of the critics are saying so far...
New sitcoms on mainstream channels always stare directly into the jaws of darkness as purse-lipped audiences wait, arms crossed, to be entertained. Big School probably faces an even more hostile reception as it’s co-written (with the Dawson Brothers) by David Walliams, who also stars. I bet there are a few people waiting to take him down a peg or two.

So please give Big School a chance. It doesn’t ooze sophistication, in fact it’s pretty silly. But it has a great cast and I heard myself laughing out loud in a few places. Walliams is secondary school deputy head of science Mr Church, a shy man with a terrible perm who’s inexperienced with women and who listens to Phil Collins in his Austin Allegro. But he’s transfixed by the new French teacher, comely Miss Postern (Catherine Tate). Big School turns out to be rather sweetly old-fashioned – in a good way.
Alison Graham, Radio Times
The public disembowelling of ‘The Wright Way’ will have put a few comic heavyweights on alert about upcoming projects, but David Walliams doesn’t have too much to fear where his new sitcom ‘Big School’ is concerned. It may be a little light on jokes, but it’s transparently good-natured, agreeably old-fashioned and with an adult cast so attention-grabbing that the pupils occasionally feel a little incidental to proceedings. Walliams is Mr Church, the sad-sack chemistry teacher who withdraws his proposed resignation when highly desirable maverick French teacher Miss Postern (Catherine Tate) arrives to shake up Greybridge secondary school. Frances de la Tour’s withering headmistress, Daniel Rigby’s clueless music tutor and Philip Glenister’s non-PC PE teacher all grapple over scenes to steal and prise some good laughs out of the sometimes slight material.

It’s no Grade-A student, but ‘Big School’ isn’t expulsion fodder either – a decent achievement with so few new sitcoms worthy of a pass these days.
Gabriel Tate, Time Out
Major sitcoms have had a torrid time recently: any new comedy gets approximately 0.35 seconds chance before the world and his wife is taking to Twitter to give it a kicking. So 100 bravery points go to David Walliams, who has written this new comedy about a hopeless secondary school, in which he himself stars as the deputy head of science, Mr Church, a timid fellow with an awful permed hair-don’t. The arrival of the new French teacher, Miss Postern – played by Catherine Tate – sends Mr Church’s lonely heart a-flutter. Standing in his way is a love rival in the shape of Philip Glenister’s Mr Gunn, the PE teacher. It’s traditional, tittersome fare that harks back to a simpler age of comedy, but with three fine stars, and classy support from the likes of Frances de la Tour and ‘The Thick Of It’s’ Joanna Scanlan, it is none the worse for that.
Alan Tyer, Yahoo TV
For more information on this project please see our Big School Information Page (where you'll find an episode guide, photos, videos, articles and more) or visit the show's official website.

Big School starts on Friday 16th August, 9pm BBC One/HD
0 Comments

Mad Dogs Episode 1: Ratings and Reviews

5/6/2013

 
The first episode of Mad Dogs Series 3 gained an audience of 507,000, making it the most watched programme on Sky1 last night. This is slightly lower than the first two series, but it did have stiff competition from a number of other channels.

It has had mixed reviews from the critics, some wondering about the extreme lengths that the plot seems to go to. The Metro, The Telegraph and The Independent liked it, The Daily Mail didn't.

What did you think? Let us know here. If you missed it, there are further chances to see the episode tonight and tomorrow - see our TV listings page for details.

Also today, Sky have released the synopsis for episode 4 which has allowed us to complete our Series 3 episode guide. They have also announced that a special documentary, 'Mad Dogs: Behind the Madness' will air on Tuesday 25th June at 10pm (following directly on from the series finale).
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