Count Arthur Strong (TV series)
| Count Arthur Strong | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
| Based on | Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! by Steve Delaney |
| Written by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
| Directed by | Graham Linehan |
| Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
| Composer(s) | Jon Boden |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
| Producer(s) | Richard Boden |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two (2013) BBC One (2015) |
| Original release | July 2013 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
Count Arthur Strong is a BBC sitcom written by Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan. Delaney portrays the titular character in the series, a reboot of the character from the radio programme Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show![1] The series focuses on the meeting between Count Arthur Strong, an eccentric, semi-retired music hall performer, and Michael Baker, the bookish son of his former comedy partner.[2]
On 21 May 2015, a third series was confirmed for 2016.[3]
Contents
Cast
- Steve Delaney as Count Arthur Strong, an elderly, pompous, out-of-work actor from Doncaster with delusions that he is a show-business legend. The character has been described as "a mixture of physical and mental clumsiness, mirthful malapropisms and Tourettic tics, whose pride forbids him from ever conceding fallibility, even as his world crashes around him".[4]
- Rory Kinnear as Michael Baker, a writer. Michael, a shy, bookish and quiet man, is using Arthur's anecdotes to help write his late father's biography.[5]
- Chris Ryman as Bulent, the irascible, hot-tempered owner of Arthur's local café.[5]
- Zahra Ahmadi as Sinem, Bulent's younger sister with a sense of humour.[5]
- Andy Linden as John the Watch, an enigmatic regular at the café and close friend of Arthur's.[5]
- Dave Plimmer as Eggy, a quiet, gentle, melancholy café regular obsessed with eggs and conspiracy theories.[5]
- Ruth Posner as Katya, a café regular and Arthur's greatest fan. (Series 1)[5]
Production and broadcast
In 2009, it was reported that Delaney would be working on making a television version of Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! for Talkback Thames and BBC Two,[6] and further that Graham Linehan and Jeremy Dyson were working on a project for TV called Count Arthur Strong's Entertainment Game.[7] The quiz show format was subsequently dropped in favour of a sitcom.[8]
The first episode of Count Arthur Strong was recorded on 10 January 2013 at Pinewood Studios. Written by Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan, it co-starred Rory Kinnear as the son of the recently deceased Max Baker, Count Arthur's erstwhile comedy partner. Michael Baker (Kinnear) sets out to track down Count Arthur after the death of his father in order to write a biography.
The television project heralds a new chapter in the life of Count Arthur Strong as compared to the character in the radio series. None of the characters from the radio programme are featured (Geoffrey, Wilf Taylor, Sally Marsden etc) and the series is set in London[9] rather than Doncaster. The cafe is run by a stroppy Turkish character called Bulent (Chris Ryman) and his sister; Arthur's "biggest fan" is Katya, an elderly Polish lady (Ruth Posner).
The series was recorded in front of a live audience from January to February 2013 at Pinewood Studios.[10]
The first episode of six began broadcast on BBC2 on 8 July 2013, with one episode each week airing thereafter.[11] The first episode was watched by 971,000 viewers, less than half of BBC2's slot average over the previous three months.[12] Episodes 4, 5 and 6 were subsequently moved from Mondays, 8.30 pm, on BBC Two, to Tuesdays, 8 pm, on the same channel.[13]
A second series was commissioned, but aired on BBC One after moving from Two. The series was recorded at Pinewood Studios between 6 June 2014 and 18 July 2014. The second series began broadcasting on BBC One on 6 January 2015.[14]
Episodes
The first series was shown on BBC Two.
Series 1 (2013)
| No. | # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Memory Man" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 8 July 2013 |
| Michael Baker tracks down Count Arthur Strong, a music hall performer and former partner of Michael's recently deceased father, for help with his father's biography. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "Arthur.com" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 15 July 2013 |
| Michael gives Arthur a laptop in return for helping him write his father's biography. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "The Radio Play" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 22 July 2013 |
| Arthur is given a small role in a radio play when the original actor is unable to attend the recording. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Arthur's Big Moment" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 30 July 2013 |
| The customers lock themselves in to the café's back room during a riot. Arthur takes the opportunity to entertain this captive audience with his one-man musical act. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Doctor Two" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 6 August 2013 |
| After Michael is bitten by one of Arthur's dog-sitting dogs, he and Arthur pay a visit to the hospital. Their friend Katya comes with them but dies unexpectedly. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Seance" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 13 August 2013 |
| The café clientele are depressed after the death of Katya. Arthur holds a seance in an attempt to contact her to say a final goodbye. | |||||
Series 2 (2015)
The second series of Count Arthur Strong sees a shift to BBC One and a later time slot of 10:35pm.[15]
| No. | # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "The Heist" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 6 January 2015 |
| Michael returns, to discover that Arthur has written a novel, which is now sitting in his agent's office. However, when Michael learns that Arthur's book is full of salacious showbiz gossip, he and the café gang stage a heist to retrieve the manuscript. | |||||
| 8 | 2 | "The Day the Clocks Went Back" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 13 January 2015 |
| A broken heart and the clocks going back leads to a mix-up at 3,000 feet, where Arthur is mistaken for a flying instructor. | |||||
| 9 | 3 | "We're Listening" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 20 January 2015 |
| Spurred on by sleepless nights and noise pollution on his street, Arthur decides to run for local elections. | |||||
| 10 | 4 | "Stuck in the Middle" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 27 January 2015 |
| A conman rues the day he tangled with Arthur. | |||||
| 11 | 5 | "Still Life" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 3 February 2015 |
| When a documentary team start to do a profile of Michael, Arthur's new career as a living statue threatens to steal the show. | |||||
| 12 | 6 | "The Affair" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 10 February 2015 |
| In the aftermath of yet another 'trouser fire', Arthur moves in temporarily with Michael. | |||||
| 13 | 7 | "Fame at Last" | Graham Linehan | Steve Delaney & Graham Linehan | 17 February 2015 |
| Arthur gets a job as a television psychic and the resulting fame starts to go to his head. | |||||
Series 3 (2016)
A third series was confirmed to air in 2016.[3]
Awards
The first series of Count Arthur Strong was nominated for Best Situation Comedy at the 2014 BAFTA awards.[16]
DVD release
The first series of Count Arthur Strong was released on 19 August 2013. In September 2013, BBC WorldWide recalled all the DVDs due to a picture fault.[17]
References
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