People Like Us

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People Like Us

Chris Langham as Roy Mallard
Genre Mockumentary
Running time 30 minutes
Country Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Languages English
Home station BBC Radio 4
TV adaptations People Like Us
Starring Chris Langham
Writers John Morton
Air dates 10 June 1995 to 9 August 1997
No. of series 3 on radio, 2 on TV
No. of episodes 17 on radio, 12 on TV
Audio format Stereophonic sound
Ending theme Unsquare Dance by Dave Brubeck
For other uses, see People Like Us (disambiguation).

People Like Us is a British comedy programme, a spoof on-location documentary (or mockumentary) written by John Morton, and starring Chris Langham as Roy Mallard, an inept interviewer. Originally a radio show for BBC Radio 4 in three series from 1995 to 1997, it was made into a television series for BBC Two between September 1999 and June 2000.

Contents

[edit] Radio version

Each episode features the affable, bumbling Roy Mallard following a day in the lives of representatives of a particular career or lifestyle. This he does in his own manner. A comedy of wordplay and misunderstanding, People Like Us could be a metaphor for life, in that, while the protagonist is an idiot, everyone else is a bigger idiot - Mallard's questions are usually sensible yet misinterpreted.

Mallard: "I expect you can remember this farm without a tractor?"
Aged farmhand: "Oh, I got a good memory – I don't need a tractor."

There are hints (particularly in "The Photographer" – with Bill Nighy) that Mallard may be unattractive – his subjects often ask in passing if he is married, and their reactions range from surprise to incredulity when he tells them he is. Another recurring theme is Mallard's quest for a coffee – or even lunch. At the end of each episode the cast are never credited. Instead, over Dave Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance", statements of the kind, "Roy Mallard would like to thank Chris Langham."

John Morton was looking for "someone like Chris Langham" to play the part – before somebody suggested Langham. Langham also played Mallard in BBC advertisements for the licence fee direct debit payment scheme, and in commercial radio advertising.

The radio show has twice been named Best Radio Comedy at the British Comedy Awards.

[edit] TV version

Eleven radio episodes were adapted for TV (in a different order), with one original episode – The Actor, featuring David Tennant as a wannabe actor and failed voice-over artist. Mallard is hardly visible in the TV episodes. He is usually just out of sight, but viewers can spot him, or part of him, in every episode – on one occasion reflected with the camera in a shop window.

Much of the humour is verbal as characters take a literal interpretation of what others say, use redundant expressions and non-sequiturs. In "The Photographer" a shoe-shop assistant says, "Most people have at least one foot bigger than the other." In "The Headteacher" the head and his secretary fail to realise that "G Reg Nissan" in the visitors' book is not "Reg Nissan", "Greg Nissan" or indeed any person but Mallard's car. This may have gone over some heads, and combined with the lack of laugh-track and the dead-pan approach led some viewers to believe they were encountering a "straight" documentary.

Alongside this verbal aspect there was more conventional humour. Mallard encountered bizarre behaviour from his featured characters and their counterparts. For all his own mediocrity and haplessness he could appear sane and competent compared to those alongside him.

Reportedly, Morton wrote a third series, entitled People Like U.S. set in the United States. It was turned down by the BBC Two controller, Jane Root. It appears that though well respected by the BBC it had a choice between producing a third series or a new production - The Office - and chose the latter.[1]

The first TV series was on VHS and DVD on September 16, 2002. The second was due to be released in 2003 but the title disappeared from the BBC's release schedule. However, a double pack of series 1 and 2 is available on Portuguese Region 2 PAL DVD, entitled "Gente Como Nós." The shows are in English but with Portuguese subtitles. Series 2 was released in November 2007 on Region 4 PAL DVD in Australia. The series is expected to be released on DVD in the United States on September 1, 2009.[2]

[edit] List of episodes

[edit] Radio series

Series Episode Title First broadcast
1 1 The Farmer 10 June 1995
2 The Headmaster 17 June 1995
3 The Journalist 24 June 1995
4 The Vicar 1 July 1995
5 The Doctor 8 July 1995
6 The Solicitor 15 July 1995
Special 1 Unnamed (a.k.a. The Christmas Panto) 23 December 1995
2 1 The Managing Director 8 June 1996
2 The Artist 15 June 1996
3 The Ski Courier 22 June 1996
4 The Estate Agent 29 June 1996
5 The Policeman 6 July 1996
6 The Hotel Manager 13 July 1996
3 1 The Mother 19 July 1997
2 The Bank Manager 26 July 1997
3 The Air Line Pilot (a.k.a. The Pilot) 2 August 1997
4 The Photographer 9 August 1997

[edit] TV series

Series Episode Title First broadcast
1 1 The Managing Director 20 September 1999
2 The Estate Agent 27 September 1999
3 The Police Officer 4 October 1999
4 The Solicitor 11 October 1999
5 The Photographer 18 October 1999
6 The Head Teacher 25 October 1999
2 1 The Vicar 20 May 2001
2 The Mother 27 May 2001
3 The Journalist 3 June 2001
4 The Actor 10 June 2001
5 The Bank Manager 17 June 2001
6 The Airline Pilot 24 June 2001

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/peoplelikeus/
  2. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/People-Like-The-Complete-Series/11930

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Like_Us"
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