Tittybangbang

Tittybangbang
Cover of Second Series DVD
Created by	Bob Mortimer and Jill Parker
Directed by	Angela De Chastelai Smith (series 1 & 2), Bob Mortimer (series 3)
Starring	Lucy Montgomery Debbie Chazen Tony Way Shelley Longworth Velile Tshabalala Di Botcher Katy Brand Esther Coles Steve Oram Stephen Burge Iain Lee Rhys Thomas
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	21 (including Pilot)
Production
Executive producers	Bob Mortimer and Lisa Clark
Camera setup	Multiple-camera
Running time	30 mins
Original release
Network	BBC Three (Series 1, 2 & 3)
Release	10 January, 2006 – 26 December, 2007

Tittybangbang, or Tittybangbang2 or 3 later on, is a female-led television sketch comedy, performed by Lucy Montgomery and Debbie Chazen, which attracted a cult following on BBC Three. The show was written predominantly by Bob Mortimer and Jill Parker and was produced by their production company Pett Productions, however Mortimer credited himself as Robert Renwick in the first and second series because he wanted attention to be drawn to Montgomery and Chazen.

Montgomery, Clark and Stephen Burge also contributed writing to the show, with Montgomery creating the character of the maid and Clark the darters. The show was directed by Angela De Chastelai Smith for the first two series, however Mortimer took over for the third.

History and background

Bob Mortimer and Lisa Clark conceived the idea of Tittybangbang, and got Jill Parker involved, who wanted to leave no stone unturned in search of talented actresses, so, unsually, held open auditions. Mortimer came up with the show's name, wanting "a really memorable title like Desperate Housewives", Clark said in an interview, "it's rude, but in a comedy way".

Filming for the series took place mostly in and around Kent. All sketches for the first series were filmed on location, however, in the second and third series, certain sketches were filmed in front of a live studio audience.

The pilot aired on BBC Three on September 20 2005 and became one of the most watched new comedy in the channel's history. The first series was heavily promoted by an advert in which the cast members danced and mimed to the Pussycat Dolls' hit single 'Don't Cha'. It ran from January 10 to February 14 2006, matched the pilot's success and included a guest appearance from Andy Fordham. Episodes were also available to watch from the BBC Three website. After the series finished, BBC Three dedicated an evening to the show, airing each episode in succession. A DVD of the first series was released on November 20, 2006.

The second series ran from November 13 to December 25 2006. It had a new title sequence and theme tune, consisted of seven thirty minute episodes (including a Christmas special) and matched the first series' success. A DVD of the second series was released on March 31, 2008. Both the first and second series were shown on BBC Two in a series of 'Best of' specials.

In March 2007, Tittybangbang was nominated for a Golden Rose international television award. The third, and final, series had another new title sequence and ran from November 11th to December 16th 2007, followed by the Christmas special, on December 26th. Stephen Gately made a guest appearance in this series. A DVD of the third series is due to be released in September, 2008.

Critical reception

Throughout the show's run, both critics and the general public formed mixed opinions, and in the press pack for the show's first series, BBC Press Office said that the pilot had "polarised critical response". First impressions of the show were good, with Radio Times describing the show as 'Disturbingly funny', The Sun calling it 'Laughs galore' and The Observer describing it as 'Very funny, very horrid', the show also received negative critism from certain critics, with The Times describing it as 'Not very funny'.

In an interview with Lucy Montgomery, Digital Spy said that the first series had been labelled "horrid and filthy, but funny", and Montgomery mentioned the necrophiliac pathologists, saying "the necrophilia character, that's gone [from the second series] because public opinion was that that wasn't a good idea".

The opinions of the general public are also mixed, and the show appeared to develop a close audience to which it appealed, whilst not appealing so much to a widespread audience, who didn't take to the show like they had other shows of the same genre, such as Little Britain and The Catherine Tate Show. The BBC Comedy Guide said that "the sketches might not always work, but they're mostly short and to the point", and described it as "one of the best, and certainly the most varied of recent sketch formats", noting that whilst "not as huge as other formats" it had developed a "loyal and addicted following".

Criticism aside, the show gained attention, which secured it a run of three series, and has helped to further the careers of those involved. After completing work on the second series of Tittybangbang, Katy Brand left the show to start work on her own sketch comedy series, Katy Brand's Big Ass Show. Also, after completing the third series, Lucy Montgomery appeared as host of an episode of Comedy Shuffle , and is now working with Rhys Thomas, Tony Way and Stephen Burge on The Wall.

Regular characters and sketches

Tittybangbang features many recurring characters and catchphrases; here follows a list of not all, but a selection of the most regular and significant.

The Italian Lady is the trademark character of the series, is most recognised, and appears in every episode.

• The Italian Lady, an exhibitionist, Italian woman who does outlandish things for attention, whilst proclaiming "Don't look at me, I'm shy!". (Montgomery, series 1-3)
• Maxine Bendix, an Eastern-European topless model, and later pop star, who has had a grotesque amount of cheap plastic surgery, which is prone to "just a little bit of seepage". (Montgomery, series 1-3)
• Paula, Ann and Diane, goofy ladettes who play darts; however, Paula, plagued by severe twitching and anxiety, and her jealousy of club compere Tony's romantic interest in Ann, shouts "Right there!" and promptly misses the board. Chazen has stated that Paula is her favourite character to perform. (Chazen, Montgomery, Cheshire and Way, series 1-3)
• Harrogate Ladies, four middle-aged, middle-class, havoc-creating ladies who do everything whilst naked from their waists down. (Montgomery, Chazen, Brand and Longworth, series 1-2)
• Don Peacock, a bald, Geordie man whose fantasy is to have a "waz", a "widdle" or "a little pee pee" (urolagnia) on women. (Montgomery, series 1-2)
• Ruth Baxter, an upper class old aged pensioner who likes to fight people, using ridiculously silly methods. (Montgomery, series 1-2)
• Duck and Chip Family, a dysfunctional family whose lives revolve around their love of "quack", or "donald", and chips. (Way, Botcher, Chazen and Montgomery, series 1-3)
• Carol Booth, a stay-at-home mum who, despite protests from her daughter and partner, and competition from neighbour Michelle, resorts to desperate measures to be on television, particularly running from people screaming "(S)he's got a kniiife!" (Chazen, Tshabalala, Way and Montgomery, series 1-3)
• Pamela and Nicola, New Zealanders who lead 'Dance Tots' classes for young children, but whose tumultuous lesbian relationship spills over into the classes, panicking the parents into withdrawing their children. (Montgomery and Chazen, series 1)
• Pete Wade, a spa salesman, and later estate agent, who hardly listens to anyone, interspersing their words with "yeah" and "uh huh", and tries to hit on female customers. (Montgomery, series 1-2)
• Colleen, Nathalie and Melanie, a trio of chavettes who, regardless of their homeland, all speak in thick Jamaican dialects, and get into lengthy, barely comprehensible conversations about the "likkle battams" of famous faces such as Bono or Simon Cowell. (Montgomery, Chazen and Tshabalala, series 1-3)
• Parker and Harris, necrophiliac pathologists who "can't resist a stiffy" and abandon investigatory work to sexually assault the deceased. Lisa Clark stated that Susan Parker was loosely based upon Helen Mirren's character in Prime Suspect. (Montgomery and Chazen, series 1)
• Jackie and Nikki, two Geordie friends, but Jackie exploits Nikki's naivete to trick her out of money in return for teaching her how to do completely nonsensical things, such as floating in mid-air. (Chazen and Montgomery, series 2-3)

File:Tom Cruise in Tittybangbang.jpg

The idea of making up Lucy Montgomery into Tom Cruise occurred during the shooting of the first series, when crew members noted that Montgomery's Pete Wade character looked a little like Cruise.

• Magwash, a revered, wise man who tells tales to the regulars of a storm-blasted coastal pub in the Scottish Highlands, but forever slips, using the wrong (and inappropriate) words, and when interrupted, bellows a thunderclap-punctuated "SILENCE!" (Chazen, series 2)
• The Vampire Slayers, suburban housewives who hunt down people they suspect to be vampires, all the while shouting "Death to vampires!" and "Vampire, vampire, fookin' vampire!". (Montgomery, Chazen and Coles, series 2-3)
• Tom Cruise, whose tour of England and desperation to try out some traditionally English experiences is ruined by his arguing bodyguard's squabbles. (Montgomery, series 2-3)
• Veronica Cooper, an aristocratic, horselike woman, who finds pleasure in spying on overweight, working class and somewhat dumb men with her equally posh, toothy friend Christina, who is apparently "not supposed to be here!". (Chazen and Montgomery, series 2-3)
• God's Twins, two sisters who speak in harmonious unison and try to pester people into joining their religion or buying religious artifacts. On April 29, 2008, the pair appeared on The Wall with Patrick McGuinness. (Chazen and Montgomery, series 3)
• Raul, a camp, androgynous and childish hairdresser who never appears to pick up a pair of scissors, and complains endlessly about his "sore balls". (Montgomery, series 3)
• Irene, who appears in potentially controversial situations, and proceeds to let the subjects know just how much she approves of them ("good for you!"). (Chazen, series 3)
• Idi Amin, the ex-president of Uganda lives on a housing estate, refers to himself as "the king" and spends his time lying in bed watching television, shouting "Emergency, emergency!" to summon his downtrodden wife. (Way and Montgomery, series 3)
• Beth Ditto, an American rock star who hunts "skinny bitches" that might attract paparazzi attention and steal her limelight. (Chazen, series 3)

External links

• bbc.co.uk - Tittybangbang
• BBC Comedy Guide - Tittybangbang
• PettProductions.co.uk