Gimme Gimme Gimme (TV series)
| Gimme Gimme Gimme | |
|---|---|
 Part of the Gimme Gimme Gimme title sequence. | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Jonathan Harvey |
| Developed by | Jonathan Harvey Kathy Burke |
| Starring | Kathy Burke James Dreyfus Brian Bovell Beth Goddard Rosalind Knight |
| Opening theme | "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" |
| Ending theme | "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 19 (+ 1 Comic Relief sketch) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | John Plowman Peter Bennett-Jones Mark Chapman |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two (Series 1 & 2) BBC One (Series 3) |
| Release | January 8, 1999 – December 14, 2001 |
Gimme Gimme Gimme is a BBC television comedy by Tiger Aspect Productions that ran for three series between 1999 and 2001. It was written by Jonathan Harvey, who appeared in three episodes; as a guest at the series 1 wedding, once as make-up artist Louis, and then as a customer in a sofa store. The theme song was a cover of ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)". It was filmed in front of a live studio audience in Studio 2 at The London Studios, South Bank, London, England. A 4th series was to be aired for 2002 but the BBC decided that the show was not needed and was therefore axed.
Premise
Gimme Gimme Gimme stars comedienne and director Kathy Burke as loudmouthed Londoner Linda La Hughes and James Dreyfus as her gay flatmate Tom. Much of Gimme Gimme Gimme's humour springs from its lubricious innuendo subplot, which springs from the mouths of both Tom and Linda.
Linda is characterised by her red perm, white glasses, and lycra-clad figure. While being boorish and unattractive, Linda is convinced she is a "stunner", and is diagnosed with reversed body dysmorphic disorder in series three. Linda shares a flat with homosexual actor Tom Farrell, played by James Dreyfus. It is suggested that Linda and Tom first met at a club, bonded instantly (due to both being on ecstasy) and decided to live together. What follows is, as writer Jonathan Harvey describes, "one long come-down". Linda often tells humorous anecdotes about her family and childhood which suggest abuse or neglect (such as how she apparently lived in a kennel, slept on a doormat as a baby and how her aunt left her in a car boot for two weeks to go on holiday); however Linda always thinks of these as positive experiences. She also alleges her father now lives in an iron lung although the only proof she has of this is a photo of a sideboard. Linda also lived in a convent and a borstal as a teenager. She has crushes on Liam Gallagher (whom she lost interest in after series one as she "couldn't bring up another bird's child"), Robbie Williams and both male members of Hear'Say. She also imagines having sex with Dale Winton in a toilet cubicle. Tom is melodramatic yet fails in his desire to get acting roles. He believes himself to be truly gifted in the art of acting, and often blames his failures on his agent or society itself. He did appear in one episode of EastEnders and often brags about it, delaying for as long as he can the fact that he was in one scene, had one line and did nothing but buy a cagoule from a stall from Bianca Jackson. He also appeared in Daylight Robbery as an extra standing in a queue in the background. He had one line but it was cut due to timekeeping. He insists that the entire series was ruined due to the axing of his line. Tom has an obsession with appearing to be middle class even though he hails from a working class background, possibly because he also has a hatred of his parents. It is often suggested that Tom has no friends whatsoever (apart from Linda and his housemates) but unlike Linda he usually tries to pretend he is popular. Tom is in love with the actor Simon Shepherd.
Although they appear to loathe each other Tom and Linda are beholden to each other due to the simple fact that nobody else can tolerate them. They are in many ways very alike, selfish, unsuccessful, and physically and personally unattractive. The hapless duo live in a Kentish Town flat (69 Paradise Passage, Kentish Town) rented from elderly ex-prostitute Beryl Merit (Rosalind Knight). Other regular characters are the middle class Jez (Brian Bovell) and his wife Suze (Beth Goddard), a horny couple. Many of the storylines revolve around the fact Tom and Linda find Jez sexually attractive while both have a hatred (particularly Linda) for the oblivious Suze. Another returning character is Sugar Walls (Elaine Lordan), Linda's celebrity sister. However many of the other characters can be just as hapless as Tom and Linda; Beryl still engages in sexual activities such as S&M and picking up young and married men while Jez and Suze generally lack common sense. For example, they once cancel their holiday to the Algarve and pay £500 to stay in their own back garden instead after Linda opens it up as a camp site.
Guest appearances have been made by Simon Shepherd, Su Pollard, Charlie Condou and Rose Keegan. When Su Pollard (playing Heidi Honeycombe) made her appearance, it led to a pun where Linda greeted her with the words "Heidi! Hi!" (a reference to Pollard's character in the sitcom Hi-de-Hi!).
At the end of series three, Tom left the flat having finally got his big break in TV soap opera Crossroads. The last episode ended with Linda taking off her hair (revealing it to be a wig) and sitting in the flat alone.
Cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Kathy Burke | Linda La Hughes |
| James Dreyfus | Tom Farrell |
| Brian Bovell | Jez Littlewood |
| Beth Goddard | Suze Littlewood |
| Rosalind Knight | Beryl Merit |
Characters
Regular
Linda La Hughes - Linda is a middle-aged woman who is quite ugly and usually wears flamboyant clothing. Linda seems to take any opportunity to bluntly flirt with any man she sees. She is delusional about her appearance, hence being diagnosed with reversed body dysmorphic disorder in the series 3 episode "Trauma". Her age is uncertain but has given herself many young ages e.g. 16, 18, 19, 23 and 28. In the series two episode "Dirty Thirty", it says on her birth certificate that she is 39, however in the series 3 episode "Secrets and Flies" she comes into contact with her 28 year old son and she says she was 15 when she gave birth, meaning she must be 43. She seems to have had a disturbed childhood, although she thinks it was normal. Her mother died when she was a child and her dad hides from her despite Linda thinking he is in an iron lung.
Tom Farrell - Tom is a thirty year old wannabe actor who has only had small roles on TV and on stage but is actually a bad actor. Tom is openly gay and always takes every possible opportunity to get a boyfriend. Throughout series 1 he refers many times to using Ecstasy while out clubbing, and at one point Tom actually has a trip after taking Ecstasy on a night out clubbing. He also tends to exaggerate a lot. At the end of series 3, he moves to Nottingham to join the cast of Crossroads.
Jez Littlewood - Jez is Tom and Linda's neighbour. When Tom and Linda first meet Jez they think one of them has slept with him, but actually he had just slept on the sofa.
Suze Littlewood - Suze is Jez's wife. She can sometimes be nice but on other occasions she can be hyper-active and slightly bitchy. She and Jez tend to have sex quite a lot and in the series 3 episode "Secrets and Flies", she gives birth to their baby Lee.
Beryl Merit - Beryl is Tom, Linda, Jez and Suze's elderly landlady. She is a retired prostitute but tends to still be involved in criminal activities. In the series 2 episode "Glad to Be Gay", she is seen to be an escort.
Recurring
Norma - Norma is Tom's agent and appears throughout all three of the series.
Sugar Walls - Sugar (Birthname Sharon La Hughes) is Linda's famous sister. She appears once in series 1 and again in series 2 but not in series 3.
Episodes
Series 1: 1999
| # | Title | Original airdate | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Who's That Boy?" | 8 January 1999 | IPEA066X |
|
Linda and Tom wake up after a heavy night out to find a mystery man in their kitchen, and both think they brought him home the previous night. It turns out that he is a new neighbour called Jez and is married to a woman named Suze which he explains to them after tricking them into thinking he was an escort. | |||
| 2 | "The Big Break" | 15 January 1999 | IPEA067R |
|
Tom has an audition for Crimewatch, and Linda is certain that a love letter she finds is to her from their neighbour Jez. Tom is eventually able to play the part, but on the way to the audition he slips on an overbuffed passage floor and breaks his leg. | |||
| 3 | "Legs and Co" | 22 January 1999 | IPEA068K |
|
Set right after the previous episode Tom is in a wheelchair with a broken leg, and his home help is a suicidal man named Shirley. Linda has a date with a delivery man and devoted Christian named Joe. | |||
| 4 | "Do They Take Sugar?" | 29 January 1999 | IPEA069E |
|
Linda's superstar sister, Sharon "Sugar Walls" Hughes comes to visit. At first Linda is angry about her sister staying, but after she agrees to introduce her to Liam Gallagher she likes her again. In a scene similar to that of the film Notting Hill Tom opens the door to Paparazzi and they think he is having an affair with Sugar. | |||
| 5 | "Saturday Night Diva" | 5 February 1999 | IPEA060Y |
| 6 | "I Do, I Do, I Do" | 12 February 1999 | IPEA061S |
|
Tom marries an American lesbian, Gloria, so she can stay in the UK with her girlfriend, India, much to Linda's jealousy. Linda thinks she is going out with Gloria's brother. | |||
Millennium special: 1999
| # | Title | Original airdate | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | "Millennium" | 29 December 1999 | IPEA150S |
Series 2: 2000
| # | Title | Original airdate | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | "Teacher's Pet" | 14 January 2000 | IPEA151L |
|
Sugar Walls (Linda's sister) returns and Tom tries to teach her to act for her upcoming Theatre debut. Linda babysits Jez and Suze's virtual baby doll. | |||
| 9 | "Stiff" | 21 January 2000 | IPEA152F |
|
Tom and Linda return home to find what appears to be Beryl's body in a coffin in their living room. They try to cover up her death so the will not be homeless, until Beryl's young boyfriend comes and both Tom and Linda try to seduce him. | |||
| 10 | "Prison Visitor" | 28 January 2000 | IPEA153A |
| 11 | "Dirty 30" | 4 February 2000 | IPEA154T |
|
Tom's prudish parents come to visit for his thirtieth birthday. He tries to get rid of them by getting Linda to seduce his dad, but later finds out that his parents are swingers. | |||
| 12 | "Glad to be Gay?" | 11 February 2000 | IPEA155N |
|
Tom and Linda go out clubbing, and the next morning Tom wakes up with a weird security guard and Linda wakes up with a female taxi driver. Following this Linda tries to prove that she is not bisexual. | |||
| 13 | "Sofa Man" | 18 February 2000 | IPEA224X |
|
Tom gets a job acting on a World of Sofas commercial, with smarmy actor Rick Cheesecloth. Linda gets a job working on a production line in a factory, where she fancies her co-worker Ron. | |||
Series 3: 2001
| # | Title | Original airdate | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | "Down and Out" | 2 November 2001 | ICEB566T |
| 15 | "Lollipop Man" | 9 November 2001 | ICEB565A |
| 16 | "Secrets and Flies" | 23 November 2001 | ICEB567N |
|
Linda's long-lost son, Zippy, arrives in search of his mother, and Suze gives birth in Tom and Linda's flat. | |||
| 17 | "Trauma" | 30 November 2001 | ICEB564F |
| 18 | "Singing in the Drain" | 7 December 2001 | ICEB568H |
| 19 | "Decoy" | 14 December 2001 | ICEB569B |
|
Tom lands a role in Crossroads, and has to move out. Linda fakes a terminal illness in an attempt to stop him leaving. This was to be the last current episode in the series. | |||
References
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