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Misfits (TV series)

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Misfits
GenreScience fiction
Drama
Dark comedy
Horror
Supernatural
Created byHoward Overman
Starring
Opening theme"Echoes" by The Rapture
ComposerVince Pope
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Petra Fried
  • Murray Ferguson
ProducerKate Crowe
Production locationLondon
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time45 minutes
Production companyClerkenwell Films
Original release
NetworkE4
Release12 November 2009 (2009-11-12) –
present

Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The first series started broadcasting on 12 November 2009 on E4, and was produced by Clerkenwell Films. The show aired in Australia in 2010 on ABC2.

Filming for the second series began on 24 May 2010, next to Southmere Lake, Thamesmead.[1] The second series aired from 11 November 2010 to 16 December 2010 on E4. A third series was officially confirmed.[2][3] A 60-minute Christmas special, written by Howard Overman, featuring the whole main cast of the first series was broadcast on E4 in December 2010.[4][5]

The first series won the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series.[6]

On 10 April 2011, it was announced that actor Robert Sheehan will not be returning for the third series.[7]

The read-through for Series 3 started August 15

Premise

Misfits follows five early-20s delinquents on community service in Wertham (a fictional borough in London),[8] who are caught outside during an electrical thunder storm and acquire special powers. Kelly (Lauren Socha) gains the ability to hear the thoughts of others, Curtis (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) can rewind time after experiencing an immense sense of regret, Alisha (Antonia Thomas) sends people into a sexual frenzy when they touch her skin, Simon (Iwan Rheon) can become invisible, and Nathan (Robert Sheehan) quickly revives when killed and can communicate with the recently dead.

In the first episode, the Misfits are attacked by their probation officer, Tony, who acquired strange evil powers in the electrical storm, and accidentally kill him in self defense. The main plot of the first series is the five trying to stop anyone else finding out about the murder. Tony's replacement Sally is revealed to be Tony's fiancee, and she suspects that the gang know more than they claim to. Sally's suspicion grows and she forms a relationship with Simon, secretly pretending to like him in order to get information from him about Tony's disappearance. She steals his mobile phone, which has the video of Nathan saying they killed Tony, sees it, and tries to convince Simon to go to the police. When she tries to get away, Simon turns invisible, freaks her out a little, then accidentally kills her in the struggle for his mobile. Other sub-plots of the series involve Nathan being made homeless after his mother kicks him out, beginning to live in the community center, Alisha and Curtis becoming involved in a relationship, Curtis accidentally changing time so he never split up from his ex-girlfriend Sam, and Simon's sense of loneliness and isolation from the rest of the group. There are also side-plots that only last for one episode, including the first series' finale in which a cult-like group begins to brainwash youths into adopting ultra-conservative behavior. The episode ends with Nathan's death after a struggle with the cult's leader. As his friends mourn, Nathan's power is finally revealed in the final scene as he awakens unharmed in his coffin.

In the second series, as the gang are approaching the end of their community service, they are stalked by a mysterious masked man who had previously saved Nathan from the Virtue cult in the finale of series 1. He assists them through dangerous situations and is seemingly aware of events that take place before they happen; he saves members of the group on multiple occasions such as saving Nathan from a car explosion when taking drugs makes him vulnerable to kill, saving Curtis from being strangled to death by a shapeshifter, and saving Alisha from a mugger. When Alisha is attacked a second time, she falls down a flight of stairs and is taken back to the masked man's safehouse. It is revealed that he is a time-travelling, future Simon, who Alisha falls in love with and learns she is to fall in love with the 'present' Simon. Future Simon both warns of an unspecified, upcoming crisis and shows that the superpowers will soon become public knowledge – which occurs in the sixth episode, only for that timeline to be erased (leaving what happens next unclear). Throughout the series, sub-plots include Nathan discovering his immortality extends to mediumship, Nathan and Kelly's abortive attempt at a relationship, Curtis and Alisha breaking up, Simon slowly becoming more assertive and comfortable with himself, and Curtis starting a relationship with a girl named Nikki, who obtained her teleportation power from the heart transplant of a guy named Ollie, who originally had the power.

Three months later, in the show's Christmas special, the Misfits give up their powers by selling them to a dealer with the ability to transfer powers from one person to another. Elliot, a disillusioned priest, purchases several powers from the same dealer (including Alisha's and Nikki's), and uses them to pose as a reborn Jesus Christ. While the Misfits are celebrating the fact that they are free from their powers, a follower of "Jesus" holds up the bar where Curtis and Alisha are now working, robs them, and kills Nikki. The Misfits steal the money that the priest "Jesus" has gathered from his followers so they can purchase their powers back, accidentally killing him while doing so. The Misfits now have the option to buy any power they want, and the episode concludes with a flash of bright white light as Kelly is the first to undergo the process.

Cast

Episodes

The first series comprised six episodes, airing from 12 November to 17 December 2009 on E4.

The second series started filming in May 2010,[9] and aired on E4 from 11 November to 16 December. This series had seven episodes, including a Christmas episode, rather than series one's six.

A third series of eight episodes has been announced, and will be preceded by an online episode, which will deal with Nathan's departure and Rudy's arrival. Howard Overman will write five episodes.

Production

Filming locations

The show is filmed in South East London, mostly on location around the Southmere Lake in Thamesmead.[citation needed] Other exterior shots were filmed on the Heygate Estate.[citation needed] Many interiors were filmed in sets built in the old Runnymede campus of Brunel University.[citation needed] The scenes under the flyover are in Boston Manor Park in Brentford, London.[citation needed] The bar in the second series was not located in South Street, Brunel; it was a set built specifically for the show.[citation needed]

Marketing

The first series was accompanied by an online viral marketing campaign produced by Six to Start, on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. For example, in a British first, the characters Simon and Kelly tweeted during the initial transmission of each episode, with the content of the tweets provided by writers Sam Liefer and Ben Edwards, under the direction of lead writer Howard Overman and executive producer Petra Fried. These tweets and other website postings provided additional narrative material, and amongst other things did not ultimately reveal the identity of a key character who appeared only in episode six.[10][11] Additional strategic components included direct-toYouTube video clips and an online game based on the show.[10]

Reception

Critical response

British reviews have been very positive. The Times gave it four out of five stars, calling it "a new union — salty British street humour with whizz-bang special effects" which should "keep E4's core audience happy".[12] An online review by The Guardian said that it was "confident enough to operate in its own universe and set up something new" and that it was aimed at showing us "real people" rather than the stereotype of the "ASBO teenager".[13] The Guardian's print reviewer was also enthusiastic, saying: "Misfits is indeed silly — sillier, even, than it sounds — but it's also brilliant: sharp, funny, dark and, in places, quite chilling. Both the writing and the performances ensure that everything but the preposterous central premise remains entirely believable."[14] The Daily Telegraph drew special attention to Howard Overman's script which, it said, "sparkled from the off, introducing his posse of social outcasts as a bunch of total losers, but each one distinctively and memorably so."[15]

The Irish media have also been impressed with the show. The Evening Herald called the debut episode "dark, hilarious, exciting and beautifully produced". It went on to say that "the spark comes from Overman's razor-sharp script, yet a lot of the credit also has to go to the well-chosen young cast, who are uniformly superb."[16]

In Australia, the Boxcutters television review was more laconic: "Misfits ... is filled with unattractive and very annoying characters and is essentially Skins meets Heroes. So why do we find it so strangely compelling?"[17]

Awards

Both the series and its writer Howard Overman were nominated for RTS Awards in March 2010.[18] The series won the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series.[6]

Television ratings

Series 1 [19]

Episode Air date Viewers Rank
E4 E4+1 Total E4 E4+1
One 12 November 2009 574,000 213,000 787,000 4 9
Two 19 November 2009 569,000 169,000 738,000 2 11
Three 26 November 2009 592,000 88,000 680,000 1 11
Four 3 December 2009 632,000 78,000 710,000 5 11
Five 10 December 2009 598,000 72,000 670,000 8 21
Six 17 December 2009 592,000 68,000 660,000 6 21

Series 2

Episode Air date Viewers Rank
E4 E4+1 Total E4 E4+1
One 11 November 2010 1,185,000 238,000 1,423,000 1 5
Two 18 November 2010 1,055,000 250,000 1,305,000 1 2
Three 25 November 2010 1,119,000 251,000 1,370,000 1 4
Four 2 December 2010 1,075,000 341,000 1,416,000 1 2
Five 9 December 2010 1,074,000 355,000 1,429,000 1 1
Six 16 December 2010 1,201,000 392,000 1,593,000 2 1
Christmas Special 19 December 2010 1,420,000 278,000 1,698,000 1 3

References

  1. ^ E4 announce the return of ‘Misfits’ Blogomatic3000, 28 May 2010
  2. ^ "Facebook - Misfits". 17 December 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Series 3 Hoorays". E4. Channel 4. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  4. ^ Wightman, Catriona (17 June 2010). "'Misfits' Christmas special to be made". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Misfits: Christmas Special". Sky.com. News Corporation. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Television Awards Winners in 2010". BAFTA. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  7. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s145/misfits/news/a313767/robert-sheehan-not-returning-to-misfits.html
  8. ^ As well as the name of Wertham Community Centre, the newspaper Wertham Chronicle is seen at the start of episode 6 of the second series
  9. ^ "Misfits – Power Changes For Series Two". SFX. Future Publishing. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  10. ^ a b Dowell, Ben (28 October 2009). "E4's Misfits characters to post on Twitter". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  11. ^ Emmerson, Keith (5 November 2009). "TV Preview: Misfits, E4". hecklerspray.com. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  12. ^ Teeman, Tim (13 November 2009). "The Restaurant; Wonderland; Misfits; Octomum: Me and My 14 Kids". TimesOnline. entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  13. ^ Vine, Richard (13 November 2009). "Misfits: Series one, episode one". TV & Radio Blog. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  14. ^ Dowling, Tim (13 November 2009). "Misfits and Wonderland: Seven Pups for Seven People". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  15. ^ O'Donovan, Gerard (12 November 2009). "Misfits, E4, review". The Daily Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  16. ^ Stacey, Pat (13 November 2009). "Ideal superheroes for the 21st century". Evening Herald. Dublin, Ireland: herald.ie. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  17. ^ Kinal, Josh (7 December 2009). "Ep 206: Misfits, The Prisoner, Lunch Disclosure". Boxcutters.
  18. ^ French, Dan (March 1, 2010). "'Inbetweeners', 'Misfits' land RTS nods". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  19. ^ Weekly Top 10 Programmes. Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved on 18 June 2010.
Awards
Preceded by British Academy Television Awards
Best Drama Series

2009
Succeeded by