Popetown
| Popetown | |
|---|---|
 The Popetown DVD Cover | |
| Starring | Bob Mortimer, Ruby Wax, Morwenna Banks, Jerry Hall, Matt Lucas, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, |
| Country of origin | UK |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 24 minutes (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC |
| Release | June 8, 2005 |
Popetown is a controversial animated sitcom following the life of Father Nicholas, who lives in a Vatican City parody referred to as "Popetown". He is charged with being the handler for the Pope (who is always referred to by his title, and never given any name) who is a complete nincompoop with the emotional and mental maturity of a four-year-old. Father Nicholas must keep the Pope out of trouble, and make sure the general public does not find out that the Holy Father is a drooling idiot. Other characters include a priest who is a sexual deviant, and a trio of corrupt cardinals who secretly run the Vatican and attempt to get rich behind the Pope's back. These and other elements caused the show to be extremely controversial.
Ruby Wax is the voice actor for The Pope and Matt Lucas of Little Britain fame provides the voice for one of the cardinals.
The series was originally commissioned by the BBC in the UK, but was dropped from scheduling without a screening in the wake of protests from Roman Catholics. The premiere screened on New Zealand's C4 television network on June 8, 2005. Despite never being shown on British television, it was eventually released on DVD in the UK by Revolver Entertainment on 5 September 2005, in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment and in Germany by Polyband. It is also currently aired on MTV Latin America.
Controversy
New Zealand
The Catholic Church in New Zealand is considering laying a complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. Bishops have called for a boycott of all CanWest television and radio stations. C4 (New Zealand) had received many complaints about the show but refused to pull it from its lineup.
Germany
In Germany, MTV broadcast the first episode on 3 May 2006. After an advertisement was published at the start of the Holy Week featuring Jesus in a chair watching TV (with the heading "laugh instead of vegging out"), both MTV and the series drew sharp criticism from some Christians in Germany, and became a topic of public debate, even though few have had the opportunity to see the show.
The Christian Churches as well as the Jewish and Muslim Community and conservative politicians demanded that MTV withdraw the series. An evangelical magazine has put up an anti-Popetown website, www.stoppt-popetown.de. The Archbishop of Munich and the parliamentary leader of the conservative CSU party in Bavaria demanded criminal prosecution of those responsible for the series under § 166 of the Penal Code, the "blasphemy clause". Edmund Stoiber, leader of the CSU, also demanded more severe punishments for slander of religious feelings.
Nondenominational organizations like the IBKA and others argued that satire must be allowed and censorship must not take place. Supporters of the series brought forward the argument that Popetown cannot be forbidden, just as the Muhammad cartoons are allowed for reasons of press freedom.
After a discussion on MTV, which ended up with some 87% of online voters supporting broadcast, MTV decided to broadcast all of the other episodes. The experts taking position in the show said they would not broadcast it, but also not forbid it.
Currently the series is at its first rerun in Germany. The protests have officially completely disappeared from the media and most people have already forgotten about all the hysteria caused by the first episode. Nowadays it is mostly seen as just another average cartoon comedy. Ironically it was most likely the great hysteria that hyped the series.
United States
The series has yet to be broadcast or released on DVD in the United States, but it has spread by word-of-mouth, YouTube, or file sharing networks. In the April 20, 2006 edition of his weekly column, Parents Television Council founder L. Brent Bozell wrote an article criticizing Viacom for airing this anti-Christian series on MTV Germany as well as allowing a scene defacing Jesus Christ in the episode of the American animated series South Park, "Cartoon Wars Part II". In America, South Park is broadcast on the Viacom network Comedy Central.
Lithuania
In March 2007, the MTV Baltics network was fined 3,000 litas by the Lithuanian broadcasting regulator for airing the animation. In response, MTV series director Marius Veselis accused Lithuania of unmasking itself as a "sort of half-medieval, half-communist, sick culture".[1]
Staff
Writers
The show was written by a combination of seven different writers:
- Kevin Eldon
- James Bachman
- Mackenzie Crook
- Isabelle Dubernet
- Mark Evans
- Eric Fuhrer
- Phil Ox
- David Quantick
Phil Ox also served as director and producer for the series.
Core Cast
- Bob Mortimer - Father Nicholas
- Ruby Wax - The Pope
- Morwenna Banks - Sister Marie
- Jerry Hall - Sister Penelope
- Matt Lucas - Cardinal One
- Kevin Eldon - Cardinal Two
- Simon Greenall - Cardinal Three
- Ben Miller - Priest
See Also
Episode list
- Episode 1: The Double
- Episode 2: State Visit
- Episode 3: The Big Fight
- Episode 4: Trapped
- Episode 5: Possessed
- Episode 6: The Beautiful Game
- Episode 7: A Family Affair
- Episode 8: Career Opportunity
- Episode 9: Day Trip
- Episode 10: Derby Day
