Fly on the Walls

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Fly on the Walls is an episode of the BBC comedy series KYTV, from Series 3.

[edit] About the show

Fly on the Walls is one of the few episodes of KYTV to lack a studio presence for virtually the entire show. It is a documentary about the Wall family, chosen mostly because their name made such a clever title.

[edit] Characters

Mike Flex (played by Geoffrey Perkins) is the omnipresent KYTV host, often interfering with the family's life and outstaying his welcome. During the documentary he starts a relationship with Jenny, although he does ask her "how does it feel to be a mistake?" beforehand, thanks to her parents telling Mike this information in assumed confidence. He inadvertently kills Granny.

Les Wall (played by Angus Deayton) is an alcoholic in denial. He can often be found with a drink in his hand, either falling over in the bar (a la Only Fools and Horses), talking to himself in the mirror, or walking through glass doors.

Mrs Wall (played by Helen Atkinson-Wood) tries to be a good hostess but often fails; this is shown when her Christmas pudding is passed around the table by Les, and eventually the same bowl comes back to him. At the end of the show, she is alone in the house due to the rest of the family leaving, and overdoses on pills.

Mark (played by Philip Pope) is the rebel of the family, stealing cars, crashing cars (after being challenged by Mike Flex), and wishing his parents were dead so he could have the house. He is arrested at the end of the show with the assumption that he won't be coming back for a while.

Kevin (played by Michael Fenton-Stevens) is a slob, always sitting on the sofa and watching the TV. He is very insensitive, mainly because in his life, the TV comes first. He complains about going to Granny's funeral because he's missing Neighbours. When his partner Sandra asks how much money she could get for the way she looks, he says she'd get more than Demi Moore because "there's more of ya". At the end of the show he gets a job in a service station, ideal for him as he can watch CCTV all day, shame about the customers.

Sandra (played by ???) is Kevin's partner, and mother of their baby, Fizz. She cuts her knee when falling over KYTV equipment, and later her leg is amputated (see Mishaps, below). At the end of the show she leaves in a taxi with Fizz.

Jenny (played by Lucy Whybrow) is bad-mouthed to most of the family, even Granny, although Granny gives as good as she gets. Mike Flex starts getting friendly with her and they quickly form a relationship. At the end of the episode they leave the show together.

Granny (played by Jean Heywood) is going a bit senile, always thinking it's Christmas. When someone turns off a porn video that Kevin rented, she says "oi! I was enjoying that!". She annoys Mark during charades by continually saying "not allowed to talk". Eventually he tells her to shut up. Granny is killed when she puts her cigarette down the toilet after Mike Flex cleans it with turps.

[edit] Mishaps

A variety of things go horribly wrong during the course of the documentary:

  • The freezer defrosts due to the KYTV crew unplugging it so they can power up their equipment.
  • Sandra trips over some KYTV equipment, falling through a glass panel. One of the crew stops the bleeding from her knee with some heavyweight black tape. Later, Sandra has an operation on her knee, but a cameraman climbs a ladder and falls onto the surgeon, which results in her leg being amputated from just above her knee.
  • Mike Flex cleans the toilet with turps, then Granny uses the toilet and puts his cigarette in the bowl, resulting in her demise. At Granny's funeral, Mike Flex asks the undertakers to turn the coffin to the camera — cue clunking noises — and adds some dialogue to make the event more interesting. The undertakers start saying, "Up your end," until Mike asks one of them to add, "Down a bit".
  • Mark is arrested several times, mostly for stealing or crashing cars.
  • Les walks through a glass panel while heavily drunk.
  • Mrs Wall kills herself by taking an overdose on pills. In an earlier comment she stated that the show was a good idea in that it "brought out the best in all of us!"