Nathan Barley

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Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt and Claire Keelan, which follows the exploits of a loathsome, fictional twenty-something London media type. Described by his own creator as a "meaningless strutting cadaver-in-waiting", the character originated on Charlie Brooker's TVGoHome – a website parodying television listings – as the focus of a fly-on-the-wall documentary called Cunt. After the cult success of TVGoHome, the name "Nathan Barley" was frequently used pejoratively towards those whose lifestyles were satirised by the series.

[edit] Plot

Nathan Barley played by Nicholas Burns is a webmaster, guerrilla filmmaker, screenwriter, DJ and in his own words, a "self-facilitating media node". He is convinced he is the epitome of urban cool, and therefore secretly terrified he might not be, which is why he reads Sugar Ape magazine, his bible of cool. The magazine is an obvious parody of Vice Magazine and even has one issue called "The Vice Issue".

In reality however his output is of no real interest to anyone but him and his immediate friends. The website consists of stupid pranks caught on camera, photos of him with attractive women and famous figures (some of them digitally edited to insert himself), and photos of him standing on street corners in major cities around the world. He is of the belief that because he has a camera, some knowledge of web publishing and some webspace, this makes him talented.

The humour derives from the fact that since the rapid rise of the internet and the explosion of digital television, actual publishers and broadcasters think that such work is worthy of attention. Barley and his peers are often hired ahead of actual journalists and talented writers trying to make intelligent points, such as the earnest documentary film maker Claire Ashcroft, and her brother Dan Ashcroft, a jaded and apathetic hack who, having written an article for Sugar Ape entitled "The Rise of the Idiots", is disgusted to find that "the idiots" in question – Nathan and his contemporaries – have adopted him as their spiritual leader, failing to see that they are the very people he was criticising.

[edit] Characters

The series features two other central characters, siblings Dan (Julian Barratt) and Claire Ashcroft. Dan – an instantly recognisable Brooker point-of-reference – dislikes everything Nathan Barley stands for, while Claire seeks to highlight the plight of the inner city's homeless and drug-dependent. Ironically, while Dan sees a clear distinction between himself and the "idiots", he's frequently forced to compromise his own ethics in order to earn a living, and seems to be fighting the dawning realisation that he may actually be the very thing he despises. At the same time, Claire, who clearly wants to see herself as socially responsible and philanthropic, ultimately only seeks to further her own career. This sets the scene for an unusually open-ended, and certainly introspective, satire-bordering-on-social-commentary.

Other recurring characters include the staff at Dan Ashcroft's magazine, Sugar Ape, such as asinine chief editor Jonatton Yeah? (Charlie Condou), Ned Smanks (Richard Ayoade) and Rufus Onslatt (Spencer Brown), a pair of gormless graphics designers, Sasha the receptionist (one of the few non-"idiots" in the show), and the eccentric and ludicrous Doug Rocket, founder member of The Veryphonics (a parody of David A. Stewart of Eurythmics), played by comedian The Divine David.

Dan Ashcroft's flatmate is a DJ called "Jones", who appears blissfully unaware of the antisocial cacophony he creates. Jones is played by Noel Fielding, Barratt's partner in comic duo The Mighty Boosh.

The first episode was broadcast on February 11, 2005 on Channel 4. The six-episode run was co-written by TVGoHome creator Brooker and Chris Morris. Morris also directed.

[edit] Promotion

A piece of Nathan's artwork.

Advertising for the series attracted some attention, with billboards advertising a fictitious yet almost plausible mobile telephone, the Wasp T12 Speechtool ("it's well weapon"), appearing throughout the UK. This device was advertised as being exceptionally loud, with several hugely annoying ringtones, a giant key for the number 5 (allegedly the most common number), a powerful projector, a business card printer and miniature turntables for scratching MP3s. It was also apparently "shark-proof".

Barley's website, == trashbat.co.ck == serves as an official site for the television series, and remains active as of June 2008.

The DVD of the series was released in October 2005, featuring all six episodes, a host of extras (including the pilot) and a booklet written by Nathan featuring his "artwork". The artwork in question is largely in the style of prolific graffiti artist Banksy and the book could easily be mistaken for a book showcasing Banksy's work.

[edit] Cast

• Nicholas Burns – Nathan Barley
• Julian Barratt – Dan "Preacher Man" Ashcroft
• Claire Keelan – Claire Ashcroft
• Ben Whishaw – Pingu
• Richard Ayoade – Ned Smanks
• Spencer Brown – Rufus Onslatt
• Charlie Condou – Jonatton Yeah?
• Nina Sosanya – Sasha
• Rhys Thomas – Toby
• Noel Fielding – Jones
• David Hoyle (aka "The Divine David") – Doug Rocket
• Rupert Degas – Beer Gourd Man
• Ophelia Lovibond – Mandy
• Joe Van Moyland – Mudd
• Montserrat Lombard - Monika

[edit] Nathan Barley 2

Continued rumours of a second series of the comedy,^[1] including possible auditions for extras,^[2] were given added weight with reports that Chris Morris told students at a talk at Bournemouth University that he was working on new Nathan Barley material. The new series will centre on Barley's new-found employment in a general "media-facilitation" role for a small East-London based terrorist organisation.^[3][4]

Further evidence of another series has been given weight when Flak magazine reported that Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker were working around the scripts amongst other projects^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Trashbat.co.ck – Official Website
• British Sitcom Guide
• A Cunt Compendium – the collected Cunt entries from TVGoHome
• BBC News: Anatomy of a backlash – Nathan in the context of Internet hype
• Text from press release for the Nathan Barley show
• Nathan Barley on IMDB
• Sugarape.com – Unofficial Sugar Ape Website