The High Life (TV series)

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The High Life
High Life
The High Life
Format Sitcom
Created by Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson
Starring Alan Cumming
Forbes Masson
Siobhan Redmond
Patrick Ryecart
Country of origin Scotland
No. of episodes 6 (+1 pilot)
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel BBC
Original run 9 January 1994 – 10 February 1995

The High Life was a Scottish situation comedy written by and starring Forbes Masson as Steve McCracken and Alan Cumming as Sebastian Flight. Cumming and Masson met at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and united after several solo projects, to create the theatrical BBC sitcom, The High Life. The two leads were based heavily on their famous Scottish comedy alter-egos, Victor and Barry.

The series followed the cabin crew at the fictional airline, Air Scotia, flying out of Prestwick Airport. The crew consisted of the camp, alcohol-loving, narcissistic and bitchy steward, Sebastian; his sex-obsessed colleague Steve; their up-tight, antagonistic chief stewardess, Shona Spurtle; and the eccentric pilot, Captain Hilary Duff.

Sebastian and Steve longed to be promoted to long-haul flights to see exotic locations, instead of the current short-haul trips with their superior Shona, played by Siobhan Redmond, whom they described as 'Hitler in tights', ‘Mussolini in Micromesh‘ and ‘Goebbels in a Gossard‘. The deranged pilot, Captain Duff, played by Patrick Ryecart, would need to be frequently reminded who he was, where the cockpit was and where he was flying to.

Interspersed with surrealism, childish humour, sarcasm and theatrical song and dance numbers; The High Life combined intelligent dialogue and superb comic acting to create an anarchic Scottish sitcom. It only ran for one series due to Alan Cumming being beckoned towards Hollywood; however during an interview, Masson claims that a second series was written, yet not acted upon. Despite its short-run, it is remembered for Steve and Sebastian’s joint catchphrase: ‘Oh deary me!’ and for the opening sequence which featured the cast performing a spectacular dance routine to the title song.

The series ran for six thirty minute episodes. The Comic Asides pilot was broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm on Sunday 9 January 1994. The series of six episodes were broadcast on Friday Nights at 9.30pm between 6 January and 10 February 1995.

The entire series (including the pilot) was released on VHS and DVD in 2002.

Contents

[edit] Cast, Characters and Crew

Crew

  • Alan Cumming - Writer
  • Forbes Masson - Writer
  • Tony Dow (director) - Director (pilot)
  • Angela deChastelai Smith - Director (series)
  • Tony Dow (director) - Producer

[edit] Episode guide

  • Pilot - "The High Life" - Same plot as "Choob".
  • Episode 1 - "Feart" - Steve and Sebastian decide to find away out of Air Scotia. The impending arrival of the staff inspector could make these dreams come true.
  • Episode 2 - "Birl" - Air Scotia employees attend a weekend of intensive training. Steve finds love with flight-attendant, Heather.
  • Episode 3 - "Winch" - Sebastian returns from his holiday in Florida to discover something has happened between Shona and Steve.
  • Episode 4 - "Choob" - An almost total reshoot of the Comic Asides Pilot. Shona lands the job of presenting the Air Scotia’s in-flight video, much to Sebastian’s annoyance.
  • Episode 5 - "Dug" - Sebastian decides to enter the Song For Europe contest as Scotland’s first entry, in a hope to find fame and fortune, and some girls for Steve.
  • Episode 6 - "Dunk" - The crew become involved in a small-business espionage plot around biscuits in a spoof of the 1960s series of Batman.

[edit] References

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[edit] External links