Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

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For the song, see Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please.
Two Pints of Lager
and a Packet of Crisps
Format Sitcom
Created by Susan Nickson
Starring Sheridan Smith
Will Mellor
Natalie Casey
Kathryn Drysdale
Ralf Little
Country of origin Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
No. of series 7
No. of episodes 63 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 30 mins
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Two (Series 1)
BBC Choice (Series 2)
BBC Three (Series 3- present)
Original airing February 26, 2001-
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (commonly shortened to Two Pints or Two Pints of Lager) is a BBC sitcom written by Susan Nickson. It is set in the town of Runcorn in Cheshire, England and revolves around the lives of five twentysomethings; it was first broadcast in 2001.

The title was inspired by the 1980 hit single "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" by Splodgenessabounds.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The executive producer of the show, Stephen McCrum, began the show after seeing writer Susan Nickson's work on Channel 4's Lloyd's Bank Film Challenge, entitled "Life's A Bitch", which starred Sean Hughes and Kathy Burke. Aged just fourteen, Nickson was asked by McCrum to come and work with him after a few years; consequently, Nickson began working on Two Pints when she was just eighteen.

McCrum tried to persuade the producers of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks to get Will Mellor and Natalie Casey to work with him, when the two acted on the programme. Casey had to go through several auditions to get the part. McCrum had wanted to work with Sheridan Smith since she began performing at a very young age. Smith auditioned for the part but was turned down; however, she was later cast for the first series, and has been part of the cast ever since. Ralf Little was cast soon after completing work on another BBC sitcom The Royle Family, on which he had also acted with Smith. Although initially reluctant, he agreed to audition when he realised that Two Pints would be very different from The Royle Family. Kathryn Drysdale was brought in after producers saw her perform at her drama school.

The show's pilot starred Little and Mellor, though the characters of Janet, Louise and Donna were portrayed by other actresses. Smith, Casey and Drysdale were then cast to be in the first series, and have been acting in the show ever since. Both Little and Smith, and Mellor and Casey play couples Jonny and Janet, and Gaz and Donna. Mellor and Casey also played couples on-screen in the past when they portrayed a couple in Hollyoaks. Smith stated how lucky she was to work with Little after starring together before, as playing such a close couple would have been awkward for them both. Mellor stated in a past interview how he sees Casey as a younger sister to him, and mentions that he feels awkward during kissing scenes because of this. Smith also classes Casey as the "mummy" in the show, due to her knowledge and problem solving skills. Typically, episodes end with a particularly dramatic scene, such as Jonny breaking the news to Janet about her parents turning down his request for her hand in marriage.

In 2007, a seventh series was commissioned. Speculation began after the showing of the last episode in series six, which led many people to believe the characters have been killed off. In one interview, Ralf Little stated in the future he would be doing "more Two Pints", and commentary on the series six DVD seemed to hint at the fact the show hasn't finished. Will Mellor hinted on television interviews, one being Loose Women, and more or less confirming it on The Paul O'Grady Show, after saying statements like "we'll keep on making it". Little announced during an interview for This Morning on 19 September 2007 that he would not be returning for the next series of Two Pints... due to an overwhelming schedule, and Jonny Keogh was therefore killed off screen in the first episode of the seventh series. An 8th series has been confirmed in an interview with Will Mellor in the Metro on April 21, 2008. In the interview he said that they would be filming the series from November 2008 to January 2009.[2]

[edit] Format

Although Two Pints is largely comedy, it sometimes, especially at the end of a series, becomes more dramatic and serious. Such storylines have included Janet & Jonny's split, Jonny's shooting, and Janet's imminent departure as a cruise singer.

Will Mellor has described the show as being "driven by sex and alcohol" and the show is known for its adult, sometimes scatological humour, mostly involving references to sex and private bodily functions. Vulgar language is also used, except that the word 'fuck' is uttered only once in each series, always in the final episode.[3]

[edit] Broadcast

BBC Two broadcast the first series, then the now-defunct BBC Choice screened series two. BBC Choice was rebranded as BBC Three shortly before it screened series three, and has shown the first run of each new series ever since. The channel currently broadcasts repeats of the show on an almost-nightly basis, covering all six present series. Back-to-back episodes are broadcast around 11pm, then there is sometimes a repeat broadcast of these two episodes the same night, at around 1am-2am. BBC Two also repeated the show, though only once, and used to be shown every Thursday. Dave is another channel that show repeats of the sitcom, and occasionally alongside UKTV Gold. Dave started showing later episodes in 2006 after only broadcasting the first few series. To mark this, the channel displayed "NEW" underneath its on-screen logo, leading to many people believing that the rights to show new episodes have gone to UKTV.

After series four, in which Jonny was shot by armed police, there was a text and phone vote for the viewers to determine if Jonny should die or not. Series five began with a funeral, which was revealed to be that of Donna's mother, Flo, rather than Jonny's.

Some series are accompanied by a special programme exposing errors that occurred during the filming. The show, titled Two Pints of Lager Outtakes, features interviews with cast and crew, each explaining the difficulties of getting various scenes to be performed as expected.

[edit] Main cast

Main article: List of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps characters

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps episodes

[edit] Distribution

[edit] DVD releases

All series to current date (1 to 7) have been released

Series Episodes Discs DVD release date
Region 2
1 & 2 12 2 UK: August 18, 2003
All episodes from the first and second series.
3 & 4 18 4 UK: September 6, 2004
All episodes from the third and fourth series (including the musical special).
1 to 4 30 5 UK: October 24, 2005
All episodes from the first to the fourth series.
5 14 2 UK: September 5, 2005
All episodes from the fifth series.
6 10 2 UK: September 4, 2006
All episodes from the sixth series plus interviews with the creators and cast, and a feature showing making of the horror special.
1 to 6 54 10 UK: October 16, 2006
All episodes from the first to the sixth series (including the musical special) with interviews with the creators and cast, and a feature showing making of the horror special
7 8 2 UK: April 21, 2008
All episodes from the seventh series, video diaries of the cast, 3 easter eggs, and a feature showing 24 hours until the live show.

The first four series have been released in packs of two (1&2 and 3&4), and as a complete series 1 to 4 single pack. Series 5 and 6 have been released separately. The six series were released as a single 10-DVD pack. Series 7 Released on Monday 21 April 2008

[edit] Filming locations

Many of the places featured in Two Pints are real:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Guide to Comedy: Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
  2. ^ Television - News - Mellor confirms 'Two Pints' return - Digital Spy
  3. ^ "Two Pints of Lager Outtakes". Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. 2008-03-09.

[edit] External links

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