Suburban Shootout

Suburban Shootout
Created by Roger Beckett
James Gary Martin
Laurence Bowen
Directed by Vito Rocco
Gordon Anderson
Starring Amelia Bullmore
Anna Chancellor
Felicity Montagu
Cathryn Bradshaw
Lucy Robinson
Emma Kennedy
Ralph Ineson
Tom Ellis
Ruth Wilson
Tom Hiddleston
Opening theme "The Stempington Stomp" by Daniel Pemberton
Ending theme idem
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 14
Production
Executive producer(s) Laurence Bowen
Producer(s) Greg Boardman
Running time 30 minutes (series 1)
60 minutes (series 2) (double episodes)
Broadcast
Original channel Channel 5
Original run 27 April 2006 – 20 September 2007

Suburban Shootout is a British satirical black comedy television series produced for Channel 5 and Paramount Comedy by Feelgood Fiction in association with Oxygen. The first series aired in the UK on Channel 5 from 27 April 2006. It began airing in the United States on 22 March 2006 on Oxygen and in Germany on Comedy Central in 2007. The second series began on Channel 5 on 6 September 2007.

Premise

Joyce Hazeldine and her policeman husband Jeremy move to what seems to be an idyllic home counties town of Little Stempington from London. She soon discovers there are two rival gangs of housewives, one headed by Camilla Diamond and one by Barbara Du Prez.

Once very good friends, Camilla and Barbara originally turned to weaponry and intimidation as a way of dealing with crime and antisocial behaviour, and gathered a small group of local women to help further their cause, but the group splintered into two smaller gangs when Camilla grew greedy and used their increased clout for her own personal gain, dealing in extortion, racketeering, coercion and threats to local businesses and residents of the town.

Barbara's gang continues to take extreme action against perceived 'threats to Little Stempington life' (planned low-cost housing, teenagers wearing hoodies, etc.), while also working tirelessly against Camilla's gang. Timid Joyce, unfortunately, becomes a pawn in both gangs, enlisted by Barbara to work undercover as a way of getting closer to Camilla.

The plot later thickens with Camilla racketeering the local recreational drugs market with 8 times strength HRT patches from their contacts in Marseille (hence the twinning with Marseille in the town sign).

Cast

Production

American remakes

In 2008, HBO commissioned a pilot episode of a U.S. version of "Suburban Shootout". The script was written by Michelle Ashford, the episode directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and filmed in the Hamptons, Long Island, NY in September 2008. The cast included Kelly Preston as Camilla Diamond, Judy Greer, Mary Birdsong, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Rachael Harris[2] The pilot was not picked up to series and never aired.[3]

ABC have commissioned a separate pilot script, also an adaptation of the UK series, this time written by Byron Balasco in the format of a one-hour comedy-drama series.[3] It remains to be seen if the script will be sent to pilot.

References

External links