Up in Town

Up in Town
Created by Hugo Blick
Starring Joanna Lumley
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 6
Production
Producer(s) Hugo Blick
Running time 10 mins
Production company(s) Baby Cow Productions
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Two
Original run 6 March 2002 – 5 April 2002
Chronology
Followed by Sensitive Skin

Up In Town is a six-part series of short (10 minute) monologues, featuring Joanna Lumley as the middle-aged, divorced and lonely Madison Blakelock. The series was produced for television by Baby Cow Productions, and screened on BBC Two. It has subsequently been released on DVD.[1]

Summary

Madison Blakelock is delighted to be living her 'new life', since her executive class husband, who works 'up in town', and she parted company 18 years before. And now she has nothing more to do but sit before her mirror, picking over the bones of her past with an optimism and energy dizzyingly at odds with her reality. As the unrecognised failures of her life mount up, the loss of love, friends, money, purpose and her beloved cat, the cracks in her terrifyingly maintained facade begin to show.

Critical reception

The series received a positive reception from critics. The Times praised Lumley and her "rich, darkly comic and beautifully observed performance".[1]The Guardian cited that the series deserved better scheduling.[2]

The series has also been compared to Alan Bennett's Talking Heads series of monologues.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 BBC Worldwide Press Releases BBC. 30 June 2003
  2. Joy of Six: Joanna Lumley's TV career The Guardian. 11 November 2008