Cuckoo (TV series)

Cuckoo
Created by	Robin French Kieron Quirke
Written by	Robin French Kieron Quirke
Directed by	Ben Taylor
Starring	Andy Samberg Greg Davies Helen Baxendale Tamla Kari Tyger Drew-Honey Taylor Lautner Esther Smith
Composer(s)	Oli Julian
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	2 (3rd announced)
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	Dan Hine
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Roughcut Television
Release
Original network	BBC Three
Original release	25 September 2012 (2012-09-25) – Present (Present)
External links
Website

Cuckoo is a British sitcom which began airing on BBC Three on 25 September 2012, repeating on BBC One.

Written by Robin French and Kieron Quirke, the first series starred Greg Davies, Andy Samberg, Helen Baxendale, Tamla Kari and Tyger Drew-Honey. The Executive producers are Ash Atalla and Dan Hine. The series launch became BBC Three's most-watched comedy launch, beating the record set by Bad Education which debuted the previous month. Greg Davies was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. At the British Comedy Awards, Cuckoo was nominated for Best New Comedy Programme and Greg Davies was nominated for Best TV Comedy Actor.

The BBC ordered a second series, but it looked uncertain due to Andy Samberg's busy schedule. In February 2014 it was finally announced that Andy Samberg would not return for the second series, Taylor Lautner replacing him as a new character described as "a handsome and mysterious young stranger". The second series began on 7 August 2014. A special episode was aired at Christmas 2014 and a third series was announced in May 2015 which would be aired at 16 February 2016, and is due to pick up where the Christmas Special left off.

In spring 2015, NBC made a US pilot of Cuckoo, starring Michael Chiklis, Cheryl Hines and Flula Borg.^[1] UK writers Robin French and Kieron Quirke, who created the BBC series, wrote the adaptation with The Simpsons veteran Tim Long, who served as showrunner.

Plot

Series 1

Cuckoo is set in Lichfield, Staffordshire, (external scenes are mostly filmed in Slough, Berkshire and Amersham, Buckinghamshire), home to the Thompson family. When Ken (Davies) and Lorna (Baxendale) collect their daughter Rachel (Kari) from the airport, they learn that she has returned from her gap year before medical school having married Dale "Cuckoo" Ashbrick (Samberg) - an eccentric American "hippy" with an all-loving attitude, who does not have a job and loves to take drugs.

Series 2

Two years have passed and we learn that Cuckoo (Samberg) died in a climbing accident in the Himalayas, Dylan (Drew-Honey) is heading off to university and Rachel (Smith) is moving in with new boyfriend Ben (Lacey). Dale (Lautner), a young hirsute American arrives — claiming to be Cuckoo's son, searching for his father whom he has never met. Taking pity, Ken and Lorna ask him to stay.

Series 3

Six months after Dale's dramatic departure at the end of the Christmas special of Series 2, Rachel is still heartbroken and missing Dale, but she has managed to salvage a certain friendship with her jilted former fiancé Ben (Lacey). Just as life looks like it's about to return to normal in the Thompson household a transformed Dale returns to shake things up all over again. Meanwhile, Ken and Lorna are preparing for the birth of their unexpected new baby, and their son Dylan (Drew Honey) is getting ready to leave for university.^[2]

Cast

Main cast

• Greg Davies as Ken Thompson
• Helen Baxendale as Lorna Thompson
• Esther Smith as Rachel Thompson (Series 2-)
• Tyger Drew-Honey as Dylan Thompson
• Taylor Lautner as Dale Ashbrick Jr. (Series 2-)

Former cast

• Andy Samberg as Dale "Cuckoo" Ashbrick (Series 1)
• Tamla Kari as Rachel Thompson (Series 1)

Recurring cast

• Kenneth Collard as Steve Chance
• Selina Griffiths as Connie Chance
• Holly Earl as Zoe Chance
• Philip Jackson as Tony
• Matt Lacey as Ben

Guest cast

Ratings

Official ratings from BARB.^[3]

Series 1

Series 2

DVD release

The first series of Cuckoo was released on DVD on 1 September 2014.^[4]

The second series of Cuckoo was released on DVD on 4 January 2016.^[5]

Soundtracks

Series 1

In the episode "Family Meeting", family and friends are dancing to "Second Hand News" by Fleetwood Mac.

In the episode "Ken on E" in which Cuckoo sits reading a book whilst listening to "Shake Break Bounce" by The Chemical Brothers. In the same episode, various songs by Dexys Midnight Runners are featured.

The song playing over the last scene and credits of the episode "The Wedding", is "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers.

Series 2

In the episode "Potato Party", "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)" by N.E.R.D and "Mishto" by Gogol Bordello are featured during the party.

Rachel is listening to "Silver Lining" by First Aid Kit in the episode "Tribunal".

The song playing over the last scene and credits of the episode "Neighbourhood Watch", is "Blue Moon" by Beck.

References

External links

• Cuckoo at BBC Programmes
• Cuckoo at the Internet Movie Database