Second series and DVD due Autumn 2005
A Baby Cow Production for the BBC
Starring Julia Davis
"Jill Farrell, mid 20’s, widow, with a lust for life and a flexible spine." Julia Davis
Julia Davis heads an impressive cast in Nighty Night, a dark comedy/drama series which she wrote for the BBC. The series could be described as a West Country version of Fatal Attraction. It centres on Jill, a woman with an obsession, who is the co-owner of a suburban beauty salon. She has other things on her mind though, namely the handsome doctor who lives in the house opposite with his wife, a wheelchair user. Jill claims her hospitalised husband is dying of a terminal illness and so descends on the life of the unfortunate couple… and refuses to leave. Julia is aware that Jill may well be described as a ‘monster’ and that Nighty Night covers controversial topics including MS and cancer but says: "If this was drama no one would question it, so why not look at these things in comedy? "The beleaguered doctor, Don, is played by Angus Deayton, whose acting credits include playing Patrick, the long suffering neighbour of Victor Meldrew in BBC One’s One Foot In The Grave for ten years. Kevin Eldon (Big Train, World of Pub, Jam) plays Jill’s husband, Terry, while Don’s wife Cath, is played by Rebecca Front (Time Gentlemen Please, Big Train, Knowing Me, Knowing You). Jill has an obsessive admirer of her own in the form of Brian, who is played by Mark Gatiss (League of Gentlemen). Other cast members include Ruth Jones (Fat Friends, East is East and Human Remains) who plays Linda, a hairdresser and Michael Fenton Stevens (Absolute Power, Trevor's World of Sport, KYTV, People Like Us) as the vicar. Nighty Night is the latest addition to an award winning, highly original list of projects that Julia has been involved with as actor and writer. Her credits include BBC Two’s Human Remains, which she co-wrote and starred in with Rob Brydon. The series won a Banff award and Julia won an RTS award for her performance. Other credits include Big Train and Brass Eye. Made by production company Baby Cow, Steve Coogan, Henry Normal and Ali MacPhail are executive producers of the series.
on location with Tony Dow (director)
link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc three/tv/nightynight.shtml
Episode Synopsis
Episode One
Jill sees a whole new world of possibilities opening up for herself through Terry’s terminal illness. She tells everyone that Terry is dead, joins the "Lasso the Moon" Matchmaking Agency and goes on a rather peculiar blind-date with Glen who describes his personality as "Scottish". Jill then attends her‘Fun and Fellowship’ group at the local village hall and meets her new neighbour and man of her dreams - Doctor Don Cole. She locks her sights firmly on the GP, who she discovers has just moved into the house opposite, but there's one problem - he has a wife, in the form of wheelchair bound Cath. Undeterred by this small obstacle, Jill descends on their lives…and won’t leave.
Episode Two
Jill decides to infiltrate Cath and Don’s marriage further by inviting Don around for a dinner of smashed prawns in a milky basket but her plans are thwarted when Cath turns up for dinner too. Meanwhile, Terry tries to get in touch with Jill, but she continues to ignore his calls.
Episode Three
Jill continues to play the part of the grieving wife and arranges a session at the "Fun and Fellowship Group" to discuss the theme of punishment. Jill chooses Cath as her group example and attempts to free her of the "dwarf inside". Jill also gives Cath an early birthday present 'Celebrating Celibacy. Heal Yourself Through Refrainment' by Caro and Barry Bibbens, which Cath embraces whole heartedly much to Don’s frustration. Meanwhile, Jill develops a mystery illness and seeks Don’s help.
Episode Four
Don attempts a reconciliation with Cath but Jill is now firmly established in their home and has no intention of allowing the two to make up. Jill enjoys a sing-a-long with Cath and Don’s son David, then Jill cooks Don a Beef Wellington before showing him her crab. Meanwhile Terry is ready to be released from hospital and prepares himself for the move to St Willoughby's Hospice, where he expects to live out his last few days.
Episode Five
A determined Cath finally stands up to Jill and throws her out of the house. Cath then decides that she and Don are going to move out and join a religious community. Undeterred, Jill continues with her plans to hold Terry’s funeral and invites Cath and Don. However, at the funeral, an unexpected guest makes a surprise appearance.
Episode Six
As the series concludes, Jill makes some big decisions. Having discovered Glen is wealthy, she moves in with him, pretending to start a new life. However, her past finally catches up with her…
The cast
Julia Davis as the unfeeling Jill Farrell, who runs a suburban beauty salon and does really bad haircuts
Angus Deayton as debonair doctor Don Cole
Rebecca Front as Cath Cole, his MS-suffering wife
Kevin Eldon as Terry Farrell, Jill's cancer stricken husband
Ruth Jones as Linda the tardy, lardy, asthmatic hairdresser
Michael Fenton Stevens as the vicar Gordon Forks
Felicity Montagu as Sue 2, Gordon's wife who is a leading light in the Fun & Fellowship group
Kitty Fitzgerald as Joy, the smelly, elderly assistant at Beauty By Jill
Mark Gatiss as Glenn Bulb. Had a blind date with Jill and, despite rejection, still pursues her
Marc Wootton as Gary, the boss of the Lasso The Moon dating agency
REVIEWS
Sunday Times
Comedies don’t get any blacker than this. "I'm sorry," says the doctor in the opening lines, "I'm afraid it's not good news. The lump we removed was malignant. We'll have to start treatment immediately." Nighty Night, written by and starring Julia Davis, is based on a cast of characters suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, terminal selfishness and sexual desperation who simmer slowly in a Stygian casserole. It is far too dark to be laugh-out-loud funny, but instead of the usual predictable gags, it offers something far more original and absorbing, a bleak comic vision supported by fine performances. Laugh? I nearly died. DC
The Evening Standard
"Julia Davis's bleak black-comedy drama is so bravely and inventively misanthropic that I found myself laughing more last night than I have done in year..... the faultlessly superb supporting cast were as gloriously dysfunctional as the leads.... this is the funniest British comedy I've seen in years."
Radio Times. One photo from a long session. This is the only one where, out of boredom, we thought it might be funny to grin inanely. Naturally, it is the one they used! Kevin Eldon is not grinning as he wasn't there. His image was added later.
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