Desmond's

From GuyanaWiki

Template:Copyedit Template:Infobox television

Desmond's was a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. The first series was filmed in 1988, with the first episode broadcast in January 1989. The show was made in and set in Peckham, London, England and featured a predominantly West Indian cast.

Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay[1] this series starred Norman Beaton as barber Desmond Ambrose. Desmond's shop was a gathering place for an assortment of local characters.

Contents

[edit]

Notability

Whilst the show was not the first Black (or predominately Black) British sitcom it was the first to be set mainly in the workplace [1] which provided a different insight on Black family life than had been seen on British television before [2]. The characters were aspirational (Desmond to return to Guyana, Michael to run his own branch of the bank, Gloria to get a job in fashion, Sean to get to university) and socially mobile [1]. Some of the show's success and notability may well have also come from the fact that the vast majority of the cast and crew were black. [3]

[edit]

Characters

Much of the success of the show came from the dynamics and relationships both within the Ambrose family and the other characters in the show who spent time in the shop [2].

[edit]

The Ambrose family

The Ambroses were the central family that the show was built around. Barber Desmond and his wife Shirley (Carmen Munroe), bank manager eldest son Michael (Geff Francis), aspiring fashion writer daughter Gloria (Kim Walker) and student son Sean (Justin Pickett).

[edit]

Other characters

  • Augustus Neapolitan Cleveland 'Porkpie' Grant (Ram John Holder, who later had his own spin-off series, Porkpie) was an old childhood friend of Desmond's who also came from Guyana.
  • Ricky (Dean Gatiss) was Tony's replacement in the final series.
  • Lee 'The Peckham Prince' Graham (Robbie Gee) was the local wide-boy wheeler-dealer, often trying to sell his wares to the regulars in the shop.
  • Mandy (Mathilda Thorpe) was Michael's PA whom he married towards the end of the series.
  • Beverley (Joan Ann Maynard) was the local gossip, and often provided a prudish, old-fashioned viewpoint.
  • Aunt "Susu" Doreen (Mona Hammond), Shirley's ignorant sister, Porkpie's dream girl and later fiancé
  • Spider was Sean's best friend and had an open crush on Gloria
[edit]

Episodes

Series 1 (5 January - 9 February 1989)

  1. French Lessons
  2. The Offer
  3. Expansion Plans
  4. Hello, Auntie Susu
  5. A Surprise For Porkpie
  6. Sad News

Series 2 (22 January - 16 April 1990)

  1. The Treatment
  2. Hold De Front Page (Part 1)
  3. Hold De Front Page (Part 2)
  4. Veronica
  5. A Microwave, Five Men And A Nappy
  6. Reunion
  7. Porkpies
  8. For Love Or Money
  9. Stop The World, I Want To Get Off
  10. Here Comes De Sun
  11. Kung You
  12. Auntie Susu
  13. Thirty Year Itch

Series 3 (28 October 1991 - 3 February 1992)

  1. The Head Hunter
  2. The Peckham Pimpernel
  3. A Day In The Life
  4. Smokeless Fuming
  5. Relative Strangers
  6. Vanity Merchants
  7. The Waiting Game
  8. Driving Me Crazy
  9. Daydreams
  10. Dobbin
  11. The Prodigal
  12. Too Young
  13. The Roots Tradition

Series 4 (5 October - 28 December 1992)

  1. All Things Bright
  2. Flats, Lies And Videotape
  3. Growing Pains
  4. Lee's Journey
  5. Calypso
  6. The Kid
  7. Too Red Eye
  8. Susu Again
  9. Can't Buy Me Love
  10. Art Attack
  11. Go With The Flo
  12. My Two Sons
  13. The Godmother

Series 5 (27 September - 20 December 1993)

  1. A Class Act
  2. Shimmer And Shine
  3. Halcyon Days
  4. Lollipop Man
  5. Partnership
  6. Fairy Tales
  7. Love Match
  8. Coughs And Sneezes
  9. Kiss Of The Spiderman
  10. Two Lads And A Lady
  11. Shirley's Sermon
  12. A Matter Of Life And Death
  13. The Patter Of Little Feet

Series 6 (26 September - 19 December 1994)

  1. Do Me A Favour
  2. Hatchet Job
  3. Georgetown Dreaming
  4. Demon Barber II (Turbo)
  5. Love Letters
  6. Planning Permission
  7. The Speech
  8. Judgement Day
  9. The Return Of Hyacinth Green
  10. Heavy Traffic
  11. When The Cat's Away
  12. A Sign Of The Times
  13. O Little Town Of Peckham (60 Minute Special)
[edit]

Racism

Worrell was keen to show that racism existed not just between broad ethnic groups, but also within them. [1] While Matthew was the frequent butt of jokes from the West Indian characters, particularly Porkpie and Desmond, he was always keen to point out the strength of African history with his regular interjection "There's an old African saying". [2]

[edit]

Legacy

The show had a unique method of team writing [1] that raised the profile of some writers, notably playwright Michael J Ellis, who went on to work on other shows, including the BBC's all-black sketch show The Real McCoy, and Worrell himself went on to work in films.

Desmond's came 70th in the 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. Reruns aired in the USA on BET in the early-1990s. The show continued to be popular, running on NYCTV as part of their Caribbean programming on Sunday nights in the late-1990s. As of January 2007, the network still airs reruns of 'Desmond's' from time to time. From 1997 until late 2000, Paramount Comedy reran the show. Trouble TV, in the U.K., began showing re-runs of Desmond's in September 2007.

[edit]

DVD

The 1st series of Desmond's was released on Region 2 DVD On October 1,2007[4] and Series 1 and 2 were released in Canada as a 3-disc Region 1 DVD set by VEI Entertainment in March 2007.[5]

Desmond's Series 2 was released on April 14, 2008[6]

[edit]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Template:Cite web
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Template:Cite web
  3. ↑ British Sitcom Guide: Desmond's
  4. ↑ http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3438639/Desmond-s-Series-1/Product.html
  5. ↑ Amazon.ca: Desmonds: The Complete First and Second Series: DVD
  6. ↑ http://www.play.com/Channel4/DVD/DVD/RGNNR/3-/5160215/Desmond_s_Complete_Series_2/Product.html
[edit]

External links

Retrieved from "http://www.guyanawiki.org/mediawiki/index.php/Desmond%27s"
Personal tools