1 9 9 9 (UK)
7 x 25 minute episodes 2 0 0 1 (UK)
7 x 25 minute episodes
Twenty-somethings Daisy Steiner (Jessica Stevenson), a frustrated writer, and Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg), an aspiring graphic artist who works at a comic book store, meet by chance in a London café while both are flat-hunting. She has just given up squatting, and his ex-girlfriend, Sarah, has kicked him out.
Despite barely knowing each other, they conspire to pose as a young professional couple to meet the prerequisites of an advertisement for a relatively cheap flat at 23 Meteor Street, Tufnell Park, owned by resident drunken landlady Marsha Klein (Julia Deakin).
Other tenants in the building include Brian Topp (Mark Heap), an eccentric conceptual artist who lives and works on his various pieces in the ground-floor flat.
Frequent visitors are Daisy’s fashion-obsessed best friend, Twist Morgan (Katy Carmichael) and Tim’s military-loving buddy, Mike Watt (Nick Frost), who ends up becoming a lodger.
Mike was kicked out of the Territorial Army for stealing a tank and trying to invade Paris.
Romantic tension develops between Daisy and Tim, particularly during the second series, and the fantasy sequences and otherworldliness – not to mention the clubbing and recreational drug taking – resonated with the twentysomethings that the series portrayed.
Guest appearances (many of them uncredited) included Ricky Gervais, John Simm, Mark Gatiss, Keith Allen, Alfie Allen, and Olivia Williams.
Despite its critical and cult following, an oft-talked-about third series never materialised, and a Fox remake was canned, mainly because the producers were not keen to involve its creators.
Stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and director Edgar Wright, went on to make the films Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013).
Tim Bisley
Simon Pegg Daisy Steiner
Jessica Stevenson Mike Watt
Nick Frost Twist Morgan
Katy Carmichael Brian Topp
Mark Heap Marsha Klein
Julia Deakin Sophie
Lucy Akhurst Tyres O’Flaherty
Michael Smiley Duane Benzie
Peter Serafinowicz Sarah
Anna Wilson-Jones Bilbo Bagshot
Bill Bailey Richard
James Lance Damien Knox
Clive Russell Dexter
Reece Shearsmith Colin
Ada
Other tenants in the building include Brian Topp (Mark Heap), an eccentric conceptual artist who lives and works on his various pieces in the ground-floor flat.
