British comedian Catherine Tate portrayed a vast gallery of eccentric, grotesque, and relatable recurring characters in character-driven sketches that perfectly captured the British zeitgeist of the time.
With its sharp social satire and catchphrase-heavy comedy, the series became a massive pop culture phenomenon in the UK.
Tate’s iconic characters included stroppy teenage Lauren “Am I bothered?” Cooper, arguably the show’s most famous creation; Joanie “Nan” Taylor (pictured below), an aggressive, racist and foul-mouthed Cockney grandmother who sweetly welcomed visitors but viciously ripped them apart the second they left the room (“What a fucking liberty!”); the overly-sensitive Derek Faye, whose mannerisms heavily suggested he was gay, yet he became violently offended and defensive if anyone made the slightest assumption about his sexuality (“How very dare you?!”); a cheerful, hyperactive Irish nurse named Bernie who completely neglected her patients’ medical needs to gossip about her wild personal life and her love of good food and men, or talk about mundane things, and charitable Geordie office worker Georgie who guilt-tripped her colleague into donating absurd amounts of money to highly specific, ridiculous local causes.
In the 2007 Christmas Special, Tate shocked audiences by dramatically killing off the beloved character of Lauren Cooper in a tragic kayaking accident, capping off the main run of the series.
At various times, Catherine’s supporting cast included Mathew Horne, Niky Wardley, Derren Litten, Aschlin Ditta, Angela McHale, Ella Kenion, Rebecca Front, Andy Dennehy, Bruce Mackinnon, Jonathan McGuinness, Lee Ross, Richard Lumsden, James Holmes, Brian Murphy, Martin Akehurst, Jennifer Rae Daykin, Nigel Betts, Charlie Hicks, Francesca Isherwood, JJ Bee, Lorna Brown, Tom Ellis, and Una Stubbs.
Tate’s Nan character returned on Christmas Day 2009 in an extended special entitled Nan’s Christmas Carol. The character also starred in a 2022 feature film titled The Nan Movie.
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yet he became violently offended and defensive if anyone made the slightest assumption about his sexuality (“How very dare you?!”); a cheerful, hyperactive Irish nurse named Bernie who completely neglected her patients’ medical needs to gossip about her wild personal life and her love of good food and men, or talk about mundane things, and charitable Geordie office worker Georgie who guilt-tripped her colleague into donating absurd amounts of money to highly specific, ridiculous local causes.
At various times, Catherine’s supporting cast included Mathew Horne, Niky Wardley, Derren Litten, Aschlin Ditta, Angela McHale, Ella Kenion, Rebecca Front, Andy Dennehy, Bruce Mackinnon, Jonathan McGuinness, Lee Ross, Richard Lumsden, James Holmes, Brian Murphy, Martin Akehurst, Jennifer Rae Daykin, Nigel Betts, Charlie Hicks, Francesca Isherwood, JJ Bee, Lorna Brown, Tom Ellis, and Una Stubbs.
