''Grumpy Old Men'' is a conversational-style British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

series, first shown in October 2003 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

. The first run of four programmes was repeated several times before a second series, also of four episodes, was shown in 2004. A third series was broadcast in April 2006. There were also 2003 and 2004

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

specials. An Irish version, ''

Gaybo's Grumpy Men ''Gaybo's Grumpy Men'' is an Irish version of the BBC conversational-style television programme '' Grumpy Old Men'' on RTÉ which debuted in 2005. This Christmas special featured Gay Byrne as the onscreen presenter, as well as interviewer of his ...

'', was produced by

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

in 2005.

Format

The format shows a number of well-known middle-aged men talking about any issues of modern life which irritate them, from the proliferation of excessive

road sign Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...

s to unnecessary and overly-loud

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive telephone call, calls over a radio freq ...

conversations. Regular contributors include

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear'' and ''The Grand Tour'' alongside Rich ...

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part of ...

John Humphrys Desmond John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a Welsh broadcaster. From 1981 to 1987 he was the main presenter for the '' Nine O'Clock News'', the flagship BBC News television programme, and from 1987 until 2019 he presented on the BBC Radio 4 ...

A. A. Gill Adrian Anthony Gill (28 June 1954 – 10 December 2016) was a British journalist, critic, and author. Best known for his food and travel writing, he was also a television critic, was restaurant reviewer of ''The Sunday Times'', wrote for '' Van ...

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...

, Tony Hawks,

Simon Hoggart Simon David Hoggart (26 May 1946 – 5 January 2014) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He wrote on politics for ''The Guardian'', and on wine for ''The Spectator''. Until 2006 he presented ''The News Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. His journali ...

, John O'Farrell,

Rory McGrath Patrick Rory McGrath (born 17 March 1956) is a British comedian, television personality, and writer. He came to prominence in the comedy show ''Who Dares Wins'' and was a regular panellist on the game show ''They Think It's All Over'' for many ...

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with '' The Illuminatus!'' in 1977. There he g ...

, Matthew Parris,

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

, Arthur Smith,

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

Rick Stein Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

, Tony Slattery,

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born ...

Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...

Don Warrington Don Warrington MBE (born Donald Williams, 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian-born British actor. He is best known for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom '' Rising Damp'' (1974–78), and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective ser ...

Des Lynam Desmond Michael Lynam, (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, presentin ...

, Gerry Robinson,. The narrator is Geoffrey Palmer.

Spin-offs

The success of the series spawned '' Grumpy Old Women'', first as a Christmas special and then as a full series in 2005. It repeated the formula of the original, featuring famous middle-aged women talking about their pet hates. The grumpy old men and women together made a series, ''Grumpy Old Holidays'', in which they talk about the frustrations of air travel, packing and so on. This was first shown on 18 June 2006. A companion book to the series written by the original series producer

Stuart Prebble Stuart Prebble (born 15 April 1951) is Chairman of Storyvault Films, and is a former CEO of ITV, Granada Sky Broadcasting and of ITV Digital. Life Prebble was educated at Newcastle University, where he was editor of student newspaper '' The C ...

, ''Grumpy Old Men (The Official Handbook)'', was published in 2004, followed by ''Grumpy Old Men: The Secret Diary'' in 2005 and ''Grumpy Old Christmas'' in 2006, also by Prebble. The first series and its accompanying Christmas special was released on DVD and an audiobook based on the first two series was also made available, read by Arthur Smith. Following the success of ''Grumpy Old Men/Women'', the producers, Liberty Bell TV, have made a number of other series based on the same format, including ''Grumpy Old Holidays'', ''It's Grim Up North'', ''My Appalling School Report'', ''He Says, She Says'' and ''The Meaning Of Life''. All of these were broadcast on BBC Two, except the last-named which was on BBC One. The ''Grumpy Guide to Christmas'' was shown on BBC Two on 23 December 2009.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grumpy Old Men (Tv Series) 2000s British comedy television series 2003 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings BBC television documentaries English-language television shows