''Dark Ages'' is a British television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

, first broadcast as five thirty-minute episodes on ITV in December 1999. It portrayed medieval English villagers fearful of the turn of the new ( second) millennium in the year 999 AD, and parodied contemporary fears at the turn of the

third millennium In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...

(such as the Millennium Bug) in 1999. It was written by Rob Grant and directed by Steve Bendelack.

Production

''Dark Ages'' was created by Merle Nygate in 1996 and commissioned by Granada Television for development. Producer Justin Judd and Nygate could not make the concept work for an ITV audience, so Nygate was replaced by Rob Grant, better known for writing '' Red Dwarf'' for BBC Two. Grant's new scripts for ''Dark Ages'' were described by Judd as being more suited for a BBC Two audience, and Grant was required to alter them accordingly. Though a lot of scenes featuring computer-generated effects were required, ''Dark Ages'' still had a regular sitcom budget of no more than £200,000. Location filming of the village was done for a week at West Stow Anglo-Saxon village in Suffolk. Production then moved into a studio for five weeks between April and May 1999 to film scenes in front of a live audience. The costume designer was inspired by the works of Bruegel and from research visits to the

Jorvik Viking Centre The Jorvik Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England, containing lifelike mannequins and life-size dioramas depicting Viking life in the city. Visitors are taken through the dioramas in small carriages equipped with spea ...

. She created some costumes from scratch, using vegetable dyes from the era depicted, and re-used some from other productions. In post-production, the video was " filmized" to improve the production standards.

Episodes

#Vile Vole Pie #Vikings #War #Witch #The End of the World

Cast

* Phill Jupitus - Gudrun, an "Essex man of 1,000 years ago". * Alistair McGowan - RedwaldNamed after Rædwald, an Anglo-Saxon king. *

Pauline McLynn Pauline McLynn (born 11 July 1962) is an Irish character actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Mrs Doyle in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted'', Libby Croker in the Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'', Tip Haddem in the BBC ...

- Agnes *

Dave Lamb David Alexander Lamb (born 17 January 1969) is an English actor, comedian, narrator and presenter. He is best known for his narration work on '' Come Dine with Me'' as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially co ...

- Badsmith * Paul Putner - Bigwart * Mike Hayley - Byrnoth *

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), '' Two Pints ...

- Matilda * Laurence Howarth - Cedric * Jason Byrne - Arland

Guests

*Richard Ashton - Viking *

Tony Gardner Tony Gardner (born 10 January 1964) is an English actor and doctor. He sits on the national governing body of the actors' trade union Equity. Career Gardner qualified as a physician at Guy's Hospital in 1987, then as a general practitioner in ...

- Starbuck *

Miriam Karlin Miriam Karlin (23 June 19253 June 2011) was an English actress whose career lasted for more than 60 years. She was known for her role as Paddy in ''The Rag Trade'', a 1960s BBC and 1970s LWT sitcom, and in particular for the character's catchp ...

- Hag

References

External links

* * 1999 British television series debuts 1999 British television series endings Television series set in the 10th century Television shows set in England ITV sitcoms Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Granada Television 1990s British sitcoms English-language television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub