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''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the

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and first screened on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in the autumn of 2005. It stars

Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in ...

as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and

Michael Landes Michael Christopher Landes (born September 18, 1972) is an American actor of television and film. Personal life Michael Christopher Landes was born to Patricia and Bernard Landes on September 18, 1972 in The Bronx, New York (state), New York. ...

as Gil Raymond (Series 1 only). The series is written by

David Renwick David Peter Renwick (; born 4 September 1951) is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' and the mystery series ''Jonathan Creek''. He was awar ...

, directed by

Sandy Johnson Sandy Johnson (born July 7, 1954) is an American model and actress. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for the June 1974 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Mario Casilli. (A cropped image from this centerfold was used ...

and Christine Gernon and was produced by

Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...

. This was the last programme that Lambert produced before she died. The programme was initially a critical success although its audience figures were steady rather than spectacular, netting an average of five million viewers an episode. Renwick and his former scriptwriting partner Andrew Marshall have cameo appearances in one episode as members of a television sitcom scriptwriting team. The second series started on 1 March 2008 and finished on 17 May 2008. This series contained changes from the first, including a switch from six 60-minute episodes, to twelve of 30 minutes (i.e. nominally the same total of six hours). Although the character of Gil was mentioned throughout the second series, and momentarily seen in the final episode (using a clip of Michael Landes from the previous series), he was not a main character. The theme tune to ''Love Soup'' is "Alley Boogie" by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

singer Georgia White. The first series was released on DVD in the UK on 3 December 2007. The second series (and a boxset containing both series) was released on 10 May 2008.

Situation

Alice Chenery (

) and Gil Raymond (

) are perfect for each other. They like the same things, respect the same things, and share the same beliefs. The only problem is that they are completely unaware of each other's existence. Alice is a modern woman with old-fashioned values, who lives in Brighton, and commutes to London, where she is the manager of a perfume company concession in a department store. She is trying to sell her flat and move, without success. Her love life is no success either. She can never find the perfect man. What is worse, her colleagues, Cleo Martin (

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 ...

) and Milly Russel (

Montserrat Lombard Montserrat Lombard (born 1 August 1982) is an English actress best known for playing WPC (later DC) Sharon 'Shaz' Granger in the BBC drama series '' Ashes to Ashes''. Early life Lombard was born in London and is of Spanish and Italian desce ...

), always seem to have more success with men, though their relationships never really last more than a week. Cleo and Milly try to pair her up with several men, but to no avail. She does have some family members (at least one cousin), but her parents, Arthur and Grace, are both dead. Gil is an American comedy writer, who has moved to England to start a new project with TV producer Lloyd Drewitt (

Owen Brenman Owen Brenman (born 17 December 1956, in London) is an English actor best known for his role as next-door neighbour Nick Swainey in the multi-award-winning BBC sitcom '' One Foot in the Grave'', which ran for ten years (1990–2000) and was wri ...

). It is a series of six romantic comedies called ''Love Soup'' and he has been asked to write one of them. Things started badly for Gil when he arrived at his house (15 Carpenters Lane, Larch End), and discovered his girlfriend was seeing another man as soon as they arrived in the country. His next door neighbours are Bob and Irene Andrews (

Brian Protheroe Brian Protheroe (born 16 June 1944) is an English musician, actor and narrator. He is best known for his first single, "Pinball", which was released in August 1974, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 40 and reached a peak of number 22. ...

and

Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was two years ...

), who split up after Gil accidentally exposes Bob's affair with a prostitute. Afterwards, Gil becomes increasingly worried about Irene's intentions towards him. The series follows both Alice and Gil's somewhat forlorn attempts to find the perfect partner, while it is clear to the viewer that they would be the ideal couple. The series itself follows each plot separately, cutting from Alice's story to Gil's throughout the episode. The only exception is the final scene of the first series, which shows Alice in the theatre watching a comedy where she is the only person in the entire audience not laughing – apart from Gil, who is sitting two rows behind her. They still do not find each other. In the third episode of the second series, Alice arranges a date through a personal ad in a magazine. When he fails to turn up she returns home and rips up his photograph. She receives a phone call from Lloyd, telling her that his friend could not make the date. The reason is not stated on screen, but Alice, clearly shaken, picks up the torn photograph and reassembles it, it is a photo of Gil. The next episode, it is revealed that Gil died of a heart attack. In the seventh episode of the series, Alice is invited into Gil's world via Lloyd, where she begins a relationship with a writer, Douglas McVitie (

Mark Heap Mark Heap (born 13 May 1957) is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his roles in television comedies, including, '' Brass Eye'', '' Big Train'', ''Spaced'', '' Jam'', ''Green Wing'', ''Friday Night Dinner'', '' Upstart Crow'' and '' ...

). After a while she feels that there is little love in the relationship so she tries to break it up; Douglas, however, is determined to stay with her. Alice also moves in with Fae Maddison ( Amelia Curtis), a famous actress she meets after a date goes horribly wrong.

Episodes

Series 1

Series 2

*Episode 1: Smoke and Shadows Alice is worried when her predatory regional manager Catherine Sumpter (

Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...

) visits her, who is suspected of being a lesbian. She also worries about the intentions of her driving instructor. During one lesson, Alice is carjacked. Milly is in love with a shadow and Cleo discovers her boyfriend has made negative comments about her in a journal. *Episode 2: Integrated Logistics Cleo attempts to fix up Alice with a sales rep, but the date ends in failure. She then becomes involved in a

Dickensian Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

romance. Cleo also offends Milly by her attempts to put a man off her by claiming that Milly is a man. *Episode 3: Dream Twister Alice meets Mitch (

Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Two sketch comedy series '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and as the star of the sitcom ''The Kumars at No. 42''. H ...

), an old-school friend who has since become a lecturer. However, she worries that one of his students may be stalking him. Alice goes on a date with a man she meets through a lonely hearts column. He doesn't turn up, and when she reaches home she tears up his photo. *Episode 4: The Menaced Assassin A web of romantic deceit leads to Alice accidentally being caught up with the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism unit. Cleo discovers some people taking part in

dominance and submission Dominance and submission (also called D/s) is a set of behaviors, customs, and rituals involving the submission of one person to another in an erotic episode or lifestyle. It is a subset of BDSM. This form of sexual contact and pleasure has bee ...

games in a recycling centre. Milly has a relationship with a man who is half Native American. *Episode 5: Ragged Claws Alice falls for Matthew Carter, who sends her into a world full of smart cars, up-market restaurants and posh parties. Cleo and Milly fight over the same boyfriend and other more trivial matters. *Episode 6: Sophisticated Lady In an attempt to find Alice her perfect partner, Milly and Cleo health-screen every available man in the department store by looking at their confidential prescription records at the store's pharmacy. *Episode 7: Green Widow Alice is so short of money that she is forced to rent out her flat in Brighton and find cheaper accommodation in London, which ends up with her living with Milly. Lloyd meets Alice and introducers her to Douglas McVitie (Mark Heap), a writer who worked with Gil. *Episode 8: Lobotomy Bay Alice and Douglas begin to have a physical relationship and end up in trouble over an answering machine message. They have dinner with Douglas ex-girlfriend, who is working on a cartoon series, whom Alice later discovers features an unflattering character that looks like her. Guest stars Bill Bailey. *Episode 9: Kiss of Death Alice goes to a play at the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

featuring one of her lifelong heroes, Gordon Bexter (

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

). Baxter reveals that he is currently directing a controversial play about necrophilia written by the German playwright Stefan (Patrick Monckeberg). Alice decides there is no spark in her relationship with Douglas, and calls it off, but Douglas believes that the break-up is not working and they get back together. *Episode 10: Whose God is it Anyway? Alice moves in with actress Fae Maddison, whose dying

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

father is getting married. He asks Alice to pray for him, and the prayer gets answered, with it being revealed that he is going to live after all. As a result, his wife blames Alice for interfering with God. Douglas is trying to cope with the break-up by having acupuncture, taking drugs and dating his ironing lady (

Joanna Page Joanna Louise Page (born 23 March 1977) is a Welsh actress and presenter. She appeared as Stacey Shipman in the BAFTA-winning television series ''Gavin & Stacey''. She played Dora Spenlow in the 1999 adaptation of ''David Copperfield'', and f ...

) – but there is more to her than meets the eye. *Episode 11: Human Error Alice has problems coping with Fae's behaviour. A long-forgotten film script written by Douglas looks as if it will be finally produced. However, the actor who is due to play the lead role, Marty Cady (

Mackenzie Crook Paul James "Mackenzie" Crook (born 29 September 1971) is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He played Gareth Keenan in ''The Office'', Ragetti in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, Orell in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones ...

) appears to be too much to handle, especially after news reports circle about him and a dead prostitute. However, Douglas agrees to go to Marty's villa for six weeks to write the pilot. Lloyd ends up having a one-night stand with a woman with no arms. *Episode 12: Home When Douglas fails to contact Alice after 12 days; she begins to believe that their relationship is over. When Lloyd's relationship ends, Alice stops him from committing suicide. Lloyd gives Alice a CD containing Gil's diaries, which she reads and is moved to tears by. She later visits Gil's house and rests on the gate like Gil did in series 1. As she does this, Gil appears resting on the gate, she looks his way, doesn't see him, looks back to the house and he disappears.

Reception

Views of ''Love Soup'' are mixed. Andrew Billen in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' said that, "Like David Renwick's previous sitcom creation,

Victor Meldrew Victor Meldrew is a fictional character in the BBC One sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'', created by David Renwick and portrayed by Richard Wilson. The character epitomised the archetypal grumpy old man. Meldrew is a foil for the bothersome aspec ...

rom_''One_Foot_in_the_Grave''.html" ;"title="One_Foot_in_the_Grave.html" ;"title="rom ''One Foot in the Grave">rom ''One Foot in the Grave''">One_Foot_in_the_Grave.html" ;"title="rom ''One Foot in the Grave">rom ''One Foot in the Grave'' Alice is meant to represent a bunch of prevailing attitudes. In fact, like him, she is entirely implausible. Happily, this fundamental error makes her no less funny." James Walton in the ''Daily Telegraph'' commented negatively about the loss of Landes saying, "In the first series Gil's job as a TV scriptwriter meant that Renwick could always add a bit of edge by attacking modern television. Without that, and with Alice remaining so utterly lovely, the tone is often surprisingly soppy." The basis for this was subsequently rendered redundant as Alice began to move in media circles via her association with Lloyd, Douglas and Fae. Walton also wrote however that, "Renwick does his usual professional job with the script, and Greig is as good as ever at registering various shades of disappointment." Sam Wollaston in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' was critical of ''Love Soup'' writing, "I don't like the fact that so little happens. Or how implausible the few things that do happen are. I know it's meant to be comedy, not a reflection of real life; but it helps if comedy can keep a toe in plausibility (unless it's so crazy, like ''

Green Wing ''Green Wing'' is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch show '' Smack the Pony'' – Channel 4 commissioner Caroline Leddy and producer Victoria Pile – and stars Mark H ...

'', that it's funny for that very reason). But Milly falling in love with a shadow – actually more like a projection of a man on to the side of a van that miraculously happens outside her flat every night – well, that's just stupid. And I don't like its irritating jazzy soundtrack, or how small and British it all feels (and I mean both in the worst possible way). ''Love Soup'' is insipid broth and I've had enough already."

References

External links

''Love Soup''
at bbc.co.uk * {{IMDb title, 443390
''Love Soup''
at the

British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedies ...

''Love Soup''
at British TV Comedy
Woman's Hour
interview, 28 September 2005 2005 British television series debuts 2008 British television series endings 2000s British romance television series British comedy-drama television shows English-language television shows