''King Gary'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

television

comedy series Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television ...

made for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

co-created and written by Tom Davis and James De Frond. Davis also stars as the eponymous lead character, Gary King, while De Frond directs. The pilot episode was shown on

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

in the UK in December 2018. The show was commissioned for a full series which was aired in January 2020, with a

Christmas special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared Christmas in literature, in literature and Christmas music, in music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth o ...

shown on 23 December 2020 on BBC One. A second series was commissioned in February 2020. The BBC have revealed there are no plans for another series.

Plot

Set within a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

in the outer

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

suburbs, Gary King is a family man who has taken over his dad’s building firm after he retired. He must deal with the difficulties of family life, including disputes with his neighbours, his father, and his friends. Additionally, there are often

subplot In fiction, a subplot or side story is a strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporti ...

s involving the struggles of his partner Terri.

Cast

* Tom Davis as Gary King *

Laura Checkley Laura Checkley (born 18 July 1980) is an English actress and comedian known for playing the regular character Louise throughout three series of ''Detectorists'' on BBC Four, Monica in '' Action Team'' on ITV2, Terri King in the BBC One sitcom '' K ...

as Terri King *

Simon Day Simon William Day (born 7 June 1962) is an English comedian and actor known for his roles in the sketch show ''The Fast Show'' and the sitcom ''Grass''. Career Day was born in Blackheath, London, and rose to fame as a stand-up comic, winning ...

as Big Gary King *

Camille Coduri Camille Coduri (born 18 April 1965) is an English actress. She gained prominence through her role as Jackie Tyler, the mother of Rose Tyler, in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2006, 2008, 2010). She has since appeared in the BBC comedies '' Him & Her'' (2 ...

as Denise King *

Romesh Ranganathan Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan (born 27 March 1978) is a British comedian, actor, and presenter. His style of comedy is deadpan and often self-deprecating. Ranganathan has made numerous appearances on television comedy panel shows and has been a ...

as Stuart Williams *Miranda Hennessy as Chloe Ferdinando *

Neil Maskell Neil Maskell (born 1976) is an English actor, writer and director who is known for his appearances in British crime and horror films. His credits include '' Nil by Mouth'' (1997), '' The Football Factory'' (2004), '' Rise of the Footsoldier'' ( ...

as Winkle *Riley Burgin as Teddy King *Osi Okerafor as Darren Ferdinando

Episodes

Pilot (2018)

Series 1 (2020)

Christmas Special (2020)

Series 2 (2021)

Production

Davis and De Frond had known each other from school and previously worked together on '' Murder in Successville''. They tried to ensure all cast members were personally familiar with the suburban area on the outer London boroughs where the series is set, with Butterchurn Crescent’s location being Oak Lodge Avenue in

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Londo ...

Reception

Shane Allen, director of BBC Comedy said “With ''King Gary'' we also get a big daft southern comedy voice in Tom Davis at the centre of a very exciting cast.” ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' praised how “Davis and James De Frond have written about the working class world they know...Everything from the decor to the language feels right. They throw in a few good lines, too” but overall felt it compares less well with previous BBC sitcoms such as ''

Gavin and Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom created, written by and starring James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one from Billericay in Essex, and the other from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. Mathew Horne and ...

'' that covered some of the same cultural ground. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' praised “a decent supply of zingers” in the script. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' suspected the viewer would “either love or hate King Gary. It offers unsubtle

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

geezerish humour and barbecue was pronounced “BBQ” to an irritating degree. But I am quite unsubtle and have a puerile sense of humour and it made me smile, especially when I saw that Romesh Ranganathan was in it... Yes, it’s a bit crude and one-note and could wear thin after 30 minutes, but it was cheerful nonsense and we need more of that.”

References

External links

* * * * {{British Comedy Guide, tv, king_gary 2018 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 2010s British sitcoms 2020s British sitcoms Television series by Banijay Television shows set in London BBC television sitcoms British English-language television shows