''Nighty Night'' is a

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 ...

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

starring

Julia Davis Julia Davis (born August 1966) is an English actress, comedian, director and writer. She is known for writing and starring in the comedies Human Remains (TV series), ''Human Remains'' (2000) and ''Nighty Night'' (2004–2005). She later worke ...

. It was first broadcast on 6 January 2004 on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. Notorious for its dark humour, the show follows narcissistic sociopath Jill Tyrell (Julia Davis) alongside her moronic personal assistant Linda (

Ruth Jones Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2010, 2019, 2024), for which she won the B ...

). Jill learns that her husband Terry (

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV ...

) has cancer. She uses this to manipulate new neighbour Cathy Cole (

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" ...

), who suffers from MS, and her husband Don (

Angus Deayton Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. Deayton was the original presenter of two successful British comedy panel shows, ''Have I Got News for You'' (1990–2002) and ''Woul ...

), a doctor and the man with whom Jill becomes increasingly obsessed.

Production

The theme tune used in the beginning of both series and during the closing credits for the first is an excerpt from the

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

'' My Name Is Nobody'', composed by the Italian film composer

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

. Parts of the show were filmed in the

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

town of

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

and the village of Cobham, the latter includes the cul-de-sac where Jill and the Coles live.

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Jill Tyrell *

as Catherine “Cathy” Cole *

as Don Cole *

as Terry Tyrell (season 1) *

as Linda *

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

as Glen Bulb * Felicity Montagu as Sue * Michael Fenton Stevens as Gordon the vicar (season 1; guest season 2)

Supporting cast

* Kitty Fitzgerald as Joy (season 1) * Ralph Brown as Jacques (season 2) *

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won three Royal Television Society awards, four British Comedy Awards, and four BAFTA nominations for her self-driven semi-autobiographical ...

as Beth (season 2) * Llewella Gideon as Floella Umbagabe (season 2) *

Loui Batley Louie Anne Batley (born 9 June 1987) is a British actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her role as Sarah Barnes in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. Early life Louie Anne Batley was born in Chorley on 9 June 1987. She attende ...

as Natalie (season 2) *

Marc Wootton Marc James Wootton (born 8 February 1975) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his role as Mr Poppy in the '' Nativity!'' film series. He also starred in the television series '' High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman'', ...

as Gary Furze (season 1) and Dennis (season 2) * Georgie Glen as Sister May (season 1) and Bluebell (season 2)

Plot

First series

Immediately after her husband begins cancer treatment, Jill goes to a

dating agency A dating agency, also known as a marriage bureau, marriage agency, matrimonial bureau or matrimonial agency, is a business that provides matchmaking services to potential couples, with a view toward romance and/or marriage between them. Variati ...

to find another man, seemingly content in the knowledge that her husband will shortly die. Jill uses her status as widow (despite Terry being still alive) to gain sympathy from her neighbours and co-workers. Don is a family doctor and his wife Cathy has

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

and often uses a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

. Using the pretence of caring for Cathy, Jill gradually moves in with them, flirting with their son David and trying to break up their marriage and sleep with Don, all the while playing the sympathy card with Cathy. When Jill finds out Terry is recovering, she admits him to a hospice and tells all her friends that he has died, and stages a twisted funeral where she gets all the attention. Terry leaves the hospice and finds his way home. Jill imprisons him in a spare room and begins starving and brutalising him, but explains she is doing it only to aid his recovery. Cathy and Don put forward their plans to move to Hopperton, a Christian retreat with a high population of lesbians. When Jill hears of this she throws a farewell coffee morning for them, livening it up by performing a pole dance routine, whilst the neighbours watch in horror. After the party Jill, realising she must be rid of Terry once and for all, runs upstairs and smothers him with a cushion. Three weeks pass, and Jill has moved in with the wealthy but dimwitted Glen at his mansion. One morning, Jill goes downstairs to find Glen has invited Gordon, the local vicar and friend of Jill, to arrange a wedding. Jill realises she is about to be found out, so confesses to murdering her husband to Glen. She puts poison in dishes of

Angel Delight Angel Delight is a powdered dessert mix produced in the United Kingdom. It is designed to be whisked with milk to create a sweet mousse-like dessert. Angel Delight was released in 1967 by the Bird's company, in a strawberries-and-cream flav ...

and encourages Gordon to eat some. As he chokes on it, she tells Glen that if he loves her he would agree to take the blame for Gordon's and Terry's deaths and persuades him to make a telephone confession to the police. This done, Jill suggests that they both commit suicide by eating the Angel Delight, and he gives in to her persuasion. When it is her turn to eat the Angel Delight, she declares, "I'm not really hungry". The poison takes effect and Glen drops to the floor. With Glen having taken the blame for Gordon and Terry's deaths, Jill rings Don.

Second series

Glen has survived Jill's attempt to kill him, but having confessed to killing Terry and Gordon, he is incarcerated in a secure unit for the criminally insane. Realising that she must inherit Glen's money to fund her pursuit of Don, she agrees to marry him and then begins a campaign to kill him. Jill steals a caravan from Linda and pursues Don to

Bude Bude (, locally or ; Cornish language, Cornish ) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, where he and Cathy are trying fix their marriage at a New-Age retreat called The Trees. En route to The Trees, they accidentally run over Floella Umbagabe, a therapist planning to work at the retreat. They store her body in their caravan and Jill assumes Floella's identity to gain access to the centre. When Cathy reveals she is pregnant with Don's baby and that he will be having a

vasectomy Vasectomy is an elective surgical procedure that results in male sterilization, often as a means of permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into ...

, Jill realises her chances of securing him permanently are running out, so she tries to obtain a semen sample from Don prior to surgery. Ultimately unsuccessful, she tries to seduce Cathy and Don's 12-year-old son Bruce, and when he does not respond she claims to his parents that he raped her and she is pregnant by him. Meanwhile, Glen has tunnelled his way out of his cell and has tracked Jill to Cornwall; Floella Umbagabe has recovered and arrived at The Trees, exposing Jill as a fraud. The story flashes forward 11 months. Cathy has given birth to her baby Abigail. Don tells Sue that he wants to move to Spain with her to start a new life. Jill overhears and assumes Don is talking about her. Glen finds Jill and threatens to kill her. Convincing him that she's pregnant with his baby, Jill once again deceives Glen into submission. After Jill's lies are once again exposed, she is chased to a cliff, where Cathy confronts her about her fake pregnancy and her repeated attempts to seduce Don. They begin to fight while Don and Sue have sex on the rocks below. Cath's wheelchair is hurled off the cliff, killing Sue just before Cathy pushes Jill off the cliff. Her fall is broken by a trampoline, and then by Don. Cathy is arrested and taken away by the police, while Jill rides off in a speed boat with Don and Glen.

International broadcast

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, this programme commenced airing on ABC TV each Wednesday at 9pm from 23 March 2005.

Reception

The first series won a Banff Award and Davis won a

Royal Television Society Award The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

for her performance and got a highly positive reception from TV critics. It also received a nomination for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Situation Comedy in 2005. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called it "an exquisitely vile comic creation" and adding that "''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' might have popularised the comedy of embarrassment, but ''Nighty Night'' has moved it on." ''

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 ...

'' called it "a blistering wall of superbly unredeemed cruelty that manages to trample over every social convention in a pair of cheap stilettos." In viewership, while no data were reported for the first series, the second series began strongly with 616,000 viewers - BBC Three's second-highest rated show of the week. Ratings slipped sharply from thereon, however, with the final two episodes registering fewer than 400,000 viewers and falling outside of the channel's top 10 shows both weeks.

US version

In June 2006 it was announced that ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'' creator Darren Star would write and be executive producer of a US version, which has been commissioned for a pilot script.

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. His accolades include four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...

and

Henry Normal Henry Normal (born Peter James Carroll, 15 August 1956) is an English writer, poet, film and TV producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Manchester Literature Festival), and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival. In J ...

, founders of the production company Baby Cow, were to be co-executive-producers.

References

External links

* * * * {{IMDb title, id=0395404, title=Nighty Night 2004 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings 2000s British black comedy television series 2000s British sitcoms BBC black comedy television shows BBC television sitcoms British English-language television shows Television about mental health Television shows set in Surrey