The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
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| The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle | |
|---|---|
 Opening titles |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Jennifer Saunders Tanya Byron |
| Starring | Jennifer Saunders Miranda Richardson Conleth Hill Jason Watkins Antonia Campbell-Hughes Christopher Ryan |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 6 (as of 4 October 2007) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Jon Plowman |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Two |
| Original run | 4 October 2007 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle is a British sitcom that has aired on BBC Two since 2007. The programme was created by Jennifer Saunders and Tanya Byron, both of whom write it.[1] The first series aired in 2007 and a second series is being made.[2]
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle sees Saunders play a talk show host called Vivienne Vyle, a caricature of Jeremy Kyle and other talk show hosts. The programme also stars Miranda Richardson as the talk show's producer.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Background
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle is described as a black comedy and a show-within-a-show, following both the on-screen and off-screen life of fictional TV host Vivienne Vyle, played by Jennifer Saunders. The programme follows the life of Vyle as she tries to balance her newly-asendcent fame with her personal life. The BBC described the show as "Ab Fab meets The Larry Sanders Show with quite a bit of Ricki Lake and Oprah thrown in"[3]. In a similar vein to confessional-style shows such as The Jerry Springer Show and Trisha, Vyle's show has episodes dedicated to raunchy and sensationalistic themes such as "My son calls the wrong man daddy" and "I want a vagina"[4]. Vyle's name is a spoof on Jeremy Kyle, whose mannerisms and style of show are both parodied by Saunders' portrayal of Vyle.
The series is co-written with psychologist Tanya Byron, who originally came up with the idea and approached Saunders. Producer Jo Sargent stated: "She presented the idea for a comedy on the subject to Jennifer, the aim being a black comedy with pop psychology at the root"[3].
[edit] Cast
- Jennifer Saunders - Vivienne Vyle
- Miranda Richardson - Helena De' Wend
- Conleth Hill - Jared
- Jason Watkins - Dr Jonathan Fowler
- Antonia Campbell-Hughes - Abigail Wilson
- Helen Griffin - Carol
- Dave Lamb - Des
- Lawry Lewin - Damien
- Christopher Ryan - Miriam
- Brian Conley - Chris Connor
[edit] Plot
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle revolves around Vivienne Vyle, a television presenter who was formerly a weather presenter and worked on TV-am, and now has her own talk show. Desperate for success, she is encouraged by the show's ambitious producer Helena DeWent, who also owns her own production company. Helena is always trying to improve ratings, and her child only speaks Spanish as the nanny spends more time with him than Helena.[5] Vivienne's gay and supportive husband is Jared, who loves karaoke. Her PR adviser is the transexual Miriam, who Jared has an intense dislike for. Vivienne's main rival is Chris Connor, who unlike Vyle has a good rapport with his audience.
The Vivienne Vyle Show's new psychotherapist is Dr. Jonathan Fowler, who constantly protests that many of the show's guests are too mentally unstable to appear on the show. The floor manager is the organised Carol and the director is Des. Abigail is the runner and Damien the researcher, who also builds up tension with the guests before they appear on the show.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Series One (2007)
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When Vivienne reveals on her show that a man is not the father of his former girlfriend's child, he attacks her and in the ensuing brawl a security guard falls on her. She then ends up in hospital and is on the verge of a mental breakdown. In her absence Fern Britton replaces her as the host of The Vivienne Vyle Show, while Helena sacks runner Abigail only for Vivienne to re-instate her. |
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Vivienne decides she needs to revive her show and attempts to follow in the footsteps of her rival Chris Connor and speak to the audience. However, none of the audience talk to her and Vivienne then has a meeting to discuss the show's image with two promotion experts Joshua and Rose. After little success at the meeting she sacks them and seeks the advice of Miriam. Following her advice, she does a personal appearance at a cash and carry in Slough. |
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Vivienne and Jared argue in the morning over the plumbing and she then goes off for an inteview with a tabloid journalist who calls her a "one trick pony" and calls Jared a "kept man". Vivienne then goes to work and a production meeting. Helena throws her mobile phone at Carol while Jonathan is after his own show. When she gets home, Jared has failed to fix the plumbing. |
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Vivienne's programme is nominated for the publicly-voted TV Pick Award for "Best Daytime Talk Show". As the show is up for an award, they allow GMTV presenter Lynn Faulds Wood to film behind the scenes on a "Catch-Up" show. On the way to the awards ceremony, Vivienne discovers her football team are playing and so she and Jared go to watch them play instead. During the match, the awards ceremony is shown live and Vivienne wins the award. With Fern Britton and Paul O'Grady as themselves. |
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The morning after their success at the TV Pick Awards, the crew of The Vivienne Vyle Show discuss the after-show party. When she wakes up, Vivienne feels dizzy and unable to walk. A video conference is then held with Dr. Jonathan and Helena at the studio and Vivienne and Jared at their house. Jonathan manages to 'cure' Vivienne, who appears to have been suffering psychological problems. During the conference, Jonathan and Helena, unbeknown to anyone else, kiss passionately. |
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Janey (Harriet Thorpe), a journalist from Daily Mail, informs Jared that she has evidence of him at a gay party where a young rent boy fell off a balcony and died. Miriam comes up with ideas for damage limitation. However, The Vivienne Vyle Show is doing a live to mark the end of the season and at the end of the show, Vivienne does an unexpected piece to camera about the party and brings Jared on to admit he is an alcoholic, but does not mention he is gay. She then says she was abused as a child and, as the live show ends, gets a warm welcome from the audience. |
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[edit] Worldwide broadcast
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle will air on Showcase in Canada, BBC America in the United States, yes stars 3 in Israel, Comedy Central in The Netherlands, GNT in Brazil and RTP2 in Portugal.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Martin, Denise. "BBCA taps 'Fabulous' team", Variety, 4 December 2006.
- ^ Barber, Richard. "Double Trouble", Greenbee.com, January 2008.
- ^ a b Press release. BBC. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ^ British press article. Daily Mail. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ^ Martin, Denise. British newspaper article about the show. The Guardian. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ^ Tryhorn, Chris. "Whistleblowers runs out of puff", The Guardian, 5 October 2007.
- ^ Brook, Stephen. "Californication entices 1m viewers", The Guardian, 12 October 2007.
- ^ Dowell, Ben. "Vyle a turn-off on BBC2", The Guardian, 19 October 2007.
- ^ Holmwood, Leigh. "Johnston retells kidnap to 3m", The Guardian, 26 October 2007.
- ^ Tryhorn, Chris. "Wedded bliss for EastEnders", The Guardian, 2 November 2007.
- ^ Conlan, Tara. "Boars beat fish in nature clash", The Guardian, 9 November 2007.
[edit] External links
- The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle at the British Sitcom Guide
